{"id":266753,"date":"2025-07-16T13:50:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T13:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/266753\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T13:50:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T13:50:12","slug":"orban-demands-eu-sanction-ukraine-over-death-of-hungarian-conscript","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/266753\/","title":{"rendered":"Orb\u00e1n demands EU sanction Ukraine over death of Hungarian conscript"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Published on 16\/07\/2025 – 7:15 GMT+2\u2022Updated
\n 11:42<\/p>\n

\"\"ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n

Hungary has called for European Union sanctions against Ukrainian officials following the reported death of a Hungarian citizen during military mobilisation in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n claimed last week that J\u00f3zsef Sebesty\u00e9n, a 45-year-old ethnic Hungarian from Ukraine\u2019s Transcarpathia region, was beaten to death for refusing to join the Ukrainian army. <\/p>\n

Ukrainian authorities have firmly denied the allegations, stating the mobilisation was lawful and that Sebesty\u00e9n died of a pulmonary embolism with no signs of bodily harm.<\/p>\n

“The Hungarian government has initiated the inclusion of Ukrainian leaders responsible for J\u00f3zsef Sebesty\u00e9n\u2019s death on the EU\u2019s human rights sanctions list,” Orb\u00e1n announced via Facebook.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3 said in Brussels on Tuesday that Hungary would formally request sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, which targets individuals involved in serious human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will officially propose that all Ukrainian military leaders responsible be placed on the EU sanctions list,\u201d Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3 stated during the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.<\/p>\n

Hungarian media, aligned with the government, reported that Sebesty\u00e9n was beaten with iron rods during a forced mobilisation and died three weeks later. A video posted by his sister showed him on his knees speaking in Ukrainian, fuelling further outrage.<\/p>\n

Ukraine rejected the allegations, identifying the man as Shebeshten Yosip Yosipovich, a Ukrainian citizen. As Ukraine does not recognise dual citizenship, he was not officially considered Hungarian. <\/p>\n

Kyiv added that the man had abandoned military training and was later treated for acute stress in psychiatric care. Authorities pledged a transparent investigation and warned Hungary against disseminating unverified, emotionally charged claims.<\/p>\n

The incident has heightened already strained relations between Hungary and Ukraine. Budapest summoned the Ukrainian ambassador and escalated its criticism of Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n, who has long opposed Ukraine\u2019s EU accession, cited the death as further evidence of Ukraine\u2019s unfitness to join the bloc. <\/p>\n

Following a non-binding poll in which 95% of Hungarian respondents opposed Ukraine\u2019s membership, Orb\u00e1n warned of \u201ceconomic and security disaster\u201d should accession proceed.<\/p>\n

The Hungarian government recently launched a billboard campaign featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alongside opposition leader P\u00e9ter Magyar, implying the opposition serves foreign interests. <\/p>\n

Hungary also continues to veto EU military and financial support for Ukraine, calling instead for an immediate ceasefire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 16\/07\/2025 – 7:15 GMT+2\u2022Updated 11:42 ADVERTISEMENT Hungary has called for European Union sanctions against Ukrainian officials…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[2000,299,1699,2190,657,335],"class_list":{"0":"post-266753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european-union","11":"tag-hungary","12":"tag-ukraine","13":"tag-war-in-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114863238370397645","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}