On Friday 17 October, the Greens/EFA group in European Parliament called for a “committee of inquiry” to be set up to investigate revelations in the European media that the Hungarian authorities attempted to bribe European officials of Hungarian nationality for the purposes of espionage and influence (see EUROPE 13729/27).
“We need to know who may have been targeted, what information could have been harvested and most importantly, given Fidesz’ links with Russia and China, where this intelligence has been sent”, said German Terry Reintke, co-chair of the political group. It is also necessary, she added, to “clarify what role” European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, Hungary’s former ambassador to the EU, may have played in this alleged espionage network.
In her view, “if sensitive data has indeed leaked”, the EU Council “must finally act by stripping Hungary of its voting rights”.
Complaint against Viktor Orbán. On Wednesday, Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German) announced that, together with the NGO Society for Civil Rights, he had filed a criminal complaint against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for attempting to digitally spy on his European Parliament office.
“According to the EU Parliament’s IT experts, the Hungarian government could be behind the eavesdropping attack on me”, said Mr Freund.
The espionage attempt was allegedly carried out using software from the company Candiru, which is also used by the Hungarian authorities. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)