Traditionally friendly neighbors Hungary and Ukraine have been recently caught in the exchange of diplomatic crossfire targeted at the election results. Hungary’s general elections took place one week after the Ukrainian ones. The reaction of the Ukrainian press and diplomats was quite restrained: the ruling party lost the vote to the opposition, no high-profile scandals, no negative response from international observers. Hungary’s reaction and comments on the elections in Ukraine were quite different.
The first salvo was fired by State Secretary of Hungary’s Foreign Office Zsolt Nemet, who focused on the violations that allegedly took place in the 72nd voting district located in Zakarpattia (a sensitive area for Budapest because of a large ethnic Hungarian minority living there). The Hungarian press picked up the topic, saying Kyiv was hurt by Hungarian criticism, with one of the latest publication appearing in Nepsabadsag on April 15. Citing diplomatic sources, a journalist wrote that in the wake of Hungary’s reaction to the general elections in Ukraine Hungarian Ambassador Ferenz Kontra was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Although the meeting at the MFA took place the week before last, official confirmation appeared only on April 16. According to MFA press service head Serhiy Borodenkov both parties agreed that political speculations in Ukraine and Hungary should be avoided.
However, the case involving voting in the 72nd constituency seems quite serious. No wonder Ambassador Kontra had also met with Ukrainian diplomats on April 16, The Day was told by the Hungarian embassy. It can be assumed that the talks centered on the same post-election developments in Zakarpattia. Or could it have been on who tipped off the press about the ambassador’s visit to MFA last week? Why is there so much concern around the voting district No. 72? According to official tally, the election was won by Berehovo Head of the District State Administration Ishtvan Hajdosh who ran on the SDPU(o) ticket. His main rival was Head of Hungarian Culture Society in Zakarpattia and former Verkhovna Rada Deputy Miklosh Kovach. Local observers maintain that the latter was openly supported by Budapest during the election. This could have led Hungarian State Secretary Zsolt Nemet to declare, “If it is proven that the election in the voting district No. 72 has been falsified, the Hungarian government will continue to regard Miklosh Kovach as a legitimate representative of the Hungarian ethnic minority.
The Hungarian embassy declined comment, refusing, however, to explain the reasons. Still, not everything adds up on the whole wrangling: if only newspapers are making waves why should the ambassador be summoned to the MFA? At the frequency with which materials critical of Ukraine’s powers that be hit the pages in the New York Times or Financial Times, the British and American ambassadors must be spending their nights at the MFA. But Kyiv seems more inclined not to dramatize the situation (or keep the lid on some details, perhaps). As declared by the MFA press service head on April 17, “various kinds of insinuations related to the course and results of the elections in both countries had no negative impact on traditionally friendly relations between Ukraine and Hungary.” This would seem an excellent example of diplomatic double-talk.
