Slovakia and Austria react to Orbán's scarf with map of Greater Hungary

Slovakia's Foreign Minister Rastislav Káčer has called it disgusting that Viktor Orbán wore a scarf with the map of Greater Hungary when he met Balázs Dzsudzsák after Sunday's Hungary-Greece football match. Káčer illustrated the post with a photo of the exact scene.

According to Káčer, there is no room for irredentism and revisionism in the relationship between the two countries. "We saw in 1939 where such sentiments and ideas lead and we see it today in Ukraine amid Russian aggression," he wrote in his Facebook post. In it, he also recalled that his great-grandmother always told him, "You know, Rastik, I am Slovak, but I have always been a proud Hungarian".

Austria's reaction

The Austrian foreign ministry also reacted to Viktor Orbán wearing a scarf with a map of Greater Hungary on it on Sunday, Politico reports. The Austrians said,

"We had a quick glance at the historical maps of the Foreign Ministry. These confirmed the preliminary suspicion that the Kingdom of Hungary within the Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist about 100 years ago."

They added:

"We will inform our Hungarian neighbours of this development as soon as possible."

After the reactions from the Romanian and Ukrainian Ministries of Foreign Affairs, and the response of Croatia's leaders on Tuesday, the Hungarian Prime Minister explained his choice in a social media post saying:

“Football is not politics. Let us not read into this something that's not there. The Hungarian team represents every Hungarian, regardless of where they may live.”