TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / September 21, 2024
A report published Friday on the Brussels-based EU Observer website revealed that Barsony-Arcidiacono was involved in supplying explosive communication devices to Lebanon.
Hungarian intelligence services have interrogated Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, CEO of Budapest-based BAC Consulting, regarding the pagers that recently exploded in Lebanon, according to a government statement released on Saturday.
Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese pager manufacturer, stated on Wednesday that the devices involved in the lethal explosions were produced by BAC Consulting under its brand name.
However, Gold Apollo clarified that they had only licensed their trademark to the company and were not involved in the production of the devices themselves.
Arcidiacono, the Italian-Hungarian owner and CEO of BAC Consulting, told NBC News last week that her company did not manufacture the pagers, describing herself as merely an “intermediary.”
The Hungarian government’s international press office, citing the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, reported that intelligence services have been investigating the case since Wednesday and have questioned Arcidiacono multiple times.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution confirmed an earlier government statement, asserting that the pagers used in the explosions had never been in Hungary.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has previously stated that BAC Consulting is a commercial brokerage firm without any manufacturing or operational facilities in Hungary.
The explosions, which occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulted in the deaths of at least 37 people and left more than 3,250 others injured, including women and children. The attacks targeted Pager and ICOM wireless communication devices.
The Lebanese government has held Israel responsible for the cyber-terror attack.
Under protection
Following the explosions, Cristiana’s mother, Beatrix Barsoni-Arcidiacono, said that her daughter had been placed under the protection of Hungarian intelligence due to threats she received after Israel’s cyber-terror attack in Lebanon.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Beatrix revealed that Hungarian intelligence relocated her daughter to a secure location and advised her to avoid speaking publicly about the matter.
Beatrix also stressed that her daughter had no involvement in the explosions, explaining that she was only an intermediary and that the devices were neither manufactured in Hungary nor passed through it.
According to Cristiana’s LinkedIn profile, she holds a PhD in particle physics from University College London and has conducted research alongside retired physics professor Akos Kover at the same institution.
Kover confirmed to the Associated Press that he had co-authored publications with Cristiana but was unaware of her other activities.
At 49, Cristiana is reportedly fluent in seven languages, and her Budapest apartment is filled with her artwork. She spent time “around Africa and Europe doing humanitarian work”, according to the Reuters news agency.
‘External expert’
A report published Friday on the Brussels-based EU Observer website revealed that Barsony-Arcidiacono was involved in supplying explosive communication devices to Lebanon.
The report noted that the woman had served as a “collaborating expert” for the European Executive Agency for Education and Culture within the European Commission from 2021 to 2023.
Her résumé also lists a role as a “project manager” at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2008 and 2009, where she organized a nuclear research conference. The IAEA confirmed that Cristiana interned there for eight months.
Cristiana has described herself as a “board member” of the EarthChild Institute, an educational and environmental charity in New York. However, the institute’s founder, Donna Goodman, told Reuters that Cristiana had no official role with the organization.
In an interview with NBC News, Cristiana acknowledged working for the Hungarian company BAC, which has been implicated in selling explosive communication devices in Lebanon, and reiterated that she was merely an intermediary in the transaction.
