Two individuals with both Ukrainian and Hungarian citizenship, held as prisoners of war, were released from Russian custody and arrived in Budapest early Thursday morning. The release followed discussions between Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Szijjártó stating that Putin did not request anything in exchange for the men’s freedom.
Szijjártó told RTL, in response to a question, that the past eleven-plus years of grounded, rational foreign policy led to the unconditional return of the prisoners of war.
The minister explained that contact with Russian authorities was initiated after one of the prisoners sent a video message appealing to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and the other’s mother reached out to Hungarian officials. Orbán spoke with Putin on Tuesday, requesting consideration for the release of the two men.
“We made the decision to release the two prisoners of war, as Prime Minister Orbán requested, and they were able to travel on the same plane that brought them here and is now returning to Budapest,” Putin announced Wednesday. The release underscores Hungary’s efforts to maintain connections with Russia despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The Hungarian government and pro-government media have been focusing on Hungarian citizens from the Transcarpathian region who have been captured by Russian forces for some time. MTVA, for example, has shown videos in its program “The Horrors of War” featuring Transcarpathian Hungarians in Russian captivity expressing gratitude to their captors. Tamás Hoffmann, an international law expert and associate professor at the Budapest Corvinus University Department of International Relations, told Telex that the dissemination of such videos could be interpreted as a violation of international law, as the creation and broadcast of these videos violates the rights of prisoners of war and the regulations governing their treatment and detention under the Geneva Conventions.
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