The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs on Monday reacted to an "inappropriate inscription" on a monument in Budapest which lays claim Croatian territory, with the Hungarian Embassy replying that the inscription was incorrectly translated and interpreted, the ministry said.

The ministry said that it had reacted via the embassy in Budapest to “its Hungarian counterparts because of the recently unveiled monument with the inappropriate inscription.”

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban unveiled a plaque with a historical map on the occasion of the centenary of the Treat of Trianon carrying a map of neighbouring countries, including Rijeka.

Media reports over the weekend reported that the inscription on the plaque says “Rijeka – The Hungarian Sea.”

The Hungarian Embassy in Croatia sent an explanation on Monday saying that the inscription was incorrectly translated, the ministry said.

The proper translation, the Hungarian Embassy claimed, should read “Rijeka – To the Sea, Hungarians,” which is allegedly a citation from a newspaper article from 1846 written by poet and politician Lajos Kossuth to motivate the construction of a railway and in which he described the beauty of the sea and coastline.

Croatia’s foreign ministry said in its press release that Croatia and Hungary are two neighbouring countries connected by centuries of common history and that the City of Rijeka geographically and in state terms belongs to Croatia, which “cannot be brought into question.”

“We condemn actions that cause problems and unrest in good neighbourly relations instead of strengthening cooperation with a look to the future. In that regard, the Hungarian ambassador in Zagreb was summoned for talks in the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs,” the ministry’s press release said.

In May, Orban extended best wishes to Hungarian high school seniors ahead of a history exam by posting on Facebook a historical map of Hungary including parts of Croatia.