Ukraine expels two Hungarian diplomats. The decision, after a similar measure of Budapest and arrest of two Hungarian agents
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sibiga / Photo: Khaled Desouki / AFP / Profimedia
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday the expulsion of two Hungarian diplomats, after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced earlier that it had discovered a Hungarian spy network and arrested two supposed spies of Budapest, arrests after which Hungary responded by the expulsion of two Ukrainian diplomats, which would be under Ukrainian diplomats Transmit Reuters and Agerpres.
“Two Hungarian diplomats have to leave our country in 48 hours. We have just summoned the Hungarian ambassador to the Ukraine Foreign Ministry and presented it to the relevant note,” announced the Ukrainian Minister Andrii Sîbiga in a message on the social network X.
“Thus we respond to the actions of Hungary, based on the principle of reciprocity and national interests,” the Ukrainian minister added.
The Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced on Friday earlier that it was arrested in Transcarpatia, a region with a large Hungarian minority, two alleged members of a spy network coordinated by the Hungarian Military Intelligence.
According to SBU, “the cell was collecting information on military security in the Transcarpathian region, looking for vulnerabilities in the terrestrial and air defense of the region and studying the socio-political opinions” of the local population.
One of the arrested persons is a former 40 -year -old Ukrainian military man, recruited by Hungarian secret services in 2021 and activated in September last year, says SBU.
Unprecedented: Ukraine states that it has discovered a Hungarian spy network in Transcarpathia that had a clear purpose / Budapest reaction
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto cataloged the announcement about the arrest of the two alleged Hungary spies as an action that is part of the Kiev anti-clad propaganda. “If we receive official details or information, we will be able to deal with it. Until then, I consider this as propaganda to be treated with caution,” Szijjarto reacted initially.
He added that the last three years “have shown that the Ukraine war is partly a war of propaganda”, emphasizing that “it is clear that Kiev often uses anti -magician propaganda.”
A little later, the same Hungarian minister announced the expulsion of two Ukrainian diplomats, which they say would be undercover spies. “Today, we expelled from Hungary two spies that worked under diplomatic cover at the Ukraine Embassy in Budapest,” said Szijjarto in a video message on Facebook, adding that the decision was communicated to the Ukrainian ambassador, who summoned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry.
Hungarian-Ukrainian relationships become even more tense. Mutual accusations of espionage
Kiev and Budapest have tense relations due to the refusal of the Hungarian Conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban to support Ukraine in the War with Russia and the situation of about 150,000 Hungarian ethnic groups, whose rights are violated, according to the Hungarian government, who also stated that the Ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine have died on the front.
In June 2022, Russia transferred 11 prisoners of Ukrainian war prisoners to Hungary, this understanding of Budapest with Moscow causing Kiev irritation.
