Ukrainian national István Holló, who is suspected of espionage, will remain in custody in Hungary after meeting several times with Romulus Ruszin-Szendi, the opposition TISZA Party’s defence expert, the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet reported. Ruszin-Szendi never denied these meetings.

The Ukrainian man will remain in custody at least until the 30-day deadline, which can be extended later. Following a closed session of the National Security Committee on 20 May, Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis pointed out that István Holló is a Ukrainian citizen with a Hungarian name who has never held Hungarian citizenship, but has worked in Hungary as an intelligence agent for a long time.

The suspect was also in contact with former leaders of the Hungarian Defence Forces and investigated the Hungarian military industry in connection with Ukrainian arms and ammunition demands.

Holló has been in the spotlight along with Roland Tseber, a former dual citizen linked to TISZA Party leader Péter Magyar. Tseber renounced his Hungarian citizenship in 2017, most likely due to his Ukrainian political aspirations. Roland Tseber is a senior officer in the Transcarpathian military administration, a deputy of the Transcarpathian County Council, and a member of the Servant of the People Party founded by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

Roland Tseber has been active in the signature collection efforts for Péter Magyar and his supporters in favour of Ukraine’s accession to the EU, claiming that the majority of the Hungarian population supports this goal. Magyar is not the first Hungarian opposition politician to be seen in the company of Tseber, who has previously had dinner with 2022 opposition coalition candidate for Prime Minister Péter Márki-Zay, and has been photographed with Dávid Bedő, the leader of the progressive opposition party Momentum, and Gergely Karácsony, the liberal Mayor of Budapest, as well.

According to Magyar Nemzet, Tseber also maintained contact with Romulus Ruszin-Szendi, former chief of staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces and defence politician of the Tisza Party.

Fidesz MP Lajos Kósa has called a special meeting of the Parliament’s Defence and Law Enforcement Committee for Thursday, 5 June, at which the ‘Ukraine tapes’ of Ruszin-Szendi may be presented, along with Hungarian and NATO documents that could prove that he had taken a biased pro-Ukrainian stance at NATO Chiefs of Staff meetings that is incompatible with the Hungarian government’s position.

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