A group of Hungarian citizens entered Ukraine on March 11 under the visa-free travel regime for Schengen Area citizens, prompting Ukrainian officials to clarify that the visitors lack official delegation status.unn.uawww.pravda.com.ua Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi stated that the Hungarians "entered the territory of Ukraine under the general rules for all citizens of the Schengen area" and emphasized that "on the territory of Ukraine, this group of people does not have official status or planned official meetings, so it is definitely incorrect to call them a 'delegation'." The distinction was important as the group, led by Hungarian State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy Gábor Csepek, had announced intentions to discuss the Druzhba oil pipeline and inspect its condition.

Ukrainian officials stressed that the Hungarian visitors arrived as private tourists rather than through any official invitation or diplomatic channel.unn.ua Serhiy Kyslytsia, First Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, characterized the visit as "a private trip," while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remarked, "What this 'delegation' is doing here is unknown to me." The Foreign Ministry reiterated that citizens from Schengen countries may enter Ukraine for tourism purposes under the same visa-free rules available to all visitors from those nations.

The clarification came amid broader context regarding the Druzhba pipeline, which has been a point of diplomatic tension between Hungary and Ukraine. Last week, Csepek had sent a letter to Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal demanding that Ukraine restore the pipeline's operation within three days. Hungary and Slovakia had previously announced plans to send a monitoring mission to assess damage at the pipeline's site in Brody, with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico discussing the matter with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.