Hungarian intelligence services allegedly spied on European officials

Brussels – Hungarian intelligence services allegedly spied on EU officials while they were visiting Budapest, according to an investigation carried out by the Belgian daily De Tijd and the Hungarian NGO Direkt36 and published on December 6.

According to the reconstructions, the Hungarian spy agency Információs Hivatal (IH) kept some officials of the Union Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) under undue observation, searching their hotel rooms while they were in the Hungarian capital and hacking their computers and phones. Hungarian 007s also allegedly spied on compatriots working in EU institutions, sometimes forcing them to cooperate. An “entire division within the IH” has reportedly been developed, specifically to keep the EU institutions under constant monitoring, according to the De Tijd report, which cites sources within Budapest’s intelligence community.

The disputed facts date back to 2015- 2017, when OLAF officials visited Hungary four times. However, it is not sure if these behaviors continued in subsequent years. At that time, the European anti-fraud agency was investigating whether there had been any misuse of EU funds by a company owned by the son-in-law of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Hungarian intelligence services reportedly recorded the phone calls of OLAF investigators, tailed them, and spied on their private meetings. It seems that the officials had noticed that they were being followed. According to the De Tijd sources, “there were periods when almost all EU delegations visiting Hungary were spied on.” Also, according to the Belgian newspaper, it was normal for IH to search hotel rooms where visiting EU delegations were staying and download information from their computers.

If confirmed, these revelations would constitute the first case in which espionage against European officials is conducted not by third countries but by state apparatuses of a member state. However, it would not be the first time that the Orbán government, which is ultranationalist and considered very close to Vladimir Putin’s Russia, has been accused of espionage against journalists, activists, and European politicians and officials. In 2021, an MP from Fidesz, the ruling party, admitted that Budapest used Israel’s Pegasus software, but the details of that dossier are secret until 2050. Hungary holds, from July 1 until December 31, the rotating presidency of the EU Council.