Diplomatic dispute breaks out between Hungary and Croatia over Ukraine

The Croatian ambassador was summoned to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, 25 October, due to Croatian Minister Ivan Anušić's statements about Budapest's position on Ukraine.

Source: Hungarian online newspaper Telex; European Pravda reports

Details: The reason for the diplomatic dispute was Anušić's statements at a meeting of the Croatian parliamentary committee.

He criticised the position of Croatian President Zoran Milanović, who refused to send Croatian soldiers to participate in the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU).

Anušić said if Croatia did not participate in NATO military missions, it would become similar to Serbia and Hungary, which publicly support Russia.

The minister asked if they wanted to take the side of Serbia and Hungary, who were now publicly supporting Putin, or if they wanted to be part of the team and the world they currently belonged to – the Western world, with its values, civilisation, and democracy.

In response, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary seeks the best possible relations with all its neighbours, including Croatia.

"This is why it was unexpected to see the Croatian defence minister appear to have chosen a new sport, which would be to insult Hungarians... I respectfully ask the Croatian government not to drag us into their evidently heated domestic policy disputes with their President," he said.

Szijjártó added that Hungary has nothing to do with the dispute between the Croatian government and its head of state.

"They should settle this between themselves and should not insult Hungary under the guise of this in the future. I believe that our bilateral relations do not justify them dragging us into this dispute," the Hungarian Foreign Minister added.

Later, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry stated that Croatian Ambassador Mladen Andrlić had been appointed as Deputy State Secretary for the region.

Background: The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti had distorted Szijjarto's words.

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