BUDAPEST, May 23. /TASS/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused Ukraine of spying on his country, including conducting intelligence operations on Hungarian territory.
Speaking on the Kossuth radio, the prime minister said he was familiar with video recordings showing “the work of Ukrainian agents identified by the Hungarian state.” These individuals have been attempting to establish connections with opposition parties in order to sway public opinion in favor of Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
“Many of their actions indicate that they are trying to convince Hungarians to support Ukraine’s membership in the European Union,” Orban said. According to the prime minister, “the Ukrainians want to mobilize the Hungarian opposition and are carrying out disinformation campaigns” to undermine confidence in the referendum currently taking place in Hungary regarding Ukraine’s accession to the association.
“Their special services are conducting operational activities on Hungarian territory to force the government to make a decision that goes against our interests,” the prime minister explained. Orban noted that Ukraine is spending a lot of money on this effort and trying to “involve serious resources.”
Referendum and spy scandal
Orban reiterated that he opposed Ukraine’s hasty accession to the EU, which Brussels is trying to support. The Hungarian government intends to base its decision on the results of the referendum, which will continue in the country until mid-June.
An unprecedented spy scandal continues to plague Hungary and Ukraine. On May 9, the Ukrainian Security Service announced the arrest of two individuals accused of working for Hungarian military intelligence in Transcarpathia. In response, Hungary expelled two Ukrainian spies working under diplomatic cover at the embassy in Budapest, and Ukraine expelled two Hungarian diplomats from Kiev.
The government believes that the Ukrainian authorities took these steps to discredit Hungary in the eyes of the European Union and undermine confidence in the referendum results regarding Ukraine’s admission to the EU. According to Budapest, the organizers of this provocation sought to portray Hungary as unfriendly towards Ukraine – a country that talks about peace but is actually preparing for war.
