Ukraine arrested two over the alleged Hungarian spy plot

Ukraine says she has opened a spy network run by the Hungarian state to get intelligence about his defenses near their shared border.

The security service of Ukraine said it had detained two alleged Hungarian spies, which she accused of collecting intelligence.

“For the first time in the history of Ukraine, the Security Service has exhibited a Hungarian military intelligence network that conducted espionage activities to the detriment of our country,” SBU said.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Shijarto said the allegations “should be treated carefully as propaganda until we receive details or official information”.

Speaking on the Hungarian television channel ATV, he said that “anti-Hungarian propaganda is often used in Ukraine … which often turns out to be no reason in reality.”

He did not directly deny the charges, but later on Friday, Szijjarto said two Ukrainian diplomats were expelled from Budapest.

Hungary is a member of the European Union and NATO – both solid allies of Ukraine – but President Victor Orban has repeatedly occurred to Russia after his invasion of Ukraine.

The alleged spy network was created by Hungary’s military intelligence in order to collect location data and the number of Air defense systems, as well as law enforcement officers and their vehicles, in the Western Carpathia area, SBU said.

Zakarpattia is the western region of Ukraine, which shares 84 miles (137 km) border with Hungary.

Spies were also collecting information about public sentiment among locals to predict their response in the case of Hungarian invasion, according to SBU.

SBU does not indicate that the alleged plot is helpful to Russia.

The woman and the man who was detained – referred to by SBU as “traitors” – They were former members of the Ukrainian military and it is said to have been controlled by a Hungarian intelligence officer.

SBU said the male suspect had crossed the border in Hungary to report to his controller, receiving money and a communication device in return. SBU did not develop how the suspected network was discovered.

The alleged spies were taken in their homes, Ukrainian news agencies Interfax reported, and phones and other evidence that showed that spies were seized during a search.

The detainees were suspected of betrayal and faced with life imprisonment.

Relations between Hungary and Ukraine are strained as Russia’s full -scale invasion began more than three years ago.

Orban tried to block EU help packages Ukraine opposed sanctions on Russian oil and gas and expressed its opposition to Ukraine, which joins the EU.

Hungary has been a member of NATO, the transatlantic defense union since 1999, but since the rise of Orban of power as an authoritarian leader, its policies are often contrary to Western positions.

Orban’s government is among the few in Europe that has maintains close ties with Russia After the invasion.

Taken isolated, these arrests and the alleged espionage network participated in a relatively insignificant event.

The short border of Ukraine with Hungary is far from the front lines, and this has a little relevant to the ongoing fighting in the southeast and the northeastern part of the country, where Russia controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

But Russia, which uses rockets and drones to focus on all parts of Ukraine at periodic intervals, would like to know the places of any military assets.

Former UK Defense Minister Sir Ben Wallace told the BBC Radio 4 program today that this is not the first time Ukraine has accused Hungary of subversive activities on its territory.

But he added that the sensitive military character of the alleged goals this time makes it far more serious.

Wallace raised the question of who would be the best recipient of this intelligence, which is said to have gathered from the interior of the borders of Ukraine.

“What Putin is most afraid of NATO’s values,” he said. “And if these values ​​are threatened or undermined, then there must be a serious discussion within NATO for members who behave in this way.”

SBU’s announcement also comes the same day as Robert Fico, Prime Minister of another NATO nation, Slovakia, is in Moscow, attending the Vladimir Putin parade to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany in Germany in the World War.

As the rest of NATO seeks to maintain unity in the face of Russia’s continued invasion, this last news will not be welcome.

About 150,000 Hungarians live in the Ukraine Carpathia area, according to the latest official census made in 2001.

Ukraine and Hungary have been confronted with the rights of this community in the past to use their native language and Orban’s efforts to encourage Hungarian identity there.

Wallace said that when he was the Secretary of Defense, another plot was discovered by Ukraine, in which “the Hungarians distribute passports to ethnic Hungarians in this pocket on the ground”, prompting Kiev to expel a number of diplomats.