BUDAPEST: Prime Minister Viktor Orban came under pressure on Tuesday to apologise after wearing a scarf that depicted historical Hungary, including parts of Ukraine and neighbouring countries.

During a football match between Hungary and Greece on Sunday, the nationalist premier wore a controversial scarf that shows a map with the historical boundaries of Hungary before a post-World War I treaty.

The map’s outline includes parts of Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Orban posted a video of him wearing the scarf on Facebook.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Tuesday Kyiv would summon Hungary’s ambassador “who will be informed of the unacceptability of Viktor Orban’s act”.

“The promotion of revisionist ideas in Hungary does not contribute to the development of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations,” he said on Tuesday in a statement on Facebook. “We are waiting for an official apology from the Hungarian side and a refutation of the encroachments on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

Romania’s foreign ministry also responded angrily, saying it “has submitted to the Hungarian ambassador in Bucharest the firm disapproval for the gesture” of Orban.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2022