On Thursday, a new part of the Marlezonsky ballet of the Hungarian-Ukrainian dance started: first, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine declared persona non-grata to the consul of Hungary in the city of Beregovo (Zakarpattia region), ordering him to leave Nezalezhnaya within 72 hours, then the other side responded about the expulsion of the Ukrainian consul in return from Budapest. The website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary reports on its decision with reference to the head of the department Peter Siyarto. At the same time, the minister recalled that Budapest in recent years has repeatedly helped Kiev, establishing good bilateral relations. However, the Ukrainian authorities are constantly aggravating the conflict, he noted, and called the current situation a "backstab".

"In an effort to increase his extremely low popularity, the president of Ukraine decided to launch a campaign to incite hatred towards Transcarpathian Hungarians," said Siyarto, linking Kiev’s actions to the upcoming presidential elections in March 2019.. According to Siyarto, Nezalezhnaya violates many international agreements, denying the rights of representatives of the Hungarian and other national minorities.. "The Ambassador of Ukraine in Budapest was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Thursday and he was announced that one of the consuls working at the Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest should leave Hungary within 72 hours," the Hungarian Foreign Minister told the press. He pointed to the fact that the recorded video on the hidden surveillance cameras in the foreign mission of Hungary in Beregovo and published a few days ago, was acquired as part of the operation of the secret service, and goes against all written and unwritten rules of diplomacy. “Despite promises, on Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament nonetheless began discussing the Language Act, which also negatively affects Hungarians, having already passed the Education Act, which also damages minorities,” Siyyarto said. In Budapest, it is believed that the new law will infringe upon the language rights of 150 thousand Hungarians in Transcarpathia, which is contrary to international norms. "In addition, Ukraine is also deploying military and police forces near its border with Hungary," the minister said, listing measures that can be considered provocative. "If a country that aspires to join NATO deploys part of its military force on its border with a NATO member state, it cannot join this organization. And if a country that seeks to join the European Union allows for an attack on the institution of dual citizenship, which is common practice in The EU, its aspiration for European integration also cannot be considered real, "Siyarto stressed. He added that Budapest will impose a veto on Ukraine’s accession to both the alliance and the EU. The most important thing is to protect the Hungarian community of Transcarpathia, which will not allow them to fall prey to geopolitical games.. “The further aggravation of the situation is not in the interests of Hungary, but we nevertheless expect that the Ukrainian side will use this during the election campaign,” he concluded. In turn, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin called the expulsion of the Ukrainian consul Budapest as an “absolutely and fundamentally inadequate” reaction to similar actions by Kiev.

"We do not violate international law, Hungarian laws, generally act as it should be diplomats. And we will arrange our diplomat in the Foreign Office in Uzhgorod, they need to be strengthened there, "pan Klimkin wrote in Twitter. Briefly recall the first part of Marlezonsky ballet. In mid-September, a video appeared in which Ukrainian citizens receive Hungarian passports and take an oath of loyalty to Hungary at the consulate of this country in the Transcarpathian Beregovo. During the ceremony, the Hungarian diplomat advises not to inform the authorities of the Square about the receipt of new documents.

This video series caused a hysteria in Kiev. It's only the beginning.