Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that his country is engaged in active espionage. According to him, every country does it, but “there is a normal level of it,” while Ukrainian activity in this context has “greatly increased.”
Points of attention
- Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary accuses Ukraine of significantly increasing espionage activities in Hungary, condemning their proactivity and disinformation campaigns.
- The Hungarian government claims that Ukrainian spies have been searching for Hungarian operatives and conducting a network of espionage and propaganda in Hungary.
Orban lashed out at Ukraine over “spies”
Orban stressed that the Ukrainians are conducting a disinformation campaign, arresting spies they believe are Hungarian, "which, of course, we have nothing to do with," Orban said.
According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, there is a pro-war, pro-Ukrainian propaganda network operating in Hungary, and the country's opposition parties have ties to Ukrainian special services.
According to him, the opposition parties did not deny this — Orban allegedly saw a video where Ukrainian agents provide services and organize visits for Hungarian opposition parties.
On the morning of May 9, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that it had detained two agents of the Hungarian military intelligence spy network. According to the investigation, the former serviceman and former servicewoman of the Defense Forces of Ukraine were collecting information about the defense of Transcarpathia, looking for weaknesses in ground and air defense, and studying the mood of the locals — in particular, how they might behave if the Hungarian military entered the region. The suspects have already been sent for arrest.
Hungary expelled two Ukrainian diplomats for “espionage” — Ukraine responded in kind. Later, a former diplomat from Ukraine was detained in Hungary and accused of espionage. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi wrote at the time that “when the evidence runs out, the witch hunt begins.” And on May 20, Hungary announced that it had discovered two more “Ukrainian spies.”
