Orbán accuses Kyiv of attempted “smear campaign” against Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Ukraine's special services of attempting to disrupt a public survey among Hungarians on Ukraine's accession to the European Union. Source: Orban's statement following the meeting of the Hungarian Defence Council on 13 May, as reported by European Pravda Details: Orban described recent actions by Ukraine's security services as an unprecedented attack on Hungary.

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He claimed that Ukraine launched a coordinated campaign to discredit Hungary, aiming to undermine the survey on Ukraine's EU membership.

He further alleged that Kyiv enlisted contacts within Hungary, including a Hungarian opposition politician, to execute this campaign and target Hungarian defence forces.

Orban called this alleged collaboration between Ukraine's special services and a Hungarian opposition party unprecedented in Hungary's memory.

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At the same time, he vowed that Hungary would complete its survey on Ukraine's European integration, asserting that neither Brussels nor Kyiv could decide on behalf of the Hungarian people.

Background: 

  • A new escalation in Ukrainian-Hungarian relations began when Ukraine's Security Service (SSU) announced it had uncovered a Hungarian intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast (Transcarpathia) in Ukraine's west.
  • Subsequently, Hungary expelled two Ukrainian diplomats in response, accusing them of espionage.
  • Hungary also detained and expelled a former Ukrainian diplomat on Friday 9 May.

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