Hungary: Ukraine discovers spy network on the border

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Ukraine has uncovered a network of Hungarian spies that wanted to procure the secrets of defense in the border area in Hungary. Two agents were arrested while the diplomatic tensions increase.
Ukraine has uncovered a network of Hungarian spies that wanted to procure the secrets of defense in the border area in Hungary. Two agents were arrested while the diplomatic tensions increase. (Symbolbild/DNAT)

Ukraine announced on Friday that it uncovered a network of Hungarian spies that tried to secure defense in a border region for Ukraine . This is the first time that such an operation was discovered.

arrests of Hungarian agents

The security services of Ukraine (SBU) said that they arrested two agents of the Hungarian special services, according to reports to a supervisor in the Hungarian military intelligence service. These agents were looking for weaknesses in ground and air defense in the southwestern region of Transkarpatien (Zakarpattia), which borders on Hungary. "Comprehensive measures are currently underway to put all members of the Hungarian secret service network in court," said the SBU in its statement.

reactions from Hungary

In response to the arrests, the Hungarian government showed two employees of the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page that two spies that were "under diplomatic guise" in the message were asked to leave the country.

The relationships between Ukraine and Hungary are tense, especially due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and the striving for Ukraine after an EU accession. Hungary has repeatedly criticized the European sanctions against Moscow. In addition, the Hungarian government often complains that the ethnic Hungarian minority is discriminated against in Transcarpaties.

reactions and propaganda allegations

Peter Szijjarto reacted to the arrests by to x shown that the war in Ukraine is not only held on the battlefield, but also in the information room. He added: "If we receive any details or official information, we can handle it. Until then, I have to classify this as a propaganda that should be handled with."

Mission of the Hungarian spies

The SBU stated that the Hungarian spies were commissioned to collect information about military security and to research the opinions of the residents and "behavioral scenarios" if Hungarian troops should march into Transcarpaties. A man from Berehove in Transcarpaties was recruited in 2021 and "activated" in September 2022. He is accused of collecting information about the location of Ukrainian defense systems, including the S-300 air defense missile system in the region.

In addition, he is accused of recruiting two other men in order to build a “network of informants”. The second arrested person, a woman who had left her unit in the security and defense forces of Ukraine this year, was commissioned to inform the Hungarian special services about the defense systems of their unit and to provide information about the presence of aircraft and helicopters in the Transkarpatien region, according to the SBU.

background to the Transkarpatien region

The Transkarpatien region remained part of the Ukraine after the decay of the Soviet Union and was once part of the former kingdom of Hungary and later the Czechoslovakia. According to a census in 2001, just over 150,000 ethnic Hungarians lived in the region, but the number has decreased sharply since then. Last year, representatives of the Hungarian -speaking community criticized a draft law that wanted to restrict the use of the Hungarian language in schools by only allowing their application for teaching and not outside the classroom.

political tensions between Hungary and Ukraine

The two countries are also disagreement by Hungary's decision from 2011 to loosen the naturalization procedures and to all those who speak Hungarian and have Hungarian ancestors to grant citizenship - even if they have never been in the country. Since then, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been exhibited by Ukrainians, although Ukraine does not allow double citizenship. The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke out against Ukraine's joining the EU, partly because of the claims that ethnic Hungarians are discriminated against in the west of Ukraine.

Orbán held good relationships with Moscow throughout the conflict and spoke out against the increasingly extensive EU sanctions against Russia and against the EU aid packages for Ukraine. On Wednesday, Orbán, the EU President Ursula von der Leyen, said "would like to pump another billion to Ukraine and go deeper into a lost war and push a bankrupt state into the EU." "Hungary will not agree," he emphasized.