A Hungarian company is linked to the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — In a duplex in a quiet neighborhood of the Hungarian capital is the headquarters of a company that is linked to the manufacture of the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria as part of an apparent Israeli operation against the Hezbollah militant group.

BAC Consulting shares the ground floor of the modest building in Budapest with other enterprises. On Wednesday morning, Associated Press journalists saw the names of multiple companies, including BAC, posted on pieces of printer paper and taped in a window.

In a corporate registry, the company listed 118 official functions, including sugar and oil production, retail jewelry sales and natural gas extraction.

BAC reportedly supplied the thousands of devices that killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded about 2,800 on Tuesday in a coordinated attack that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed on Israel.

More attacks were reported Wednesday, when walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in multiple parts of Lebanon. The second wave of attacks killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 450, the Health Ministry said.

The Taiwanese company whose brand appears on the pagers, Gold Apollo, said Wednesday that it had authorized the use of its name on the devices.

BAC was authorized “to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” Gold Apollo said in a statement.

A Hungarian government spokesman said the pagers were never in Hungary and that BAC Consultants merely acted as an intermediary.

“Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary,” Zoltán Kovács posted Wednesday on X. He did not say where the pagers were manufactured.

Hungarian national security services were cooperating with international partners, and the matter posed no national security risk to Hungary, he added.

BAC Consulting, which was registered as a limited liability company in May 2022, brought in $725,000 in revenue in 2022 and $593,000 in 2023, according to the company registry.

Its CEO is Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, who describes herself on LinkedIn as a strategic adviser and business developer with a doctorate.

BAC could be an acronym, in the Eastern name order that is used in Hungary, for Bársony-Arcidiacono Cristiana.

The AP attempted to reach Bársony-Arcidiacono by email and social media sites but received no response. It was not clear what connection, if any, she or BAC had to the attack.

She describes herself as a physicist and a consultant for projects to solve environmental and political issues. She co-authored a paper in 2022 for a UNESCO conference on underground water management.

Among other positions, Bársony-Arcidiacono's LinkedIn page said she serves on the board of directors of the Earth Child Institute, a sustainability group. But the group does not list Bársony-Arcidiacono among its board members on its website.

She also writes that she is a strategic adviser for major international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the CARE humanitarian agency, as well as for venture capital firms.

The IAEA confirmed that a person by Bársony-Arcidiacono’s name was an intern with the agency for nine months in 2008 and 2009. The other relationships could not be immediately confirmed.

In an article featuring her on an online expert site, Bársony-Arcidiacono said: “A good understanding of local issues and a network of collaborators in various areas are important to succeed.”

The BAC Consulting website, which became unavailable Wednesday, describes the company's fields of expertise as “environment, development and international affairs.”

Phone calls to the number listed for BAC went unanswered. A woman who emerged Wednesday from the Budapest building housing the company's headquarters said the location is used as a service that provides addresses to companies. She would not give her name.

Social media accounts indicate Bársony-Arcidiacono studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the School of Oriental and African Studies. She has also posted published scientific papers on water ionization, climate change and other topics in the natural sciences.

An Instagram account features many of her “photos and sketches from around the world.”

“Sicily, Budapest, Paris, Africa, etc.,” it reads.

Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Előd Novak, a member of the National Assembly of Hungary, talks to the local media in front of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Előd Novak, a member of the National Assembly of Hungary, talks to the local media in front of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Előd Novak, a member of the National Assembly of Hungary, talks to the local media in front of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Előd Novak, a member of the National Assembly of Hungary, tries to enter to a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Local media works around a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

This shows a sign featuring the names of several companies on the door of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

MUNICH (AP) — Security has tightened at Oktoberfest in the wake of last month’s deadly knife attack in Solingen in western Germany, and officials warned revelers to expect longer lines at entry points as metal detectors will be deployed for the first time in the Bavarian beer festival's 189-year history.

Authorities say there are no specific threats to the world's largest folk festival, which begins Saturday with the traditional keg-tapping in Munich and runs through Oct. 6. Some 6 million participants, many wearing traditional lederhosen and dirndl dresses, are expected over the course of the event.

The stepped-up security comes after an Aug. 23 attack in Solingen that left three dead and eight wounded. A 26-year-old Syrian suspect was arrested. He was an asylum-seeker who was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year but reportedly disappeared for a time and avoided deportation. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the violence, without providing evidence.

The violence left Germany shaken and pushed immigration back to the top of the country’s political agenda. In response, the Interior Ministry extended temporary border controls to all nine of its frontiers this week. The controls are set to last six months and are threatening to test European unity.

The effects of the Solingen attack and other recent violence across Germany will also be felt at Oktoberfest. Hand-held metal detectors will be used for the first time, with police and security staff using them on a random basis or following suspicious activity.

“We have had to react to the fact that attacks with knives have increased in recent weeks and months,” Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter told The Associated Press during a media tour of the festival grounds to highlight the new security measures. “We will do everything we can to ensure that nobody comes to Oktoberfest with a knife or other dangerous weapons.”

In addition to some 600 police officers and 2,000 security staff, more than 50 cameras will be installed across the grounds of the festival, which will be fenced off as well. Festival goers also are prohibited from bringing knives, glass bottles and backpacks.

Oktoberfest is no stranger to increased security in the past. In 2016, authorities implemented tighter measures in response to a series of attacks, including when a German teenager fatally shot nine people at a Munich mall before killing himself.

Peter Neumann, a professor of security studies at King’s College London, said Oktoberfest officials are taking a sensible approach to security in light of Solingen, as well as other recent foiled plots across Europe. Extremists and groups like the Islamic State seek locations where an attack would garner international headlines and “cause a lot of terror,” he said.

French authorities say they thwarted three plots against the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris and other cities that hosted the summer events, which included plans to attack “ Israeli institutions or representatives of Israel in Paris.” And Austrian officials last month arrested a 19-year-old who had allegedly plotted to attack now-canceled Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna and kill tens of thousands of fans.

“These are all global events where you can expect to cause a lot of attention,” Neumann said.

Neumann said the Islamic State has been gaining momentum during the Israel-Hamas war.

The group referenced the war when it claimed responsibility for the Solingen violence, saying the attacker targeted Christians and that as a “soldier of the Islamic State” he carried out the assaults “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”

Oktoberfest is a difficult event for police to secure, though authorities say there haven't been any concrete threats to the festival.

“It’s an iconic event and this is exactly the kind of event that they’d want to strike,” Neumann said. “But with millions of people — drunk people to be honest — running around, it’s really difficult to control every movement.”

The festival's organizer, Clemens Baumgärtner, promised a safe public space, possibly "the safest place in Germany" during the 16 days of Oktoberfest.

A view of the new ride "Laser Pix", during a press tour at the Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)

Police officer patrol, during a press tour at the Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)

A brass band plays during a press tour at the Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)

Workers stand on a lifting platform during construction work on the Oktoberfest grounds at the main entrance, in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP)