On the evening of Thursday 8 October, the European Commission announced that it was setting up an internal group to examine allegations of spying by the Hungarian government on the European Commission and other EU institutions. European Commission spokesperson Paola Pinho also confirmed on Friday 10 October that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intended to discuss the issue with European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi “at the earliest convenience”. However, she reiterated that these were “only allegations” at this stage.
A consortium of European newspapers, including the Hungarian investigative media Direkt36, revealed that Budapest attempted, through the country’s Permanent Representation to the EU, to put pressure on its nationals working in the European institutions for espionage purposes between 2012 and 2018.
The current European Commissioner for Health, Olivér Várhelyi, was head of the Hungarian Representation between 2015 and 2019, the period during which the events took place.
“The Commission takes these allegations seriously, given their implications for the security and integrity of its operations”, said the Commission’s human resources spokesperson, Balazs Ujvari.
The exact parameters and composition of the internal group that will look into the matter have yet to be defined, he explained.
For its part, the European Parliament press service stated that it “does not comment on allegations”.
“As the EU’s only directly elected body, the Parliament should immediately constitute a committee of inquiry, to determine the extent of these alleged attacks against democratic institutions”, reacted the NGO Transparency International.
According to the investigation published by this media consortium, a Hungarian intelligence officer disguised as a diplomat attached to the Hungarian Permanent Representation to the EU approached European officials of the same nationality, asking them in particular to leak sensitive information and influence the work of the European Commission.
The media investigation “is nothing more than a smear campaign against Hungary orchestrated by foreign intelligence services”, said Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)