Hungary denies involvement in the transfer of Ukrainian prisoners from Russia
According to the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó, religious organizations supposedly transferred Ukrainian prisoners to Hungary without the involvement of the state. He made this statement during a speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
This was repoted by Index.hu.
According to Szijjártó, there were alleged consultations between church and religious organizations in which the "Hungarian state was absolutely not involved."
He claimed that based on an agreement between religious organizations, Ukrainian prisoners of war were "released."
Szijjártó asserts that the Ukrainian prisoners can "freely move around Hungary" and do "whatever they want."
"If they want to contact the Ukrainian authorities, they can do so freely, I can guarantee that," he said.
Earlier, a Ukrainian advisor to the Commissioner for Missing Persons reported that Hungary continues to hold Ukrainian prisoners of war. They are considered hostages because the basis for their presence in Hungary and the reason they are not being released to Ukraine are currently unknown.
On June 8, 2023, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that they had transferred "ethnic Transcarpathian" prisoners of war to Hungary as part of "interchurch cooperation at the request of the Hungarian side."
Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary, Zsolt Semjén, confirmed the media reports the following day, acknowledging that 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been transferred to the country and referred to it as a "gesture" from the Russian Orthodox Church to Hungary.
The Center for Strategic Communications of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy stated that Hungary is blocking Ukrainian authorities' access to the prisoners of war, whom Russia transferred to Hungary without Ukraine's knowledge. They emphasized that the Hungarian government's assurances regarding the alleged free status of Ukrainian defenders in Hungary do not correspond to reality.
"Baseless detention of Ukrainian citizens in isolation may be qualified as a violation of international law by Hungary, including the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms," the statement said.
The Center for Strategic Communications also highlighted that such actions cast doubt on Hungary's declared humanitarian motives for evacuating Ukrainians to Hungary. The participation in PR campaigns by the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church does not add credibility to the official Budapest's reputation, but instead may damage Hungary's reputation as a responsible member of the international community.
As previously reported by The Gaze, the European Union is demanding that Hungary clarify its role in the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia, as well as its communication with the Ukrainian government regarding this matter.