Diplomat with ties to Russian intelligence agencies received at Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Marcell Kubatov, head of the Department for International Organizations at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and trade, received a diplomat linked to Russian intelligence services on Wednesday, 444 reports. According to a circular obtained by the publication, the son of Fidesz party director Gábor Kubatov—about whom HVG revealed in March that he has been a staff member of Péter Szijjártó’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for several years—received Irina Serkova and Pavel Tsvetov, two diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Budapest at 2:00 p.m. on April 14. 444 also photographed Serkova and Tsvetov arriving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Tsvetov, who serves as a First Secretary at the embassy was identified in an April 8 article by the Russian investigative portal Agentstvo as a diplomat linked to Russian intelligence services. He previously worked for a company from which several members of Russian intelligence agencies have received their income. According to the Agentstvo article, 15 of the 47 employees at the unusually large Russian Embassy in Budapest have demonstrable links to Russian intelligence services, while links to the services can be assumed for another six.

It is common practice for intelligence services to have their agents work under official, so-called diplomatic cover at their posts, enjoying the privileges afforded to diplomats.