Was Hungary threatened with occupation by Ukraine? No, that's not true: The idea of occupation was raised by a political commentator who lacks decision-making authority.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by @gaby.ardelean on March 2, 2024, under the title (translated from Hungarian to English by Lead Stories staff):
Here is the Ukrainian threat: they are occupying Hungary!
Our home was threatened by the Ukrainians. The attack plan was talked about on TV, not just by anyone, but a staff member of the president's office.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Mar 14 17:12:52 2024 UTC)
The origin of this claim can be traced back to an interview with Yevhen Dykyi, a Ukrainian war veteran and political analyst, that was aired on the Espreso.TV YouTube channel on February 24, 2024. The screenshot in the video on TikTok is from an article published by Origo.hu (archived here). According to the article, Dykyi suggested that if Ukraine were to lose the war against Russia, it should occupy Hungary to accommodate 20 million Ukrainian refugees.
Dykyi does not serve as a representative of the Ukrainian government or its citizens. Contrary to the claim on TikTok, there is no indication that he holds a position within the Presidential Office. He is recognized as a scientist and serves as the director of the National Antarctic Scientific Center (archived here). Dykyi frequently provides commentary on the conflict with Russia and political matters. In a recent article by the Ukrainian news agency Unian (archived here), he was referred to as "a military observer and veteran of the anti-terrorist operation."
There is no indication that the Ukrainian government is contemplating an assault on Hungary, a member of both NATO and the European Union.
