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A Hungarian secret agent reveals the threat of Russian secret services in Hungary
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Ferenc Katrein worked for the Hungarian civilian counter-intelligence agency for 13 years. In an exclusive interview to index.hu, the former executive head of operations talks about the Russian secret services in Hungary, how illegal agents use residency bonds to infiltrate the country, and how political advisors may pose a threat as well.
Ferenc Katrein worked for the Hungarian National Security Office (NBH), then for the Constitution Protection Office (AH) between 2000 and 2013. He resigned when he could no longer identify with the leadership, and the professional values and principles he holds were not being met. Currently, he lives abroad as a civilian.
Katrein considers the Russian threat in Europe to be very serious right now. “A secret service attack is being carried out against the European Union,” he says, “and those influential operations in which the Russians have experience and traditions are part of this. Russia plays a part in furthering the refugee crisis and particularly in using it for propaganda and manipulation.”
While he was still in service, the political attitude to Russia had begun to change. Their active operations, which were professionally justified, could not be carried out, and international relations were being reduced.
Discovering the illegal agents in the country is the biggest challenge of his profession, he says, which would require its own department, since these are the people who can cause the biggest damage. “The Russian secret services think far ahead, and make long-term plans for the next 10-20 years, placing their agents in fields which will be important in the long run, such as politics, energy, law enforcement, homeland defence, education-scientific research, media, etc,” he says.
Katrein estimates that 30-40pc of diplomats at the Russian embassy could be suspected of espionage, although this cannot be restricted to embassies alone. Journalists of state-owned media or employees of a cultural centre could also be suspect, for instance.
The reality is that the Hungarian military, the security services and other government agencies have been completely infiltrated by the Russian security service. Furthermore, there are still traitors alive from the communist era who hold important positions. Hungary is in respect behind other East European countries who had the courage and the decency to identify the traitors.