The Hungarian Armed Forces detected an object flying over Hungarian airspace from the direction of Ukraine in the early hours of Friday, which later turned out to be a drone that crashed in Zagreb, the foreign ministry cited Szijjártó as saying.

Multiple NATO member states, including Hungary, Romania and Croatia were affected by the incident, Szijjártó said, adding that the authorities were investigating it in cooperation with Hungary’s allies.

Around noon on Friday, Hungary’s air force detected radar signals in the northeast that were similar to the ones seen during the night, Szijjártó said. Gripen fighters were scrambled from the base in Kecskemet, in central Hungary, to inspect the area where the object was detected but found no sign of any flying objects, he said.

The fighters were scrambled again to investigate another radar signal in the afternoon but again found no aircraft, the minister said. Szijjártó said he had informed his Romanian, Croatian and Slovenian counterparts of the radar contacts.

“Because there is a war going on in our neighbourhood, it is extremely important for the armed forces and the air force to take a calm and measured approach at all times,” Szijjártó said.

“It was no different this time and would be no different in the coming period.”

“We must protect Hungary and the security of the Hungarian people and guarantee that Hungary does not get dragged into the war in our neighbouring country in any way,” he added.

Hungarian Authorities Join Investigation Into Case Of Crashed Drone in Zagreb, Reports Hungary Matters

The Hungarian authorities are joining an investigation into the case of a drone that crashed in Zagreb, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday.

The aircraft was likely a Soviet-era TU-141 reconnaissance drone that crashed in the Croatian capital just after midnight on Thursday, local news portal Index.hr said citing unnamed experts.

Szijjártó said on Facebook that he had talked with Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlić-Radman about the case by phone.

According to data currently available, the airspace of several NATO member states, including Hungary’s, have been affected in the flight path of the drone, he said.

“During the assessment, we will closely cooperate with the Croatian authorities and other NATO allies,” Szijjártó said.