Szijjarto: Embassy staff, journalists evacuated safely from Kyiv

Speaking from New York, where he met with United Nations officials, Szijjarto noted that a decision was taken on Friday for his ministry to organise an international evacuation convoy from Kyiv, where a number of Hungarian diplomats and their family members, as well as civilians, remained in difficult circumstances.

He said the evacuation convoy with 35 people reached the Hungarian consulate in Uzhhorod (Ungvar), near the border with Hungary, safely on Saturday. The convoy included 24 embassy staff and their family members, among them children; two journalists of public media provider MTVA; two Hungarian civilians; and seven staff of the Kyiv offices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe (CoE), whose evacuation had been requested, he added.

The convoy is being escorted to the Hungarian border from Uzhhorod by the Ukrainian police and will be assisted at the crossing by the embassy, Ukrainian border guards and the Hungarian police, he said. Ministry vehicles will bring them to Budapest, he added.

Szijjarto said another big international organisation had asked Hungary to assist their staff in Kyiv and provide a haven for them at the embassy there. “We are providing that opportunity, offering help both to Hungarians and non-Hungarians alike,” he added.

Szijjarto said he had met with UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid and Under-Secretary-General Rosemary A DiCarlo in New York to ask for support in reestablishing the peace in Ukraine. Both pledged to intercede to bring the Ukrainian and Russian sides to the negotiating table, he added.