Who is the woman listed as CEO of Hungary company linked to pager blasts?
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacon
The woman whose company is linked to thousands of pager blasts that rocked Lebanon and Syria this week is under the protection of the Hungarian secret services, her mother told The Associated Press on Friday.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government say that Israel is behind the attacks which have killed at least 37 people and injured more than 3,000. However, Israel has yet to confirm or deny its involvement in the attacks.
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacon has been listed as the CEO of Budapest-based BAC Consulting, which, as per the Taiwanese trademark holder of the pagers, was behind the manufacture of the devices.
She is reportedly receiving unspecified threats, her mother Beatrix Bársony-Arcidiacono told the AP. She "is currently in a safe place protected by the Hungarian secret services."
Talking on the phone from Sicily, she told AP, that the "Hungarian secret services advised her not to talk to media."
Hungary's national security authorities have not yet responded to AP's request for a comment, and the news agency says it has not independently verified the claim.
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Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm, has said that it had authorised BAC Consulting to use its name on the pagers that were used in the first attack but the responsibility for the manufacturing and design was entirely on the Hungarian company.
Also Read:Here's what we know about Budapest-based company linked to Hezbollah pagers
Meanwhile, both the Hungarian government and Cristiana's mother Beatrix say that BAC was merely an intermediary and the pagers were not produced in Hungary.
A Hungarian government spokesman said on Wednesday that the pagers were never in Hungary.
Beatrix Bársony-Arcidiacono, talking about her daughter, said, "She is not involved in any way, she was just a broker. The items did not pass through Budapest. ... They were not produced in Hungary."
Reports suggest that BAC Consulting has no physical offices and simply shares a ground floor in a building with other companies, using it merely as an official address.
About Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiaco
Cristiana was born in Sicily, studied at the University of Catania and later pursued a Ph.D. in London, her mother says. She went on to work in Paris and Vienna and later moved to Budapest in October 2016.
She incorporated BAC Consulting in May 2022.
On her social media profile, she describes herself as a strategic adviser and business developer. It reads that she has worked for major international organisations as well as for venture capital firms. She says she speaks English, French, Italian and Hungarian. On her website, she mentioned having a doctorate in physics.
According to her LinkedIn page, she got her degree from University College London in the early to mid-2000s. Ákos Kövér, a Hungarian physicist and now-retired professor, used to work with her there and has confirmed that she was enrolled there.
Kövér told AP, "At the time, we also published some joint articles. I am not aware of her other activities."
She also worked as an intern at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2008 and 2009 and co-authored a paper for a UNESCO conference discussing the management of underground water.