Ukrainian ambassador summoned after Orbán's post about Hungarian man's death due to beating by conscription officers

Ukraine's ambassador to Budapest has been summoned because, according to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Ukrainian recruiting agents had beaten a Hungarian man so badly during forced conscription in Transcarpathia that he later succumbed to his injuries, a statement sent to the Hungarian state news agency, MTI by Levente Magyar, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

“According to reports, Ukrainian recruitment agents beat the man with iron bars after capturing him, shoved him into a van and took him to a recruitment center. Family members were told that everything was fine, but the detained man eventually died as a result of his injuries,” the statement quoted the state secretary as saying.

According to an article published about the case by Híradó.hu on Thursday morning, a 45-year-old man from Transcarpathia named József Sebestyén died in hospital on July 6 after being beaten with iron bars by Ukrainian recruiters three weeks earlier. Mandiner.hu cited the man's acquaintances as saying that he had Hungarian citizenship as well and had already cancelled his Ukrainian address. In principle, this would have exempted him from being called up, but the pertaining legislation was revoked due to various abuses. Other sources denied that the man had been involved in illegal activities and that this was why he had been tracked down by the recruitment agents.

Shortly after the article's publication, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also posted on his Facebook page: “My sincere condolences to the family of the Hungarian man who died as a result of forced conscription in Ukraine. We stand with you in these difficult hours.”

We have sent questions on the case to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ukrainian Embassy, and the mayor of Berehove, Ukraine. We will update our readers as soon as we receive a response.