Ukraine and Hungary Expel Each Other's Consuls Amid Diplomatic Row

Ukraine has declared the Hungarian consul in Berehove persona non grata and given him 72 hours to leave the country, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s press service report.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin (L) and his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó chat during Szijjártó's official one-day visit in Nyzhnie Solotvyno, Ukraine on June 22, 2018. Photo credit: EPA-EFE/Janos Nemes HUNGARY OUT

This decision was taken in response the consulate’s issuance of Hungarian passports to Ukrainian citizens without the knowledge of the Ukrainian authorities and marks increasing tensions between the two neighboring countries.

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As the notice issued to Hungary’s ambassador to Ukraine Erno Keskeny states, according to to Article 23 of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Rights, and in relation to “actions incompatible with the status of a consular office,” the Hungarian consul must leave Ukrainian territory within the next 72 hours.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry have also stated that they hope Hungary will “refrain from any unfriendly steps towards Ukraine in the future and that its officials will not violate Ukrainian legislation.”

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In a tit-for-tat move, Hungary also announced that it would also be expelling a Ukrainian consul from Budapest, a step to which Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin referred to as  “absolutely and fundamentally inadequate.”

He added that the expelled diplomat will get a job at the Foreign Ministry’s office in Uzhhorod (70 km north-west of Berehove) where, according to Klimkin, “additional help is definitely needed.”