New Ukrainian Ambassador to Hungary takes up his post

"Today I presented my credentials to Tamás Sulyok, the President of the Republic of Hungary. This officially marks the beginning of my diplomatic mission as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Hungary," Sándor Fegyir, who took up his appointment on 24 February after lengthy delays, wrote in a Facebook post published on Thursday evening.

In his post, Sándor thanked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha for their trust and wrote that he would serve the people of Ukraine and do his utmost to promote understanding, good neighbourly relations and a common future between Ukraine and Hungary, as well as a just and sustainable peace in Europe, in the EU and NATO.

The appointment of Sándor Fegyir took quite a while. His letter of acceptance was sent to the office of the then head of state, Katalin Novák, in March 2023, but she only signed it that August. However, his appointment was further delayed, with Zelensky finally proceeding with it in December last year. This meant that for more than two years Ukraine was only represented in Budapest by a chargé d'affaires.

Sándor is a professor at the National University of Uzhhorod, but since the beginning of the war in Ukraine he has served as a soldier in the 101st Transcarpathian Brigade. In May of 2022, a powerful photo of him was published, showing him holding a rifle while giving a lecture to his students from the trench during a break in the fighting. He is a tourism expert, a sociologist and has worked on urban and regional projects.

The new ambassador arrived in Budapest on 25 February and on Wednesday visited the office of Gergely Kovács (of MKKP) the mayor of District XII, with whom they spoke about the possibility of the district erecting the first monument to the victims of the Russian-Ukrainian war outside Ukraine.