Several people targeting “protected individuals” have reportedly been arrested in Hungary
Hungarian authorities have reportedly made several arrests in connection with a plot against “protected individuals,” after receiving information from US intelligence services.
The Telex media outlet first reported on the US tip-off on Monday, citing diplomatic sources. The government’s press service later confirmed it had received a warning from the US about a group of young people who had allegedly intended to purchase weapons for an attack.
According to the initial report, the assault was planned for as soon as this Wednesday, when Hungary will commemorate the 1956 uprising against the socialist government. US intelligence reportedly learned about the plot by intercepting online communications between members of the group.
Telex linked the alleged plot with a raid that Budapest police conducted over the weekend in the capital’s leisure district. Half a dozen people were taken into custody when leaving the ‘Legend’ pub, the report said, citing the establishment’s owner.
The government’s statement said Budapest is taking personal security of protected individuals seriously “in view of the international events of the past months, when several leading politicians were attacked.”
Two high-profile Western politicians have been targeted by would-be assassins this year. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured by a gunman in May. He has since recovered and returned to official duties.
Former US President Donald Trump was grazed by a sniper bullet at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July. One person was killed in the incident. Another apparent attempt on Trump’s life took place in November, when the Secret Service spotted an armed man hiding near the politician’s golf course in Florida.
The man who shot Fico and the second would-be Trump assassin both have strong sympathy for the Ukrainian cause in the conflict with Russia, according to media reports. The current Hungarian government led by Viktor Orban is consistently critical of the Western support of Kiev against Moscow, and has urged a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
