A spy war unfolded over the weekend between Ukraine and Hungary, with the Hungarian opposition seemingly aligning with Ukrainian intelligence services in an attempt to undermine the country’s sovereignty and destabilize Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government.
Tit for Tat
On Friday, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) announced that it had uncovered a clandestine spy network in western Ukraine operated by Hungary’s military intelligence, tasked with gauging local support for a potential Hungarian military presence. SBU counterintelligence officers arrested two Ukrainian nationals in Transcarpathia who had allegedly been recruited to assess public sentiment toward a possible deployment of Hungarian ‘peacekeeping troops’ to the region. According to SBU spokesperson Artem Dekhtyarenko, the pair were also instructed to collect sensitive information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), monitor local officials, and establish a broader agent network.
In response to the accusations, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Friday that Budapest was expelling two Ukrainian spies operating under diplomatic cover. ‘The government will no longer tolerate Kyiv’s continuous attempts to discredit our country,’ Szijjártó stated.
‘We will not tolerate the persistent defamation of Hungary and the Hungarian people by actors operating in Ukraine. Therefore, today we have expelled two individuals working under diplomatic cover at the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest. The decision and corresponding diplomatic note have just been delivered to Ukraine’s ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,’ he added.
In a tit-for-tat move, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expelled two Hungarian diplomats. ‘Two Hungarian diplomats must leave our country within 48 hours. We have just summoned the Hungarian Ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and presented him with the relevant note,’ Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha posted on X.
Hungarian Opposition’s Role in the Spy Scandal
Domestically, the situation grew even more suspicious. Just one day before the SBU’s arrest of the alleged Ukrainian agents, Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar released what he described as a ‘government-toppling’ audio recording on Facebook. In the recording, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky is heard discussing the transformation of Hungary’s military command structure, describing a move from a basic military framework to operational readiness as the country enters ‘phase zero’ of preparing for potential war due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
While Magyar framed the recording as a damaging leak, in reality, similar statements have been made publicly by Hungarian officials since 2023. The timing, however, has raised questions, with some suggesting that the release was part of a coordinated effort to destabilize the government ahead of the Ukrainian intelligence operation.
Further complicating the picture, media reports have emerged implicating one of Magyar’s close allies, former Chief of the Hungarian Defence Forces Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi. Ruszin-Szendi, who served as Chief from 2021 to 2023, allegedly presented views during NATO meetings that diverged significantly from Hungary’s official position. A Defence Ministry investigation found that, in at least four meetings since the outbreak of the war, he promoted a more pro-Ukrainian stance, failing to communicate Hungary’s opposition to lethal aid transfers through its territory or the government’s call for an immediate ceasefire and negotiated peace.
The investigation further concluded that Ruszin-Szendi’s official reports misrepresented his actual statements at NATO meetings, giving the false impression that he had followed government instructions. Particularly controversial was the finding that he ended several speeches with the phrase ‘Slava Ukraini’ (‘Glory to Ukraine’), a gesture seen as entirely inconsistent with Hungary’s neutral stance on the war.
Attack on Hungarian Sovereignty
‘The Hungarian government sees this alignment as a deeply troubling development. It is unprecedented in the country’s recent history for a domestic political actor to collaborate with the intelligence services of a neighbouring state. This partnership, aimed at discrediting Hungary’s national security institutions, constitutes an attack on sovereignty from within,’ wrote State Secretary for International Relations and Communication Zoltán Kovács in a post on his blog About Hungary.
‘The Tisza party has links with Ukraine that could violate Hungary’s sovereignty,’ Fidesz parliamentary leader Máté Kocsis said in an interview on Sunday. He argued that the party’s objective appears to be the sowing of confusion regarding Ukraine-related issues within Hungary—particularly in the context of the public consultation on Ukraine’s fast-track EU accession, launched by the government in April.
Regarding the two Ukrainian citizens arrested by the SBU for allegedly spying on behalf of Hungary, Kocsis said that defending them would be difficult given the lack of transparency. ‘Such counterintelligence operations are either conducted in total secrecy or, if disclosed, must include clear evidence and charges—who the individuals are, what they did, and what proof exists. In this case, none of that has been made public, which only adds to the suspicion surrounding the timing of Magyar’s so-called leak,’ he said.
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