A third of the staff at the Russian Embassy in Hungary may have links to the secret services
Of the 47 staff members at the Russian Embassy in Hungary, 15 have links to the Russian security services, and a further six may be connected to them. These figures were published by the news outlet ‘Agency’.
According to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 47 people work at the diplomatic mission. By way of comparison, the Russian embassy in Slovakia, which has a population of 5.4 million compared to 9.5 million in Hungary, employs 12 staff members.
Among the staff members for whom data on links to the security services is cited is First Counsellor Vyacheslav Schmidt. According to sources, he previously served as chief of staff of a military unit belonging to the Strategic Missile Forces. The documents also note his registration at an address in Moscow where GRU staff reside.
Another first counsellor, Alexei Shaposhnikov, appears in the phone contacts of acquaintances under an entry indicating a link to the FSB. Between 2019 and 2021, he worked at Rossotrudnichestvo.
Trade representative Sergei Lelyuk, according to sources, worked in a department of the Russian Ministry of Defence and was registered at the address of a military unit. His contacts also contain references that may indicate links to the security services.
Similar links or indications of such links have been identified in relation to a number of other embassy staff, including Counsellor Yuri Chernikov, First Secretary Maxim Znamensky, Third Secretaries Alexander Verkhnev and Viktor Burtsev, as well as other officials at the diplomatic mission.
Some staff members have no direct confirmed links, but their education, places of work or registered addresses, according to the study, may indicate possible involvement with the security services.
Tigran Garibyan has held the post of Minister-Counsellor since 2023. He also acts as an interpreter during meetings between Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
By way of comparison, according to Politico’s estimates in 2022, the proportion of intelligence officers in diplomatic missions in Brussels ranged from 10 to 20 per cent.
Parliamentary elections are due to take place in Hungary on Sunday. According to the polling agency Median, the opposition party Tisa could win between 138 and 142 seats in parliament, whilst Orbán’s Fidesz party could win between 49 and 55.
It was previously reported that GRU operatives had arrived in Budapest posing as diplomats. According to the Financial Times, their mission may have been to influence the elections.
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