Hungary's deputy foreign minister arrives in Kyiv to demand explanations for alleged "smear campaign"

Hungary’s Deputy Foreign Minister Levente Magyar has arrived in Kyiv to demand explanations from the Ukrainian authorities concerning an alleged "smear campaign" against Hungary.

Source: Magyar on Facebook on Tuesday, as quoted by Hirado, a Hungarian news outlet 

Details: Magyar said he would be asking the Ukrainian leadership for explanations regarding a "smear campaign" that Hungarian intelligence services claim is being waged against Budapest with Ukraine’s support.

In a video filmed in Kyiv, Magyar said: "The government will defend the country against all attempts at external influence, because nothing is more important to us than Hungary’s interests."

Magyar said that if Kyiv is actively funding and supporting actions aimed at discrediting the Hungarian government in domestic and foreign policy, this can only be regarded as a stab in the back of a neighbouring state that came to the rescue when Russia's full-scale invasion began, putting all differences aside.

"Clearly such flagrant external interference in Hungary's internal political relations cannot be left without a robust response. The purpose of my current trip to Kyiv is to demand explanations from the Ukrainian leadership regarding everything that is happening, and in the absence of explanations, to outline Hungary’s potential reaction," Magyar said.

Background:

• Máté Kocsis, the leader of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, claimed last week that according to Hungarian intelligence services, Ukraine had supposedly launched a campaign to discredit Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
• The campaign supposedly aims to undermine the prime minister's international image and Hungary's ability to defend its interests.
• Kocsis further claimed that Ukraine has spent considerable funds on the operation and that "the Ukrainians have already begun collecting information and fabricating fake news".
• Ukraine has already been the subject of accusations from neighbouring Slovakia, whose intelligence services have declared that a "coup d'état" is being prepared.
• Against this backdrop, and amid ongoing mass protests against his government, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico accused Ukraine of involvement in planning a "Maidan" in Hungary.

Support UP or become our patron!