Ukraine lifts travel advisory for Hungary after elections
Ukraine lifts travel advisory against travel to country (photo: Getty Images)
After the parliamentary elections in Hungary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine lifted its recommendation for citizens to refrain from traveling to the country, according to Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
As the minister noted, in connection with the completion of the election campaign in Hungary yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has canceled previous recommendations for citizens to refrain from traveling to Hungary.
"This election campaign, which unfortunately was filled with manipulations regarding Ukraine, is now over. Therefore, the heightened risks of provocations that led to these restrictions have lost their urgency," Sybiha said.
According to him, Kyiv expects that the election results will contribute to the normalization of relations between the countries.
The minister emphasized that Ukraine is ready to work to achieve this goal.
"The choice of the Hungarian people showed the desire of our neighbors to live in peace, security, and prosperity — to live in a truly independent Hungary that is part of a united and free Europe, and not a zone of Moscow's influence, a space of lawlessness and intimidation," the foreign minister said.
Sybiha also stressed that the choice of Hungarians marked the defeat of the policy of blackmail and anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
"This is symptomatic. Hungarians clearly said: enough. This will have consequences for other parties and movements in Europe that promote similar rhetoric," he added.
At the same time, he called for realistic expectations regarding future relations.
"Ahead lies painstaking, pragmatic, and calm work to find common ground, restore mutual respect, and implement shared pragmatic interests. Our people deserve that we go through this path, and we will work to restore good neighborly relations in the interests of our two countries and Europe as a whole," Sybiha concluded.
What preceded
On March 6, Hungary detained two armored vehicles of Oschadbank. Seven bank employees were released the same evening. However, the vehicles and the funds they were transporting remain detained.
According to the bank, the vehicles contained about 40 million dollars, 35 million euros, and 9 kg of bank gold.
The scandal gained political scale — Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called Budapest's actions state terrorism, after which Ukrainians were advised to refrain from traveling to the country.
In turn, the Hungarian side stated that the detention of the collectors is related to an investigation into possible money laundering.
