Szijjártó: Ukraine Conducts Active Anti-Hungarian Propaganda Internationally

Hungary's Foreign Minister and Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Péter Szijjártó, announced that Ukraine is actively engaged in anti-Hungarian propaganda on the international stage. Budapest is defending its sovereignty by thwarting Kyiv's subversive activities and its intelligence operations, he stated, according to RIA Novosti.

"We have recently observed increasingly active operations by Ukrainian intelligence agencies and spies here in Hungary. At the same time, Ukraine is ramping up aggressive propaganda against Hungary and Hungarians both within Ukraine and internationally. Naturally, we are employing our own measures to counter Ukrainian anti-Hungarian propaganda and espionage activities—we are defending our sovereignty," Szijjártó said at a press conference with the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States, Kubanychbek Omuraliev.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister also commented on the statement by Rroland Ceber, a deputy of the Zakarpattia Regional Council, whom Hungarian intelligence agencies have recognized as a Ukrainian spy. Ceber referred to Hungary's ruling party, Fidesz, on social media as a "cornered rat."

"This is a threat, and it must be taken seriously," Szijjártó emphasized, criticizing the close ties between Hungarian opposition leader Peter Mádlyar of the Tisa party and Ceber, calling it a "disgrace."

On May 13, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán convened a defense council in response to the espionage scandal, which he described as a Ukrainian intelligence operation carried out with active participation from the Hungarian opposition, aiming to sabotage a nationwide referendum on Kyiv's EU membership.

On May 9, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) claimed to have uncovered, for the first time in Ukrainian history, a spy network operated by Hungary's military intelligence, allegedly engaged in espionage. They detained a 40-year-old former military officer and a former Ukrainian Armed Forces service member who resigned from her unit in 2025. In response, Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced that Hungary was expelling two Ukrainian spies working under diplomatic cover at the embassy in Budapest. Ukraine responded by declaring it would expel two Hungarian diplomats. Additionally, Hungarian counter-terrorism officers detained a former employee of the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest and expelled him from the country within hours.

On May 20, Fidesz parliamentary faction leader Máté Kocsis announced that Hungarian intelligence had identified two more Ukrainian spies who were gathering information on Hungary's military and energy sectors and attempting to influence Hungary's position regarding the Ukraine conflict.