In a post on Facebook, Orban announced that he has convened a meeting of the Defence Council for this afternoon, saying "we must face the fact that transatlantic unity has sharply deteriorated", and referring to the recent intensification of armed action.

He said there was a wide gulf between "peace-oriented forces" led by US President Donald Trump and leaders in Brussels and Kyiv "who want to prolong the war". Hungary, he added, must stay on the side of peace, "even if this means disputes with Brussels will become louder".

"We must prepare Hungary for attacks with double the force because Hungary is an ally of President Trump," he wrote, warning of "intensified covert operations, smear campaigns, and war propaganda against Hungary".

The prime minister concluded: "We are ready to and will defend Hungary and Hungarian families!"

Official: Ukraine secret services attempt to influence MPs, govt staff, businessmen

Ukraine's secret services have attempted to influence "current and former MPs, journalists, business players as well as government employees", the head of parliament's national security committee said in a post on Facebook.

Zoltan Sas, an opposition Jobbik MP, said he had received the information at the body's meeting earlier in the day, in connection with the "Ukrainian spy scandal".

Referring to an investigation by the Hungarian civilian secret services, he said, "The endeavours of the Ukrainian network have been revealed and the group of people they tried to influence identified."

At the meeting, the committee members were also informed about developments in the war in Ukraine and the Middle East conflict, as well as their impact on global politics, Sas said.

DefMin: Hungary plays active role in strengthening NATO’s eastern flank

At the meeting focused on the Russia-Ukraine war, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the allies needed to refrain from any steps that might hinder the success of the United States’ peace efforts or could lead to an escalation of the conflict.

The meeting also touched on regional security, strengthening NATO’s eastern flank and increasing defence investments.

Eastern NATO countries had been under serious pressure since the start of the war in Ukraine to bolster their defences in response to the threat to their east, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said, according to a ministry statement.

He said that as a credible ally, Hungary made "outstanding efforts" relative to its size and opportunities to contribute to NATO’s activities.

Monday’s summit of the presidents of the Bucharest Nine comprising Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia and the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Iceland Norway and Sweden) was held in preparation for the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague. Hungary was represented by the defence minister on behalf of President Tamas Sulyok.

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all the key narratives within the media landscape.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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