On Wednesday night, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Ivan Korčok apologised to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba for Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovič's inappropriate statements about the Zakarpattia region. "I regret this all the more because we had an extraordinarily good talk on how to develop our ties only a few days ago in Kiev," remarked Korčok. Matovič made the controversial statement on Rádio Expres on Wednesday. When asked whether he perhaps promised something to Russia in return for purchasing Sputnik V, PM said in a joking manner: "Zakarpattia".
The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry summoned Slovak charge d'affaires to Ukraine Matúš Korba to protest against the improper statement, asking the Slovak premier to officially apologise. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Ambassador to Slovakia Yuri Mushka has handed a demarche to the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Zakarpattia is a region that belonged to Czechoslovakia until the WWII. It became part of the Soviet Union after it and has belonged to the independent Ukraine since 1991.
