News Feed

Media: Hungarian President to visit Ukraine in August

2 min read
Media: Hungarian President to visit Ukraine in August
The Hungary President Katalin Novak delivers remarks during a joint press conference with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the end of their meeting in Belem Presidential Palace on Feb. 23, 2023, in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Hungarian President Katalin Novák's office told the news portal Telex on July 15 that she has accepted the Ukrainian government's invitation to attend the Crimean Platform in Kyiv.

The Crimean Platform, which was founded in 2021, is an international diplomatic summit to address issues relating to Russia's nine-year occupation of the Crimean peninsula and how Ukraine can liberate its territory.

This year's Crimean Platform will take place on Aug. 23 in Kyiv.

Telex wrote that Novák will also travel to Zakarpattia Oblast prior to her stop in Kyiv to celebrate the Feast of Saint Stephen on Aug. 20 with the local Hungarian community.

Diplomatic relations between Hungary and Ukraine have grown more tense since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

This has been due in part to multiple comments made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, such as when he said in mid-April that Ukraine was a "non-existent country" in the financial sense.

In June, the Russian Orthodox Church also announced that it had transferred Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary without involving Ukrainian authorities.

The Russian Orthodox church claimed that the transfer happened at the request of Budapest and referred to the POWs as being of "Zakarpattia origin," a reference to Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast where over 150,000 ethnic Hungarians reside.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó denied any involvement with the POW transfer at the government level but Ukraine's military intelligence has claimed otherwise.

Hungary denies involvement in Ukrainian POW transfer, Ukraine’s intelligence says otherwise
Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó denied his government’s involvement in the transfer of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia to Hungary, the Index news website reported on June 20.
Article image
Avatar
The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

Read more
News Feed
Show More