Hungarian counterintelligence has detained a Ukrainian citizen in Budapest on suspicion of espionage, journalist Vitaliy Glagola reported, citing local media.
The incident occurred in the center of the Hungarian capital. According to eyewitnesses, special services stopped a white car, pulled a man out of it and forcibly took him away in an unknown direction. The detained person turned out to be a former Ukrainian diplomat who had been in Hungary for a long time without diplomatic status.
According to local media, Hungarian counterintelligence considered him a so-called “illegal agent” – that is, a spy without official cover. Immediately after his arrest, the man was deported from the country. He is currently in Kyiv.
This incident came against the backdrop of another spy scandal that erupted the day before. The Security Service of Ukraine reported the detention of two former military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, suspected of collaborating with Hungarian intelligence. In response, Hungary declared two Ukrainian diplomats persona non grata.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine promptly reacted with a mirror step - two representatives of the Hungarian diplomatic mission are also being expelled from the country.
All this is happening against the backdrop of already tense Ukrainian-Hungarian relations, which have long been complicated by disputes over the rights of national minorities, the transit of weapons, and Budapest's position in the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine.
