False Report in Opposition Media about Foreign Minister’s Call with Austrian Counterpart

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó talked with his Austrian counterpart during the weekend. He and Beate Meinl-Reisinger discussed the situation of the Transcarpathian (Western Ukraine) Hungarians and the Pride march, among other topics.

Mr Szijjártó announced on his social media page that they had a telephone conversation about the ongoing violation of the rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia and Ukraine’s integration efforts.

“I appreciate Beate Meinl-Reisinger’s willingness to help, but the situation remains that the Ukrainian government – despite continuous promises and fine words – has still not returned the minority rights taken away from the Hungarian community since 2015. This is unacceptable and totally contrary to common European rules and values.

Thus, as long as this sad situation persists, there can be no question of any progress in Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations,”

Péter Szijjártó emphasized.

Had a call with @BMeinl about the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia. Despite the promises, Ukraine still hasn’t restored the Hungarian minority rights taken away in 2015. Until that changes, there can be no progress on EU accession, as Kyiv’s minority policy remains…

— Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) March 22, 2025

The Foreign Minister added that he and his Austrian counterpart had also exchanged views on the topic of Pride parades. “We have established that we have completely opposite positions on this matter, and I told my colleague that in our country the protection of children is our absolute priority, and that we do not want to meet the expectations of other countries’ governments, but those of the Hungarian people,” the Minister stressed.

Hungarian news site Telex reported about the talk between the politicians. They wrote in the title of their article that according to the Austrian Foreign Minister, violence against gays and lesbians in Hungary is increasing at an alarming rate. Since then, the title has been changed.

Reacting to the article, Mr Szijjártó wrote on his Facebook page that

the truth is that his Austrian counterpart did tell him about the increasing violence against homosexuals, but not in Hungary, in Austria.

He also informed the public that they talked about the threat that extremist Islamists can pose to homosexual communities in Austria and not in Hungary.

“Thus, the Austrian Foreign Minister told me on the phone yesterday about two very serious threats to public security in Austria, and I assured her that such incidents have not and cannot occur in Hungary, unlike in Austria,” Péter Szijjártó emphasized.

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