FM Szijjártó talks about manhunt in Ukraine under the guise of conscription

A recent report released by the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights confirms that “there is a brutal manhunt happening on the streets of Ukraine under the guise of conscription”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Tuesday, adding that this made “the indifference of European politicians all the more shocking”.

Szijjártó: conscription in Ukraine involves death, torture, people getting beaten up

Addressing a press conference during a break in a meeting with his EU counterparts, Szijjártó presented the CoE human rights commissioner’s report containing local accounts of “widespread, systematic violations and acts of violence by Ukrainian conscription officers”.

“The document was compiled by Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, who included these findings in the CoE document — that conscription in Ukraine involves death, torture, people getting beaten up and brutality — on the basis of the statements made by the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.

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Where are the NGOs?

“So it is a fact that there is a manhunt taking place on the streets of Ukraine under the guise of conscription,” he said. “It is a fact that conscription officers in Ukraine treat people in a brutal way. It is a fact that forced conscription in Ukraine involves unacceptable actions. It is a fact that in Ukraine people die as a result of the conscription officers’ brutality, just because they don’t want to go to the front lines, they don’t want to go to war and don’t want to take part in the mindless killing. Unfortunately a Hungarian man fell victim to this brutal Ukrainian manhunt last week.”

Szijjártó said the “indifference” with which European politicians approached this issue was “unacceptable”.

“Where are the NGOs?” the minister said. “Where are the Soros organisations? Where are the supposedly independent journalists? Where are the human rights organisations at times like this? Why haven’t they said that this manhunt happening on the streets of Ukraine is unacceptable?”

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Brutal Ukrainian actions

Szijjártó said that because a Hungarian national had fallen victim to the “brutal Ukrainian actions”, the Hungarian government will on Wednesday officially initiate placing the Ukrainian military leaders and officials responsible on a European Union sanctions list.

He said the EU had created its global sanctions regime for the purpose of imposing sanctions on anyone responsible for human rights violations around the world.

“Tomorrow we will submit the request here in Brussels,” Szijjártó said, adding that he had also announced the government’s initiative for the EU to sanction the Ukrainian officials responsible for the death of the Hungarian national at today’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

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