Ukraine, Hungary expel consuls

KIEV/BUDAPEST: Ukraine and Hungary announced tit-for-tat expulsions of each other’s diplomats on Thursday, the latest in a series of spats between the neighbours that threatens to set back Kiev’s aspirations for European Union and Nato membership.

Ukraine said it had given a Hungarian consul 72 hours to leave the country after accusing his consulate of illegally issuing passports to members of an ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine. Ukraine’s constitution bars Ukrainians from holding citizenship of other countries.

Kiev accused the consul, who is based in the western town of Berehove near the Hungarian border, of "activities incompatible with the status of a consular officer". Hungary in turn expelled a Ukrainian consul in Budapest and reiterated a threat to block Ukraine’s EU and Nato integration.

Ukraine has sought greater integration with Europe since the ouster of a Moscow-backed president by mass protests in 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of a pro-Russian separatist insurgency in eastern regions that has killed more than 10,000 people. "We hope that the Hungarian side will refrain from any unfriendly steps towards Ukraine in the future, and that its officials will not violate Ukrainian legislation," Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.