A former diplomat from Ukraine was detained in Hungary and accused of espionage

On May 9, the Hungarian Counter-Terrorism Center detained a former diplomat from Ukraine in central Budapest, accusing him of espionage. The man allegedly threatened Hungarian sovereignty.

This was reported and a video of the arrest was posted on the Hungarian governmentʼs Facebook page.

This man worked as a diplomat, but now no longer has such status. According to the Hungarian media outlet Telex, he worked as a diplomat at the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest in the 2010s. The manʼs wife is a co-owner of a Ukrainian restaurant in Budapest.

The Hungarian government said he was deported from the country that same night. Telex says he is now in Kyiv.

The National Directorate General of Immigration banned him from entering and living in Hungary.

Ukraine has already reacted to the detention of a Ukrainian. According to the spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Heorhiy Tykhy, "when the evidence runs out, the witch hunt begins".

"It is high time for the Hungarian authorities to put an end to the senseless anti-Ukrainian hysteria," he wrote.

• On the morning of May 9, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that it had detained two agents of the Hungarian military intelligence spy network. According to the investigation, the former serviceman and former servicewoman of the Defense Forces of Ukraine were collecting information about the defense of Transcarpathia, looking for weaknesses in ground and air defense, and studying the mood of the locals — in particular, how they might behave if the Hungarian military entered the region. The suspects have already been sent for arrest.
• After that, Hungary expelled two Ukrainian diplomats — Ukraine responded in kind.
• Hungary has consistently opposed military aid to Ukraine, its membership in the EU and NATO, and the lifting of sanctions against Russia. The country is even planning to hold a national consultation on whether Hungarians support Ukraineʼs accession to the EU. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has publicly urged citizens to vote against. However, this vote will not affect Ukraineʼs accession to the bloc.

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