KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) Hungarian Ambassador to Ukraine Istvan Ijgyarto on Thursday accused the neighbor's state security service SBU of putting pressure on ethnic Hungarians in the Zakarpattia region.
Hungary summoned the top Ukrainian diplomat in Budapest on Monday after SBU raided the head office of a Hungarian cultural charity on suspicion of its involvement in activities aimed at changing Ukraine's borders.
Ijgyarto said in an interview with the Vesti daily that SBU had showed "constant interest" in the Hungarian community. "We have received enough comments from the population about never-ending interrogations, SBU searches for information during community events," he added.
Ties between the neighbors soured after Ukraine passed a law in 2017 curtailing the use of minority languages in schools. They have repeatedly clashed over what Ukraine sees as Hungary's attempts to take over Zakarpattia, which has a sizable Hungarian population.
More recently, SBU opened an investigation into a suspected threat to Ukraine's territorial integrity after several Ukrainian officials of Hungarian origin were caught on tape signing the Hungarian anthem during an oath-taking ceremony.
The Hungarian embassy said the song was a hundreds-years-old Hungarian prayer. Ijgyarto called the probe "an unpleasant manipulation" and an act of putting "pressure on the community." He said Ukraine was increasingly punishing minorities for liking their native culture.
