Hungary cancelled a Hungarian-Ukrainian expert-level meeting that had been scheduled for Monday, May 12th, after a diplomatic spat between the two countries.
“The decision follows recent events that do not allow for good-faith, constructive negotiations,” Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács tweeted on Sunday.
The move comes after Kyiv announced on Friday that the Ukrainian security service (SBU) had detained two alleged spies SBU said were working for Hungary.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó dismissed the claim as the latest smear campaign launched by Kyiv against the conservative government of Budapest, and said Hungary was expelling two Ukrainian diplomats from Budapest who had been “working under diplomatic cover at the Ukrainian embassy.”
Ukraine responded by expelling two of Hungary’s diplomats.
Then, still on Friday, Hungary arrested a former Ukrainian diplomat in broad daylight in central Budapest for alleged espionage acts. In a video released by the Hungarian special police alongside a Saturday public statement, a man in a black jacket could be seen being held face down on the pavement, surrounded by armed law enforcement officers in full gear.
Ukraine is angered by the fact that Hungary has been the only EU member state since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to reject sending military aid, and has instead sought to promote a pro-peace stance and a ceasefire to end the war.
Hungary issued a warning earlier this year that Ukraine was launching a smear campaign against Viktor Orbán, “with the stated aim of undermining the prime minister’s international image and Hungary’s ability to defend its interests.”
The meeting on Monday would have been expert-level negotiations on the Hungarian minorities’ rights in Ukraine.
In 2017, Ukraine introduced laws limiting the rights of Hungarians to use their mother tongue, and Hungarian communities are regularly intimidated by ultranationalist Ukrainian groups.
The conservative government of Hungary has vowed to block Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and NATO until these laws are reversed.
