HUN vs. UKR: Kiev does not let the leader of the Hungarians living in Romania enter Ukraine

Slovakia banned even singing the Hungarian national anthem on sports events or school celebrations, now Ukraine continued with not letting Hunor Kelemen enter the country. In fact, the leader of the Transylvanian Hungarians wanted to go to a celebration of local Hungarians, and Ukrainian authorities did not say anything about why they did not let him enter the country. Furthermore, it seems that their ambassador to Romania is lying.

He wanted to celebrate together with local Hungarians

Hunor Kelemen told MTI that he wanted to cross the border with his Romanian diplomatic passport at Záhony-Csap but, after more than an hour long senseless waiting, he was told that he is

banned from the country until 13 October 2020.

Mr Kelemen was given a Ukrainian record and a stamp in his passport that he cannot enter the country for a one-and-a-half-year period – kronika.ro, a Transylvanian Hungarian news outlet reported.

The president of the ethnic Hungarian party of the Transylvanian Hungarians RMDSZ (Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) said in a Facebook post that he wanted to travel to Uzhhorod (Ungvár, Sub-Carpathia, Ukraine) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Cultural Alliance of Hungarians in Sub-Carpathia. “I would have liked to talk about the long road we have walked together, all the Hungarian nations in the Carpathian Basin, from the fall of the communist dictatorship up until now, and about today’s challenges” – he added.

Hunor Kelemen told Mediafax, a Romanian news agency, that he has not been to Ukraine for more than 20 years. He added that

it cannot be allowed that Ukraine bans a Romanian citizen without any explanations.

He said he had informed the Romanian foreign minister of the matter and would complain and seek an explanation at the Ukrainian embassy in Bucharest on Monday.

Is the Ukrainian ambassador lying?

According to the Ukrainian ambassador to Romania, Hunor Kelemen was banned from Ukraine in 2017, and the chairman of RMDSZ already tried to get to the country since then. The diplomat called the situation “absolutely awkward but natural” in one of his Facebook posts and added that the ban of Mr Kelemen is in effect since 3 November 2017. He also said that Kelemen wanted to enter Ukraine

with his Hungarian passport since then.

“Therefore, he knew the decision of the Ukrainian authorities well” –  Oleksandr Bankov concluded. According to Mr Bankov, it is a common practice in Europe that a country does not give an explanation regarding a ban. “Of course, I am open and regard it as an honour to give further explanation to Mr Hunor Kelemen” – he said.