Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has said it has identified a Hungarian spy who conducted espionage in Georgia before relocating his intelligence operations to Ukraine. In a statement on Monday, the SBU said Zoltán Andre had worked in Georgia from 2016–2020 ‘under the cover of a representative of the Hungarian diplomatic mission’.
The SBU said Andre was the leader of a spy network the agency uncovered in spring 2025 which was operating in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region, home to the bulk of the country’s Hungarian minority. Hungary and Ukraine have been at odds for years, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán routinely demonising Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, as well as often blocking EU aid for the country and sanctions against Russia.
The statement largely focused on Andre’s alleged espionage activities in Ukraine, and did not detail specifically what he is accused of having done in Georgia.
The SBU said that Andre also used Hungary’s diplomatic mission as cover for his spywork in Ukraine, which included ‘attempting to identify combat positions of Ukrainian air defence units protecting the skies over Ukraine’s western region’.
There has yet to be a public statement from the Georgian government on the SBU’s claims.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has long counted on Orbán’s Fidesz party as its strongest backer in the EU.
Orbán, who has been in power since 2010, is facing arguably the biggest challenge of his current tenure as Prime Minister in the Hungarian parliamentary elections scheduled for 12 April.
Georgian Dream officials, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, have openly endorsed Orbán.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
