Kyiv demands apology after PM Orban wears scarf showing parts of Ukraine as Hungarian

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán is being pressurised by Ukraine to apologise after a video was posted in which he was wearing a scarf that depicted historical Hungary, including parts of Ukraine and neighboring countries, at a football match. After this incident, the Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko shared that he would summon PM Orbán “who will be informed of the unacceptability of Viktor Orbán’s act”. Further, he stated, “We are waiting for an official apology from the Hungarian side and a refutation of the encroachments on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

PM Orban owes an apology 

The Ukrainian media has shared images of PM Orbán meeting a Hungarian footballer wearing a scarf which the outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported depicted a map of “Greater Hungary” including territory that is now part of the neighbouring states of Ukraine, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia and Serbia. It depicts the promotion of revisionist ideas in Hungary which does not contribute to the development of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations and also does not comply with the principles of European policy. 

Later, Romania's foreign ministry also angrily responded to the gesture and said," It had submitted to the Hungarian ambassador in Bucharest its firm disapproval of the gesture." Further, the ministry stated that any revisionist thought is unacceptable and is against current realities and common commitments. PM Orban responded to the controversy indirectly and said “Soccer is not politics. Do not read things into it that are not there,” he wrote. “The Hungarian national team belongs to all Hungarians, wherever they live!”

On his Facebook post, he got several replies and likes where some of them were making fun of him and most of them were angry because of the disrespect to the other nations. In recent years, the two countries have repeatedly clashed over what Hungary said were curbs on the right of ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine to use their native tongue, especially in education, after Ukraine passed a law in 2017 restricting the use of minority languages in schools.