Hungary is a transit country for asylum seekers and both regular and irregular migration. A classified intelligence report was revealed to show that Afghan smuggling groups and Taliban involvement are located near the Hungary-Serbia border. Critics view the report as government propaganda.
An intelligence report, titled “National Security Aspects of the Illegal Migration on the Serbian-Hungarian Border Area,” was published on the Hungarian Parliament’s website and covered possible links between migration and terrorism.
The report “concluded” that the Taliban’s intelligence service has taken direct control of Afghan smuggling groups operating in the Serbian territory next to the Hungarian border.
The classified report is dated October 25, 2023, and was compiled from intelligence reports by the National Information Centre, a Hungarian government agency dealing with national security information.
During the course of a few weeks, parts of the classified report had been leaked to the pro-government and pro-Orbán newspaper, Magyar Nemzet, which has regularly published stories about the rising violence on Hungary’s border.
In a post on X (ex-Twitter), Hungary’s Political Director of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and member of the National Assembly, Balázs Orbán, posted that the intelligence report contained the following main findings: “At the Serbian-Hungarian border, known terrorist organizations such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas are already present; The Taliban is also present in Vojvodina, with many human traffickers having familial connections to Afghan Taliban government officials and members of the associated Haqqani terrorist group; The Taliban intelligence service has placed the activities of Afghan human traffickers under direct control.”
Hungary’s leadership is often known for its conservative values in the European Union due to its views on migration and social issues. Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is head of the Fidesz party, and has publicly spoken about his anti-migrant views.
On October 26, leading up to an EU summit in Brussels, Orbán stated “those who support migration also support terrorism. We are against terrorism and therefore we do not support migration.”
The declassification was initiated by the parliamentary group leader of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party and chairman of the National Security Committee, Mate Kocsis. The report also describes how internal fighting among different smuggling gangs in Serbia’s Vojvodina is on the rise, and the Serbian police seem unable to control the situation.
According to intelligence sources cited in the report, two Afghan groups, one called 40–059 and the other one called 313, are now controlling most of the people-smuggling business.
Critics allude that the public release of the classified report could be used by the Hungarian government to shape the political climate ahead of next year’s European elections, in which the contested issue of migration is expected to be a major topic, according to non-profit journalistic platform Balkan Insight.
In an article by Népszava, a social-democratic and left-wing Hungarian newspaper, it is stated the language of the report does not really resemble secret service material. An example being Afghan human trafficking groups marked with numbers, while this is not customary for the services.
Critics and national security experts interviewed by Nepszava have referred to the release of the report as propagandistic due to its lack of intent in creating specific solutions, saying it was intended to set a certain precedent about migrants.
