Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced heightened security measures after convening the country’s anti-terror coordination body, warning that tensions in the Middle East could have consequences for Europe and Hungary.
Orbán orders tighter border checks amid fears of terrorist cells in Europe
In a short video released on Thursday, the prime minister said the conflict in the region had a direct impact on Hungary’s security situation, writes Telex. As a result, the government has increased the alert level of the country’s counter-terrorism agencies and introduced additional precautionary measures. According to Orbán, the government expects that extremist networks already present in Europe could become more active.
Stronger checks on foreigners entering Hungary
Orbán said authorities had strengthened checks on foreign individuals entering Hungary. However, the exact details of how these measures will be implemented were not outlined in the video. The prime minister argued that past migration waves had enabled Middle Eastern extremist groups to establish a presence in parts of Western Europe.
In his view, these networks could now be activated amid the current geopolitical tensions. Hungary’s leadership, he said, would take all necessary steps to protect the country’s security. “The peace and safety of Hungary will be defended,” Orbán said, stressing that precautionary actions had already been introduced.
Stay up-to-date on the Iran conflict: latest updates, background and Hungary-related developments.
Government warns of increased threat level
The meeting of the Anti-Terrorism Coordination Committee was attended by senior officials responsible for national security, including Interior Minister Sándor Pintér and János Hajdu, the head of the Counter-Terrorism Centre.
At a separate government press briefing, the minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, Gergely Gulyás, also addressed the issue. He noted that Hungary’s membership of the Schengen Area means people can move freely across many European borders, which could increase potential security risks.
While relatively few people of Middle Eastern origin live in Hungary, Gulyás said individuals could still enter the country from Western Europe through the Schengen system.
In case you missed it: Thousands of Hungarians in danger – repatriation flights are on their way.
More police and soldiers in public areas
In recent days, the government has also announced other precautionary steps. As 444 reported, these include increasing the presence of police officers and soldiers in public spaces and strengthening protection around critical energy infrastructure. Officials say the measures are preventive and aimed at maintaining stability as international tensions continue to rise. The government maintains that ensuring public safety remains its top priority.
Oh! By “West” you ment Iranian cells in West Europe.
Now that makes sense.
From V Square: Szabolcs Panyi
Central Europe investigative editor
PUTIN’S ELECTION MEDDLERS ARE COMING TO HUNGARY
Multiple European national security sources have told me that the Kremlin has tasked a team of political technologists with meddling in Hungary’s April 2026 elections. The goal, according to my sources, is straightforward: keep Viktor Orbán in power. The man tasked by the Kremlin to deal with Hungary is Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin’s First Deputy Chief of Staff and the architect of Russia’s entire political influence infrastructure, domestic and foreign. A former head of Rosatom who became Putin’s domestic policy czar in 2016, Kiriyenko has dramatically expanded his remit over the past two years, treating foreign elections as extensions of Russia’s political management toolkit. Moldova was his most recent and most aggressive testing ground, where his operation deployed vote-buying networks, troll farms, and on-the-ground operatives to swing elections against pro-European President Maia Sandu. It didn’t fully work — but the blueprint is intact, and, according to my sources, the Russians are now trying to apply it to Hungary. Based on conversations with national security sources from three different European countries, the intel on the Kremlin’s attempt to support Viktor Orbán’s campaign has been shared with partners, and many EU and NATO agencies are likely already aware — and watching.
There is a new face at the top of Kiriyenko’s foreign influence structure since the Moldova operations. In late 2025, Putin created a brand-new Presidential Directorate for Strategic Partnership and Cooperation, dissolving two older departments previously overseen by the since-resigned Dmitry Kozak. Kiriyenko installed Vadim Titov to head it — a loyalist he knows from their shared years at Rosatom, where Titov ran the state corporation’s international network. Titov is not a diplomat in any traditional sense; like Kiriyenko, he is a political organizer and operator. His new directorate’s focus is on the post-Soviet space — which, in Kremlin thinking, now includes Hungary. The Hungarian operation is being structured on the ground, too. The plan is to embed Russian experts on social media manipulation within the Russian Embassy in Budapest, equipped with diplomatic or service passports. Immunity from prosecution is the whole point — a lesson directly learned from Moldova, where authorities had to spend years dismantling Russian embassy operations before eventually cutting Russia’s diplomatic staff more than threefold. My sources say the Budapest arrangement involves a three-man team working out of the embassy on behalf of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service — though it remains unclear whether they are already active.
This is not the first time Russian operatives with opaque functions have made themselves comfortable inside Budapest’s diplomatic infrastructure. Regular readers will recall my earlier reporting on how Hungary has been welcoming Russian military diplomats with GRU ties — who cultivate “friends” within Orbán’s propaganda apparatus. Meanwhile, pro-Orbán media is amplifying anti-Ukrainian Kremlin narratives more loudly than ever — useful cover for an operation that works best when the information ecosystem is already amenable. And according to one Central European source, Kiriyenko’s Hungary task force is in active contact with campaign operatives linked to the Orbán government. What that cooperation looks like in practice is something I’m continuing to report.