Budapest Rejects Ukraine’s Anti-Hungarian Propaganda
Budapest responded to Ukraine’s security service claiming it has arrested two individuals accused of gathering military intelligence for Hungary in Transcarpathia.
Budapest responded to Ukraine’s security service claiming it has arrested two individuals accused of gathering military intelligence for Hungary in Transcarpathia.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday, May 9th, that Ukraine regularly spreads anti-Hungarian propaganda that in many cases turns out to have “no basis whatsoever.”
The minister was reacting to an announcement on Friday by Ukraine’s security service (SBU) which claimed that it had detained two alleged spies SBU said were working for Hungary. According to the statement, the two individuals are suspected of having gathered military intelligence in Transcarpathia, a region that borders Hungary and has an approximately 150,000-strong ethnic Hungarian community.
According to SBU, the “agents” were studying “the socio-political views of local residents, in particular, scenarios of their behaviour if Hungarian troops entered the region.”
The SBU statement infers that the two individuals arrested are Ukrainian citizens, as it says they had done military service in the Ukrainian armed forces.
Relations between Ukraine and neighbouring Hungary have been strained for many years.
In 2017, Ukraine introduced laws limiting the rights of Hungarian ethnic minorities 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.
The relationship became even more frail following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as Hungary was the only EU member state to reject sending military aid and has instead sought to promote a pro-peace stance and a ceasefire to end the war—a stance unwelcome by Kyiv.
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán is also strongly against the EU’s attempts to allow Ukraine’s fast-track membership to the EU. In an interview on Friday, May 9th he said letting Ukraine into the EU would amount to “economic suicide.”
🇭🇺 @PM_ViktorOrban called Ukraine’s EU accession economic suicide during his Friday interview on Kossuth Radio’s Good Morning, Hungary! program.
🛑He stated Hungary does not support Ukraine joining the EU—“certainly not in a fast-tracked way”—and warned that EU leaders,… pic.twitter.com/VqzxsaZuD7
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.”
