A spy drama unfolds against a century of grievances

12 May 2025

The Ukrainian intelligence agency SBU arrested two Hungarian agents last week. It claims they were members of a Hungarian-run spy network searching for sensitive information about military defence capabilities and public opinion in Ukraine's Zakarpattia region. The authorities say the spy ring investigated, among other things, how the local population would react to an eventual Hungarian incursion into western Ukraine.

The Hungarian foreign minister dismissed the news as "the usual anti-Hungarian propaganda from Ukraine" and expelled two Ukrainian diplomats in response. Kyiv, then, continuing the tit-for-tat, expelled two Hungarian diplomats as well.

However, the 'spy scandal' is nothing new or revolutionary for many security experts. Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi reported back in 2023 that NATO allies were aware that Hungarian spies operated in Ukraine. While most member states share what they obtain from spying on Russia, Hungary shared a lot of intelligence collected from Ukraine even back then, according to two intelligence officers working for EU/NATO countries.

But why spy on Ukraine in the first place? It's home to an estimated 150,000 ethnic Hungarians, most of whom live in the Zakarpattia region. The language rights of the Hungarian population are a hot topic between the two countries: Budapest says that Kyiv does not make proper provisions for them to use their mother tongue in schools, for example. At the same time, the Ukrainian government accused prime minister Viktor Orbán of undermining the country's sovereignty through political interference and dual citizenship schemes. 

Spying is not uncommon even between allies, much less between bordering countries. The news, however, worries some, given that Hungarian-Ukrainian relations are at an all-time low, and that Russian state television frequently suggests that Ukraine could fall apart, with Russia taking over the east of the country. According to the Russian narrative, Poland and Hungary could divide the western part between them.

The far-right in Hungary regularly fantasises about seizing or "taking back" territories from neighbouring countries. They base it on the peace treaty of Trianon, which took away two-thirds of the country's territory after World War I.