Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that Hungarian reconnaissance drones have been detected in western Ukraine
Vladimir Zelensky has claimed Hungarian reconnaissance drones were spotted in the west of Ukraine. Budapest quickly dismissed the allegation.
Relations between the neighboring countries have been strained. Unlike many EU states, Hungary has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine, and has opposed the bloc’s sanctions against Russia. Budapest has repeatedly spoken out against Kiev joining the EU and NATO, and has accused the Ukrainian authorities of discriminating against the Hungarian ethnic minority in the country’s Western Transcarpathia region.
In a statement posted to social media on Friday, Zelensky said that the Ukrainian military had informed him about alleged “recent drone incidents along the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.”
“Ukrainian forces recorded violations of our airspace by reconnaissance drones, which are likely Hungarian,” Zelensky claimed, suggesting that the supposed UAVs “may have been conducting reconnaissance on the industrial potential of Ukraine’s border areas.”
Responding to the allegation in an X post of his own, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote that Zelensky “is losing his mind to his anti-Hungarian obsession [and is]… now starting to see things that aren’t there.”
Commenting on a decision to declare three senior Hungarian military officials persona non grata earlier in the day, Szijjarto accused Ukraine of carrying out an “anti-Hungarian policy.” The diplomat expressed incredulity that Kiev still expects Hungary to back its EU membership bid.
Following repeated Ukrainian strikes on the Druzhba (‘Friendship’) pipeline that carries Russian oil to Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban last month accused Kiev of attempting to undermine his country’s energy security in retaliation for refusing to back Ukraine’s EU membership bid.
In late June, Hungary vetoed a joint EU statement on Ukraine, effectively blocking Kiev’s accession talks. Budapest has repeatedly expressed concern that Ukraine’s potential admission to the bloc would adversely affect the Hungarian economy.
In May, Orban accused Ukraine of stepping up a covert interference campaign in Hungary. The allegation came shortly after both countries expelled each other’s diplomats amid mutual espionage recriminations.
