Official Budapest is not involved in the removal from Russia of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war, who are currently on the territory of Hungary.
This was stated by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijártó during a speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
"As for the 11 prisoners of war, I think the good news is that they are free," he said, answering a question from a member of the Ukrainian delegation Yuriy Kamelchuk. At the same time, Szijártó added that the transfer of Ukrainian prisoners to the Hungarian side took place as a result of "discussions between the church and religious organizations."
"The state of Hungary is absolutely not involved," the minister noted.
He assures that Ukrainians "are free to move in Hungary and can do what they want."
"And if they want to contact the Ukrainian authorities, they are free to do so, I can guarantee you that," the minister stated.
Brussels believes that official Budapest should explain its participation in this process, as well as the complete lack of communication on this matter with the Ukrainian government.
"As for Hungary, its authorities must explain the details and their participation in the release of Ukrainian citizens who are held by Russia as prisoners of war, as well as Hungaryʼs communication on this issue with the Ukrainian authorities," the spokesperson of the European Commission on Foreign Policy Peter Stano noted in a comment to Delfi.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine says that diplomats have not yet managed to establish direct contact with Ukrainian prisoners of war, and the Hungarian authoritiesʼ reports about their alleged free status are untrue.
- On June 8, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) announced that it had handed over to Hungary Ukrainian prisoners of war originally from Transcarpathia, who took part in hostilities.
- The Ukrainian side did not know about it and was not involved in the process in any way. The issue of prisoners of war is handled exclusively by the Coordination Headquarters, with which neither the ROC nor Hungary contacted.