This is stupid: Ukrainians believe Pal Maleter is Hungary's defence minister

This is stupid: Ukrainians believe Pal Maleter is Hungary's defence minister

When an Eastern Europe expert at one of Ukraine's leading think-tanks was interviewed by a Ukrainian news site, one question by the journalist has revealed an astounding level of ignorance and incompetency.

NAGYVILÁG English 2022. JANUÁR 8. 15:07

The news portal of the Ukranian media company 24 Kanal (Channel 24) – one of the most popular news outlets in the country – has featured an exclusive interview in its Russian edition with an expert on Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The pundit from the ADASTRA Analytical Centre, declared to be the best new think-tank in 2020, was asked to share his views regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin and some European countries in particular. In his article titled „Putin’s illusions…”, Bogdan Mironenko, a member of ADASTRA’s board of analysts (in the photo above), embarked on a lengthy discussion of the „situation” in Poland and Italy, and he also examined Hungarian-Russian-Ukrainian relations in detail. As h eexplains in the introduction of his article, recent events in these regions have raised concerns.

Focusing on Hungary in one part of the interview, the journalist made mention of recent talks between Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and his Hungarian counterpart in Budapest. However, the question asked in connection with this meeting was rather absurd, as the interviewer, instead of current Hungarian Defence Minister Tibor Benko, named Pal Maleter as the Hungarian negotiating partner, who was Hungary’s defence minister way back on the past, in Imre Nagy’s government, in 1956:

„Can you tell us in more details about the upcoming Hungarian-Ukrainian military maneuvres that Mr Reznikov and Pal Maleter have discussed recently?”

It is perhaps even more astounding that this egregious error has escaped the attention of the „independent” Ukrainian think-tank ADASTRA Analitical Centre’s Eastern Europe expert, who went on to elaborate on some issues he deemed important (for instance comparing Hungary to a student who has just managed to avoid being expelled from school).

The article was written by Bohdan Bodnaruk, a political scientist and analyst of international relations, according to the signature.

The interview was published on 4 January, and Pal Maleter’s name has not been corrected to Tibor Benko until the publication of this article.