Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has claimed that unknown individuals set fire to a church in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia Oblast, leaving the inscription "Magyars to the knives".

Source : Orbán on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda 

Details : On Thursday 17 July, Orbán posted about the incident on Facebook, including a photo showing the phrase "Magyars to the knives" written on the building. "Forced conscription, murder, arson attacks on churches, incitement and intimidation. All this is happening with our Hungarians in Zakarpattia. We will not allow it; you can count on us!" he stated.

"Magyars to the knives" inscription.

Photo: Facebook

The Zakarpattia police reported that the incident occurred on 16 July at around 22:00 in the village of Palad-Komarivtsi. They found that an unidentified person entered the church grounds, set fire to the front door and painted a provocative inscription on the facade with black paint, intended to incite national and religious enmity.

Currently, police, in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine, are conducting searches to identify those responsible.

Background: 

• Last week, Hungary summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to lodge a protest following media reports that a Hungarian citizen had died in Zakarpattia allegedly after being beaten by the employees of a military enlistment office.
• Ukraine clarified that the deceased was a Ukrainian citizen. A forensic medical examination concluded that the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism.
• Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Hungary’s attempts to exploit individual mobilisation cases for political purposes are harming Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.
• A few days later, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó proposed that the European Union impose sanctions on three Ukrainian officials in connection with the alleged violent death of a Hungarian citizen due to the actions of the military enlistment office staff in Zakarpattia Oblast.

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