{"id":93816,"date":"2025-05-09T14:59:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T14:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/ukraine-arrests-two-hungarians-over-alleged-spy-plot-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T14:59:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T14:59:06","slug":"ukraine-arrests-two-hungarians-over-alleged-spy-plot-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/ukraine-arrests-two-hungarians-over-alleged-spy-plot-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine arrests two Hungarians over alleged spy plot | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<figure class=\"flex items-center text-center\"><figcaption class=\"text-3 font-sans uppercase mr-3 whitespace-no-wrap\"><span class=\"ls-art\">Listen\u00a0to\u00a0article<\/span><\/figcaption><audio class=\"h-5 w-60 sm:w-80 rounded-none\" preload=\"metadata\" controlslist=\"noplaybackrate nodownload\" id=\"tts\" controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/attachments\/speech_20250509113143604-CCReb.mp3\"\/><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>                                                                                                                                                                                                         <strong class=\"location-names\"><br \/>\n                                        WORLDWIDE:<\/p>\n<p>        <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s security service said on Thursday it had dismantled a spy network allegedly run by Hungarian military intelligence, accusing two former Ukrainian soldiers of gathering classified defence information in a western region that borders Hungary.<\/p>\n<p>The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the detained suspects, a man and a woman, had been collecting data on air defence systems, law enforcement activity, and public sentiment in the Zakarpattia region, home to a large ethnic Hungarian population.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the first time in Ukraine\u2019s history, the Security Service has exposed a Hungarian military intelligence network conducting espionage activities to the detriment of our state,\u201d the SBU said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>It said one of the suspects had travelled to Hungary to report to his alleged handler, receiving cash and a secure communication device.<\/p>\n<p>The SBU described the suspects as \u201ctraitors\u201d and said they had used their past military experience to gain access to sensitive locations. Authorities seized phones and other alleged evidence during raids on their homes.<\/p>\n<p>The pair face charges of treason, which in Ukraine can carry a life sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The Hungarian government has not publicly responded to the accusations.<\/p>\n<p>Although Hungary is a member of the EU and NATO, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has maintained warm ties with the Kremlin and opposed multiple EU efforts to support Ukraine since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Orban\u2019s government has previously blocked military aid packages, voiced resistance to Ukraine\u2019s EU membership, and continued energy dealings with Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>While Zakarpattia lies far from the front lines in the south and east, where fighting continues, the SBU said the nature of the alleged espionage \u2013 focused on military infrastructure \u2013 made the case especially serious.<\/p>\n<p>Former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told that it was not the first time Ukraine had accused Hungary of undermining its security, but said the new claims raised deeper questions about loyalty within NATO.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere needs to be some serious discussion within NATO about members that behave that way,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions between Hungary and Ukraine have flared repeatedly in recent years, particularly over the rights of Zakarpattia\u2019s ethnic Hungarian minority.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, Ukraine expelled Hungarian diplomats over reports of Budapest distributing passports in the region.<\/p>\n<p>According to the most recent Ukrainian census in 2001, about 150,000 Hungarians live in the Zakarpattia region.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen\u00a0to\u00a0article WORLDWIDE: Ukraine\u2019s security service said on Thursday it had dismantled a spy network allegedly run by Hungarian military intelligence, accusing two former Ukrainian soldiers of gathering classified defence information in a western region that borders Hungary. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the detained suspects, a man and a woman, had been collecting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/Ukraine1733625231-0\/Ukraine1733625231-0.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}