The Tisza Party has Ukrainian connections that could violate the Hungary’s sovereignty, said Mate Kocsis on Kossuth Radio’s Sunday morning program. The Fidesz parliamentary group leader cited a report released by the Hungarian Armed Forces on Thursday, stating that Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, former chief of staff, made completely different statements at NATO chief of staff meetings on behalf of Hungary compared to what he put down in his reports back home. Based on meeting transcripts, the chief of staff clearly promoted pro-Ukraine positions and even concluded his speeches with the salute "Slava Ukraini!" (Glory to Ukraine!), Mate Kocsis noted.
Through these actions, he failed to represent his mandate and went against Hungary’s official stance calling for an end to the war and a halt to arms deliveries,
Mate Kocsis emphasized. He then pointed out that following Thursday’s report, Peter Magyar used the entire leftist-liberal media to attack the Hungarian Defense Forces and presented an audio recording that had already been made public by the defense minister and is also accessible on the government’s official website.
No Evidence for Ukrainian Accusations
The accusations raised by Magyar Peter "didn't make any sense at all" and just hours later, the Ukrainians baselessly accused two ethnic Hungarians from Transcarpathia of espionage, claiming they were trying to assess Ukraine’s military capabilities in the region, Mate Kocsis said.
These are serious accusations, but since there’s zero evidence, it’s clear this fits into the propaganda war of recent years,
Mate Kocsis stressed. "There is a pro-Ukraine former lieutenant general – as his is called in the military jargon – and there is also a suspicion that he may have been 'activated' by the Ukrainians, meaning he could have ties to Ukrainian intelligence, which merits a separate investigation." According to parliamentary group leader, the "absolutely obvious" conclusion from the chain of events is that the link may have been Ruszin-Szendi himself.
The Tisza Party, our political opposition, has Ukrainian connections that, let’s say, could violate Hungary's national sovereignty,
he pointed out. The group leader highlighted that Hungarians must make an important decision in the consultative vote on Ukraine's accelerated EU accession, which is a critical matter that could significantly impact not only Hungary’s economy and society, but also public safety.
No Increase in Yes Votes Expected
When asked, Mate Kocsis said he believes the Ukraine issue will not lead to more votes in favor of Ukraine’s fast-tracked accession, even though the opposition hopes it will.
I don’t think that’s the goal. The goal is to stir up confusion,
said the politician, adding that this is a classic intelligence tactic being used by the Ukrainians as part of their propaganda efforts. “Their clear aim is to make the perception of Ukraine-related issues in Hungary as murky as possible, meaning any tool that weakens the vote's impact benefits them,” he explained.
Our position is that it is not up to the Ukrainian intelligence center or the Tisza Party’s Brussels office to decide what Hungarians should think. Only Hungarians can decide on Ukraine’s EU membership,
stated Fidesz's parliamentary group leader.
Ukrainian State Has Persecuted Ethnic Hungarians for Years
Kocsis Mate highlighted that the Ukrainian state has for years systematically persecuted local Hungarians using administrative, legal, and even physical measures, restricting minority rights, language use, affecting daily activities. Regarding the two ethnic Hungarians detained in Ukraine, he said he doubts any real protection can be offered for them, primarily because the charges and evidence against them remain unclear.
"It’s either that such counterintelligence operations are conducted without public disclosure, and there’s no communication, or if there is communication, then we need to know what happened, who they are, what their crime is, and what the evidence is,”" Mate Kocsis said. None of this has happened, which raises further suspicion regarding the timing by the Tisza Party, he added.
