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While countries such as the United States, Britain and Australia have blacklisted the two firms, no such ban exists in Europe.
But amid a historic European visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping that began on May 5, a flurry of Chinese spying scandals across the continent and an EU crackdown on Chinese trade practices, the growing power of these companies in Europe could mark a turning point.
"We've seen the conversation evolve over time in countries like the United States and lead to a ban, but it's still unclear which way European countries will go," Healy added.
There are no official figures on the number of Chinese-made surveillance cameras purchased by Hungary or the extent of use of Chinese facial recognition technology there.
But according to Shodan, a search software for Internet-connected devices, there are 3,567 Dahua and 18,166 Hikvision devices operating in the country.
According to Hungarian news site Atlatszo, Hungary's police signed their first contracts with Dahua in 2017, signing agreements for the country's border guards and police administrative system to use the company's cameras and software.
Data compiled by Hungary's Electric Public Procurement System show that several universities and the Academy of Sciences have purchased Hikvision products.
Some local administrations as well as Hungary's riot police also use the Chinese company's surveillance cameras.
However, in some cases, the use of Chinese products has been banned.
In one case in 2023, German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall blocked the use of Chinese cameras at its factory in western Hungary.
However, the use of the devices looks set to increase, especially as ties between Budapest and Beijing deepen under Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In February, Hungary signed a security agreement with China to increase cooperation between their law enforcement agencies. The deal could lead to Chinese police patrolling the busiest parts of Budapest, home to the largest Chinese diaspora in Central Europe.
It is unclear how data and access to the cameras will be shared between Hungarian and Chinese officials, but the situation has raised alarm bells in Brussels and among overseas Chinese activists.
Hundreds of thousands of Dahua and Hikvision cameras have been installed across Ukraine, according to data compiled by industry database ImportGenius and provided by Radio Free Europe.
Law enforcement agencies in Ukraine and private companies have purchased a large number of Chinese-made surveillance cameras.
According to ImportGenius, the Ukrainian company "Trading House of Camera Surveillance Systems" is the largest buyer of Dahua cameras and other equipment.
The data shows that the Ukrainian company purchased more than 1 million video surveillance devices - which includes surveillance cameras, thermal imaging equipment and other camera equipment - from 2016 to 2023./ REL
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