Fedir Shandor, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Hungary, believes that Russia plays a significant role in fuelling anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Hungary, particularly in relation to recent "anti-Hungarian incidents" in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia Oblast.

Source : Shandor in an interview with Ukrinform news agency, as reported by European Pravda

Details : Shandor was asked whether officials in Budapest had taken Ukraine’s arguments into account following two recent summonses to Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first regarded the death of a mobilised Zakarpattia resident with Hungarian citizenship, and the second related to the arson attack on a church in the village of Palad-Komarivtsi.

Shandor confirmed they had, noting that otherwise these topics would have continued to escalate.

"We understand who is really behind these information attacks, while the Hungarian side, unfortunately, often reacts too emotionally without verifying the facts… The question is, who benefits from this? Only one party – Russia, which seeks to divide us and inflame conflicts not only on the battlefield but also in diplomacy, the economy, culture and human relations. Political cycles eventually end and governments sit down at the negotiating table. But whether societies can overcome these cultural traumas remains an open question," he said.

Shandor said that after photos of anti-Hungarian slogans on apartment blocks in the city of Mukachevo went viral, no actual evidence of the inscriptions was found.

"These photos were eight years old – they were simply pulled from archives and passed to Hungarian media through certain individuals. We can see where this is coming from – the Russian embassy and Kremlin-funded media outlets. They spare no money: bots spread fake news, and Hungarian officials respond," the ambassador added.

Read also: Orbán seeks "war" between Hungary and Ukraine: why, and what are the dangers?

He went on to say that the incident involving the arson attack on a church also appeared to be a staged provocation, as reports in the Hungarian media emerged just half an hour after investigators had finished their work at the scene.

"When there’s agitation coming from all sides, the reaction is instant: ‘Our people are under attack.’ This suggests the entire situation was calculated — from the provocation to the response," the ambassador noted.

"The aggressor state, Russia, which knows nothing of moral boundaries, employs dirty tactics in various countries: in Poland through the issue of the Volyn tragedy, in Slovakia through the Rusyn issue. The idea is the same everywhere: Ukrainians must quarrel with Hungarians, with Poles, with Slovaks. But we must keep a cool head... Our emotional reactions to these political manipulations only serve the interests of anti-Ukrainian forces," said Fedir Shandor. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]

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