Ukraine Denies Hungarian Official Entry Over Interference In Local Elections - Kiev

Ukraine Denies Hungarian Official Entry Over Interference in Local Elections - Kiev

Hungarian official Istvan Grezsa has been denied entry to Ukraine because of his alleged interference in the local elections, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2020) Hungarian official Istvan Grezsa has been denied entry to Ukraine because of his alleged interference in the local elections, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

"The Hungarian government commissioner for cooperation between Hungary's Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg Region and [Ukraine's] Zakarpattia Region, Mr. Istvan Grezsa, was denied entry to the territory of Ukraine over the existing ban ... There were recorded public violations of the provisions of the Electoral Code of Ukraine, forbidding foreigners to campaign for any political parties in Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that the decision did not concern the Budapest-Kiev relations and was exclusively associated with the actions of a particular citizen.

On October 25, Ukraine held local elections. In a Facebook post, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called on the Hungarians living in Ukraine to back the ethnic Hungarian party. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it was "deeply disappointed" with Budapest's "direct interference in Ukraine's internal affairs."

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry handed a note of protest to the ambassador of Hungary, Istvan Iydyarto, over political agitation by Hungarian officials. Kiev also banned two Hungarian high-ranking officials from entering the country for campaigning in the Zakarpattia region. Szijjarto called Ukraine's decision to ban the entry of two Hungarian government officials "pathetic and pointless."

Ukrainian-Hungarian relations deteriorated over Kiev's 2017 education law, which restricted the freedom of national minority children, including Russian and Hungarian, to study in their native languages. Several countries, including Hungary, Russia and Romania, said that this law violates the national minorities' rights in Ukraine.