Orbán: EU should sanction Ukrainian leaders responsible for Hungarian recruit’s death – UPDATED
The Hungarian government has called on the European Union to urgently include Ukrainian leaders that are “responsible for the death of Hungarian national József Sebestyén” on its human rights sanctions list, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a post on Facebook on Tuesday.
Orban said that Sebestyén had been “beaten to death during forced conscription” in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia province.
‘Time for Brussels to stand up for Ukrainian people and Transcarpathian Hungarians, not just Ukrainian authorities’
It is time Brussels stood up for the Ukrainian people and Transcarpathian Hungarians, rather than just the Ukrainian authorities, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video on Facebook on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the Hungarian government called on the European Union to include Ukrainian leaders that are responsible for the death of Hungarian national József Sebestyén on its human rights sanctions list.
“The entire Carpathian Basin has seen and been shaken by the footage proving that our compatriot, József Sebestyén, was beaten to death by individuals referred to as conscription officers during forced conscription,” the prime minister said.
“Nothing gives any state the authority to engage in such brutality like the kind Ukraine committed against József Sebestyén,” Orbán said. “His fate clearly illustrates the conditions in Ukraine, the state-controlled lawlessness and the complete lack of legal certainty.” Orbán said the case exposed the “Brussels machine’s praise of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky” and proved why Ukraine must not be allowed to join the European Union.
“József Sebestyén was not just a Ukrainian, but also a Hungarian and therefore a European Union citizen,” Orbán said. “The Hungarian government today initiated in Brussels the immediate placement of the Ukrainian leaders responsible for the death of Hungarian national József Sebestyén on the European Union’s human rights sanctions list.”
He said the EU has done this several times in the cases of other countries. “It is time Brussels stood up for the Ukrainian people and Transcarpathian Hungarians, rather than just the Ukrainian authorities,” Orbán added.
More Transcarpathia news.