Russian embassy denies arrival of Russian intelligence agents to Budapest seeking to influence Hungarian election results

Instead of in a letter, the Russian Embassy in Budapest responded to a journalist's inquiry in a public Facebook post. According to her publicly released email, Fruzsina Molnár, an editor and reporter at RTL Klub, asked the Russian Embassy in Hungary whether a three-member Russian delegation led by Vadim Titov or Sergey Kiriyenko was working there, and if so, what their tasks were.

The journalist was presumably asking about information obtained by Szabolcs Panyi, a journalist at VSquare. In his latest newsletter, Panyi wrote that Sergey Kiriyenko had been appointed to "handle Hungary," and that Vadim Titov was at the top of the organization led by Kiriyenko. Panyi also reported that, according to his information, three people arrived in Budapest a few weeks ago on behalf of the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service, with the goal of influencing the outcome of the Hungarian elections in a similar way to what they did in Moldova.

In its unusually public response, the embassy wrote that, in their view, Szabolcs Panyi's article "contains speculation about alleged Russian interference" and spreads false information. As they wrote, “No Russian delegation led by Sergey Kiriyenko or Vadim Titov is working at the embassy.”

Responding to the Russian embassy's post, Szabolcs Panyi wrote: "The three GRU agents arrived in Budapest at the end of January, and on 11 February, the United States even shared intelligence information about this with its partners. Other European services are also closely monitoring Kiriyenko's operation. I wrote my report based on several independent sources, as I had done previously when reporting on the hacking of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry's systems and other stories. Sergey Kiriyenko and Vadim Titov are, of course, directing the operation from Moscow and Russia, while the team sent to Budapest is likely tasked with something that can only be accomplished through personal, physical presence. Most of the influencing activities are carried out online from Russian territory.”

The embassy also writes: "It is unclear why Péter Magyar felt the need to bring up this tired old narrative. With this, they are likely referring to the fact that on Friday, the president of the opposition Tisza Party wrote on his Facebook page that, “Since János Kádár, Viktor Orbán is the first to invite the Russians into our country. We demand an immediate end to foreign interference in the Hungarian elections!”

Péter Magyar said that "according to information from several sources, members of Russian military intelligence (GRU) arrived in Budapest weeks ago with the purpose and mission of influencing the outcome of the Hungarian elections. They previously did the same thing in Moldova." By "information from several sources," Magyar presumably meant that, in addition to Panyi, national security expert Péter Buda also reported on his website that he had learned that “Russian intelligence agents had arrived in Budapest with the goal of influencing the elections.”

In its post, the Russian Embassy wondered whether Péter Magyar had written this because “perhaps his electoral support is not so strong, so he is forced to resort to such methods? Perhaps he should choose better advisors?”

Magyar responded to this suggestion on his Facebook page, writing, among other things, that "we Hungarians are the heirs of the freedom fighters of 1956. No one can blackmail or threaten Hungary and the Hungarian people." He believes that on April 12, the majority of Hungarians will confirm that "our country's place is in the European alliance system and that they want to live in a free, independent Hungary, free from external influence. I expect you to show respect for all Hungarian people and for the sovereignty of our country." The president of the Tisza Party also stated that “the future Tisza government will strive for a balanced relationship with the Russian Federation. At the same time, I strongly urge the Russian leadership to refrain from influencing the Hungarian parliamentary elections in any way and from threatening Hungarians.”