(Bloomberg) -- Croatia condemned remarks by Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, who asserted that parts of the Adriatic Sea coast had been “taken” from Hungary.

“We condemn any territorial aspiration against other sovereign countries,” Croatia’s the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. The government summoned the Hungary’s ambassador in Zagreb over the comments.

Orban has riled neighbors in the past about Hungary’s territorial history, including when he posted a map on Facebook in 2020 depicting “Greater Hungary” that included areas Budapest lost under the 1920 Treaty of Trianon following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Croatia, which has ruled over most of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea along with Slovenia for more than a century, took offense at Orban’s comment that the territory was taken from Hungarians.

“Those who have a sea and ports are able to bring oil on tankers,” Orban said in an interview with Hungarian state radio. “If they hadn’t taken it away from us, we would also have a port.” 

The specter of Hungarian irredentism comes at a moment when Orban’s erstwhile ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, ordered an invasion of Ukraine and seeks to hold territory in the east and south. Orban has clashed with his EU partners over delivering weapons to Kyiv and imposing a ban on Russian oil purchases, and has labeled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy an “opponent.”

Orban frequently portrays himself as not only the leader of Hungary’s almost 10 million population but also of “millions” of ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring countries who his government has given citizenship and the right to vote. But he has rejected criticism that he has any territorial ambitions over other states.

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