Hungarian minister demands action after Israeli aircraft sighting

Budapest - Defense Minister Imre Szekeres intends to ask the Hungarian government to re-establish a Military Aviation Authority in the wake of confusion following reports of two Israeli Air Force planes flying low over Budapest's international airport, the state news agency MTI reported on Friday.

Although it transpired that the flights had been authorized by Hungary's National Transport Authority, neither the ministry, nor the civilian or military secret services, had been informed of the fact, Szekeres said.

The defense minister noted that existing regulations stipulate that the ministry must be informed of such exercises in advance.

Szekeres's announcement came a day after the right-wing daily Magyar Nemzet reported that Israeli military aircraft had been sighted flying low over Budapest Ferihegy Airport on Wednesday.

The report prompted Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai to demand an immediate investigation. Szekeres said he expects the results of the government investigation to be available next week.

In the wake of Thursday's media reports, Israel's ambassador to Hungary Aliza Bin-Noun denied that the aircraft had been spy planes, and said the flight had been "routine" and the relevant authorization had been obtained from the National Transport Authority.

Bin-Noun said in response to a question from the Hungarian state news agency MTI that the embassy was not privy to details of the nature of the "routine" flights, saying the embassy's only responsibility was to put in the request for authorization.

Szekeres noted that around 500 authorizations for state-military type flights are issued in Hungary every year.

The Israeli ambassador suggested that "anti-Israeli sentiment" could lie behind the initial newspaper report of the incident.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/314903,hungarian-minister-demands-action-after-israeli-aircraft-sighting.html.