Ukraine said Friday it had exposed a network of Hungarian spies trying to obtain defense secrets in a border region of Ukraine \u2013 the first time it said such an operation has been discovered. <\/p>\n
The Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) said it had detained two Hungarian special services agents, whom it claims were reporting to a handler in Hungarian military intelligence and were looking for ground and air defense vulnerabilities in the southwestern Zakarpattia region, which borders Hungary. <\/p>\n
\u201cComprehensive measures are currently underway to bring all members of the Hungarian intelligence network to justice,\u201d said the statement. <\/p>\n
Hungary responded to the arrests by expelling two of the staff at the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest. <\/p>\n
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page that two spies who had been working \u201cunder diplomatic cover\u201d at the embassy were ordered to leave. <\/p>\n
Ukraine and Hungary are at odds over the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and Ukrainian accession to the European Union. Hungary has also criticized European sanctions against Moscow. <\/p>\n
The Hungarian government has also frequently complained that the ethnic Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia is discriminated against. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe past three years have shown that the war in Ukraine is being fought not only on the battlefield, but also in the information space. Anti-Hungarian propaganda is often used without any factual basis,\u201d Szijjarto said in a post on X in response to the arrests. <\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters, Szijjarto said: \u201cIf we receive any details or official information, then we will be able to deal with this. Until then, I must classify this as propaganda that must be handled with caution.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not tolerate smear campaigns against Hungary and the Hungarian people,\u201d he said, before alleging that \u201canti-Hungarian propaganda has intensified,\u201d since the start of the war. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t let Hungary be dragged into this war \u2014 and we won\u2019t. That\u2019s exactly why we keep being targeted,\u201d Szijjarto said. <\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s SBU said the Hungarian spies were tasked with gathering information about the military security and studying the views of residents and \u201cbehavior scenarios\u201d if Hungarian troops entered Zakarpattia. <\/p>\n
The SBU alleged that one man from Berehove in Zakarpattia was recruited in 2021 and \u201cactivated\u201d last September. It accused him of collecting information on the location of Ukrainian defense systems, including its S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in the region. <\/p>\n
It also alleged he had attempted to recruit two other men as he tried to establish a \u201cnetwork of informants.\u201d <\/p>\n
The second person detained, a woman who left her unit in Ukraine\u2019s Security and Defense Forces this year, had been tasked with informing the Hungarian special services about the defense systems of her unit and informing on the presence of aircraft and helicopters in the Zakarpattia region, the SBU claimed. <\/p>\n
The Zakarpattia region stayed part of Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union. The region was once part of the former Kingdom of Hungary and later Czechoslovakia. <\/p>\n
According to a census in 2001, just over 150,000 ethnic Hungarians lived in the region, but the number is widely thought to have declined since then. Last year, representatives of the Hungarian-speaking community criticized a draft Ukrainian law that would have restricted the use of Hungarian in schools by allowing it to be used only in classroom activities and not outside classroom settings. <\/p>\n
The two countries had disagreements over Hungary\u2019s 2011 decision to relax its naturalization procedures and allow anyone who can speak Hungarian and has Hungarian ancestry to gain citizenship \u2013 even if they have never stepped a foot in the country. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians were granted Hungarian passports since then, despite Ukraine not allowing dual citizenship. <\/p>\n
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has opposed Ukraine\u2019s accession to the EU in part because of claims that ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine face discrimination. <\/p>\n
Orban has remained on good terms with Moscow throughout the conflict and has opposed the growing raft of EU sanctions against Russia as well as EU aid packages for Ukraine. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Orban said EU President Ursula von der Leyen \u201cwants to pour further billions into Ukraine, pull Europe further into a losing war, and rush a bankrupt state into the EU.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHungary won\u2019t go along with this,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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