BUDAPEST, July 17. /TASS/. Hungary has imposed sanctions against three Ukrainian military leaders in connection with the brutal attempted forced conscription of an ethnic Hungarian in Ukraine leading to his death, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto said.
"Yesterday in Brussels, we initiated the inclusion of three high-ranking Ukrainian military personnel in the EU sanctions list. We have proposed adding to this list the chief of staff of the Ukrainian ground forces, the commander of the Western operational command and the head of the mobilization directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. So far this has not happened. Today, we took measures to ban the entry of all three of these individuals into the territory of Hungary," he said at a press conference.
He noted that during forced conscription in Ukraine, "physical violence and torture are used. People are beaten just because they don't want to go to war, they don't want to go to the front and participate in mass killings," Szijjarto said. The minister said that evidence of this is contained in a recent report by Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty.
About plight of Hungarians in Transcarpathia
The foreign minister also said that Ukraine has been violating the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia for the past 10 years, depriving them of the opportunity to use their native language in culture, education and self-government. It is also outrageous that Brussels turns a blind eye to this and, despite Budapest's repeated statements, tries to ignore Kiev's actions, Szijjarto said.
Answering a question from journalists whether such a situation would lead to a "freeze in relations" between Hungary and Ukraine, he warned that such a development would cost the Ukrainian authorities very dearly. "Hungary is the largest supplier of electricity to Ukraine. It sends over 100 million cubic meters of natural gas there annually, so it will really be a big problem for Ukraine if these relations are frozen," the minister explained.
He also said that Hungary provides humanitarian assistance to the neighboring country and hosts Ukrainian refugees.
The death of Hungarian Jozsef Szebestien
According to the Hungarian authorities, a 45-year-old resident of Transcarpathia, Jozsef Szebestien was grabbed on the street in mid-June by Ukrainian security forces and forcibly taken to a recruitment center, where he was severely beaten for refusing to enlist. On July 6, he died of his injuries in the hospital, and three days later he was buried in a cemetery in his hometown. The circumstances of his death were reported on social media by his relatives.
The Hungarian government has called for the punishment of those responsible and the imposition of EU sanctions against those responsible for the violent mobilization in Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban noted that "a country where people are beaten to death as a result of forced conscription cannot be a member of the European Union." On July 10, Ukraine's ambassador to Budapest Fyodor Sandor was summoned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, where he was asked to explain Szebestien's death.
The Ukrainian authorities have denied the accusations. According to reports from Kiev, the command of the Ukrainian Ground Forces stated that Szebestien died on July 6 "as a result of pulmonary embolism, without any external signs of physical violence.".