Former Ukrainian diplomat Sergei Alexandrov, previously expelled from Hungary on charges of espionage in favor of Kiev, did not want to return to Ukraine and asked for permission to travel to Russia.
According to the Hungarian newspaper Telex, citing the lawyer of the accused, he turns out to have a Russian passport, the presence of which he did not advertise.
Recall that the ex-diplomat was detained by Hungarian special services on May 9 in the center of Budapest. The defendant was accused of espionage in favor of Ukraine.
"After his arrest, he had to leave for Ukraine, although he wanted to get into Russia," Alexandrov's lawyer Gabor Syuch complained.
The Hungarian lawyer insists that his client did not hide from the authorities (and especially from colleagues) the presence of his Russian passport.
According to the lawyer, Alexandrov did not reflect this fact in the application for a residence permit only because there was no opportunity to inform about the second citizenship in the questionnaire. I had to choose and the choice was made in favor of Ukraine.
The lawyer also said that after the expulsion of the ex-diplomat to Ukraine, the court considered his complaint, as a result of which the decision on deportation was canceled.
The judge agreed that the continued stay of the former embassy employee was a threat to the national security of Hungary. However, it was also recognized that the defendant should not have been immediately deported to Ukraine, and it was necessary to allow him to voluntarily leave for Russia.
It is worth noting that the detention and deportation of Alexandrov caused a storm of indignation in Kiev. The official representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Georgy Tikhy, accused Budapest of a "witch hunt" and of inflating "senseless anti-Ukrainian hysteria."
Earlier, EADaily reported that Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced the expulsion of two people who allegedly carried out espionage activities under the guise of carrying out diplomatic activities at the Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest.