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Reuters
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Hungary cancels talks with Ukraine on minority rights amid espionage row
BUDAPEST, May 12 (Reuters) - Hungary has cancelled a meeting with Ukraine of experts on minority rights that had been due to take place on Monday, citing a row in which the two neighbours expelled diplomats and accused each other of engaging in espionage. In a statement late on Sunday, Hungarian foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar said Hungary had called off the planned meeting in Ukraine because recent developments in bilateral relations do not allow for "constructive talks in such an important and sensitive matter as minority rights". Magyar added that Hungary remained open to dialogue. On Friday Ukraine's SBU said it had detained two suspected agents who, it said, were being run by Hungarian military intelligence. It was the first time in Ukraine's history that a Hungarian spy network had been found to be working against Kyiv's interests, it said. Hungary is a member of the European Union and NATO, which strongly back Ukraine in its war with invading Russian forces, but Prime Minister Viktor Orban is sceptical about Western military aid to Kyiv and retains cordial relations with Russia. Orban's right-wing government has long accused Kyiv of violating the language rights of some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians who live mostly in western Ukraine's Transcarpathia region but the espionage row marks a new low in bilateral relations. Ukraine's SBU security agency said the two suspected agents were former members of its military and had been detained on suspicion of committing state treason. It said they were recruited by a handler in Hungarian military intelligence. In retaliation, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday Hungary had expelled two people he said were working as spies at Ukraine's embassy in Budapest. He said Kyiv's move had been driven by Hungary's opposition to providing military aid to Ukraine.
Al Arabiya
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Budapest expels diplomats after Ukraine detains alleged Hungarian spies
Hungary said Friday that it expelled two Ukrainian diplomats, accusing them of spying, after Ukraine's SBU security service said it detained two alleged Hungarian spies. Relations between Kyiv and Budapest remain cold as Hungary's nationalist leader, Viktor Orban, openly sided with Moscow after it invaded Ukraine three years ago and refused to send Ukraine military aid. Orban has also opposed Kyiv's bid to join the European Union. Ukraine's SBU security service said Friday it had detained two alleged Hungarian spies it accused of gathering intelligence, including the location of air defence systems, in the western Zakarpattia region bordering Hungary. 'For the first time in Ukraine's history, the Security Service has exposed a Hungarian military intelligence network that was conducting espionage activities to the detriment of our state,' the SBU said in a statement, adding that 'two agents' had been detained. The SBU said the suspects were a 40-year-old man and a woman, both ex-soldiers, and that they were supervised by a Hungarian intelligence officer. They both now face up to life in prison, it added. Hungary reacted by expelling 'two spies working under diplomatic cover at the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest,' according to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. He slammed Ukraine's investigation as 'the latest smear campaign.' 'We will not tolerate the constant launching of such smear campaigns against Hungary and the Hungarian people in Ukraine,' Szijjarto said in a video posted on Facebook, slamming 'growing anti-Hungarian propaganda.' Ukraine's security service alleged the man had received cash from the Hungarian officer and tried to recruit at least two people as informants. Apart from gathering information about the military, the agents also had to study 'the socio-political views of local residents, in particular, scenarios of their behaviour if Hungarian troops entered the region,' the secret service added. According to the last official census in 2001, around 150,000 ethnic Hungarians lived in Ukraine's Zakarpattia region.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hungarian foreign minister reacts to exposure of Hungarian spy network in Ukraine
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has said that Budapest has not yet received official reports from Kyiv about the exposed network of Hungarian spies, but also recalled the alleged "anti-Hungarian propaganda" in Ukraine. Source: European Pravda with reference to Details: When asked by the media to comment on the Security Service of Ukraine's statement about the exposed network of Hungarian military intelligence spies operating in Zakarpattia Oblast, Szijjártó said that he had not yet received such reports from the Ukrainian side. Quote: "We will be able to say something only if we receive some details or official information. Until then, this should be seen as propaganda and should be treated with caution. Anti-Hungarian propaganda is often used in Ukraine, and in many cases it has been completely unfounded." Background: On the morning of 9 May, the Security Service of Ukraine announced the exposure of a Hungarian military intelligence network that had been conducting espionage activities in Zakarpattia Oblast, including "testing the waters" on the mood of local residents and their reaction to the potential appearance of "Hungarian peacekeepers" in the oblast. Hungary continues to block the start of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations because of its demands on the rights of Hungarians in Zakarpattia. This has created a risk that Ukraine and Moldova will go through this process separately. Read more in the article: Orbán sidelines Ukraine, helps Moldova. What might happen to Kyiv's EU dream with Hungary's veto Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
