FIDESZ has called on Foreign Minister Anita Orbán and Prime Minister Péter Magyar to take diplomatic action after Balázs Hidvéghi, along with Milos Kerkez, was added to Ukraine’s “black list.” Foreign Minister Anita Orbán has since condemned the stigmatization, blacklisting, and threats directed at Milos Kerkez, a defender on the Hungarian national soccer team, and Balázs Hidvéghi, a FIDESZ member of the National Assembly.
In a statement on Monday, the opposition party wrote that it calls on the prime minister and the foreign minister to immediately take the necessary diplomatic steps, restore Hungary’s prestige, and reject Ukraine’s unfriendly actions.
They stated that the Ukrainian leadership “views Péter Magyar and his government as clowns.” By openly listing not only a national soccer player but also a member of the National Assembly on the list of Ukraine’s enemies, Ukraine is clearly demonstrating its dominance “over the weak, powerless, Brussels-friendly Hungarian government,” they added.
According to FIDESZ, this is the result of Péter Magyar and the TISZA government’s unprincipled, submissive foreign policy, which seeks to repay the support provided during the campaign—as well as the EU funds to which Hungary is already entitled—through compromise and subservience.
They called it unprecedented that a member of the National Assembly is being threatened and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains silent.
The Russian state news agency TASS previously reported that Milos Kerkez, a defender on the Hungarian national soccer team, had also been added to the list on a website called Mirotvorec (Peacemaker), which has been operating in Kyiv since 2014. The database, created following the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, publishes information on individuals it considers to be “enemies of Ukraine” or pro-Russian.
The Hungarian left back and his father were added to the list after he got into an altercation with a Ukrainian player during the Hungary-Ukraine Nations League match (0-1) in late September, and his father later posted a video of the incident on social media with music by a Russian rap group playing in the background.
Balázs Hidvéghi, a FIDESZ member of the National Assembly, called it a disgrace at a press conference in early October that the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not stood up for Milos Kerkez and his father.
On Monday evening, Anita Orbán wrote on her Facebook page: “I strongly condemn the stigmatization, any form of blacklisting, or potential threats against Hungarian citizens—Milos Kerkez and Balázs Hidvéghi.” She said she had held discussions throughout the weekend with Ukrainian officials, the Hungarian Football Federation, the embassy, and her colleagues to help resolve the situation.