Government to Seek Justice for Hungarian Man Who Died After Being Forcibly Conscripted

The government will do everything in its power to make the European Union address Ukraine’s forced conscription practices, and will seek justice for the death of Jozsef Sebestyen, Minister of EU Affairs Janos Boka said Monday on the M1 current affairs channel.

Hungarian Minister of EU Affairs Janos Boka (Photo: Facebook)

The government is committed to ensuring the EU takes action regarding Ukraine’s forced military mobilization, stated Janos Boka, pointing out that Jozsef Sebestyen was a Hungarian and thus an EU citizen, and if the EU stands for anything, it should be to protect its citizens. As reported by Magyar Nemzet, the 45-year-old man, who held Hungarian citizenship, became a victim of Ukraine's forced conscription. Like many other ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, he did not want to be sent to the front lines to die for Ukraine.

Forced conscription in Ukraine has reached unprecedented levels (Photo: Anadolu/Narciso Contreras)

Hungary's government will take the necessary steps and will use every instrument at our disposal not only within the European Union but also in the Council of Europe,

minister emphasized, adding that Ukraine, as an EU candidate country, is expected to uphold European values, including those related to conscription.

 Janos Boka called it outrageous that the EU commissioner for enlargement and the European Commission have remained silent on the issue:

We will not allow this problem to be swept under the rug, and we will seek justice.

The minister continued by stating that even before the war broke out, Ukraine was not a democratic state governed by the rule of law, and that the situation has only worsened since the war began. He said this must impact Ukraine’s prospects for EU accession.

On the upcoming 30 percent tariff imposed by the United States on the European Union, effective August 1, the minister commented that, in his view, both sides have an interest in reaching an agreement—and it is likely one will be made. However, he noted:

The EU’s position is worse than that of the US’s other trade partners (...), and I believe this is largely because the European institutions, and particularly the European Commission, have portrayed themselves as ideological and political opponents of the Trump administration in recent months, over the past year, and even during the US presidential campaign.

He added that while the good relationship between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Donald Trump could play a role, Hungary is part of the EU customs union and therefore cannot enter into separate trade or customs agreements with the United States. Nonetheless, bilateral economic relations, American investments, cooperation, and future favorable tax agreements may offset the impact of the tariffs, the minister explained.

Speaking on Kossuth Radio’s Good Morning, Hungary! program, Janos Boka also said that Ukraine’s EU accession was a political decision, because the conditions required for accession do not currently exist. The political decision, he said, was to bring Ukraine into the EU as soon as possible, but no later than 2030, noting that this decision goes against the practice that membership is a merit-based process in which pre-defined criteria must be met objectively.

According to Janos Boka, in the current legal situation, it is not possible to bypass Hungary's position on Ukraine's accession, but in recent years, EU institutions have interpreted legislation extremely flexibly when it suited their interests, as exemplified by the rule of law proceedings against Hungary. The minister believes that EU institutions will attempt to circumvent Hungary's veto as early as this fall, which is why it is very important to keep referring to the outcome of the consultatve survey Voks2025, which can be a good political tool against political attacks.

Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of EU Affairs Janos Boka (Photo: Facebook)