With allies like this, who needs enemies? How Orbán’s intelligence network infiltrated the EU

In the mid-2010s, Brussels – long known as Europe’s espionage capital – was home to a spy ring unlike the usual Russian or Chinese operations. This one came from within the European Union itself. According to an investigation by Hungarian outlet Direkt36, in cooperation with Paper Trail Media, De Tijd, and other European partners, Hungarian intelligence officers spied on EU institutions and tried to recruit Hungarian nationals employed by them.

Friendly invitations

Operating under diplomatic cover at Hungary’s Permanent Representation to the EU, agents from the Information Office (IH) – the country’s foreign intelligence agency – met regularly with Hungarian employees of the European Commission. Their approach was simple: casual coffee meetings, friendly invitations, and offers of help with professional or personal projects. But beneath the surface, these encounters aimed to draw EU insiders into cooperation with Viktor Orbán government’s intelligence network.

One Commission official recalled how an IH officer – introduced as a diplomat named V., eventually tried to formalise their meetings by offering money and support for an organisation close to the official’s heart. When the target refused, V. pressed on: “We can find financing for that,” he said, promising that the money would not come directly from the intelligence service. The official walked away and later learned that V. was the chief of the Hungarian spy network in Brussels.

The network collapses

By 2017, the Hungarian operation had imploded. Its officers had acted so blatantly that they drew the attention of EU security services and the Belgian counterintelligence agency (VSSE). V.’s exposure as the IH’s “rezidentura” chief led to a chain reaction that compromised nearly every agent in Brussels. “He acted irresponsibly and tried to recruit people in an astonishingly blatant way,” a source told Direkt36. “Practically everyone was burned. The entire network had to be rebuilt from scratch.”

The revelation marked a new low in the already strained relations between Orbán’s government and the EU. The IH’s surveillance activities were directly linked to Budapest’s growing hostility toward Brussels, as disputes over media freedom, judicial independence, and EU funds escalated. According to several insiders, the purpose of the espionage was not to serve Hungary’s national interest but to protect the political and economic power of Orbán’s regime.

From diplomacy to infiltration

The report details how, between 2012 and 2018, IH officers posed as diplomats, using their positions to gather information and identify potential informants. Their main targets were Hungarian nationals employed at the European Commission and the European Parliament – not foreigners. Recruitment attempts involved patriotic appeals, career promises, or small financial incentives.

Some Hungarian diplomats in Brussels went beyond passive information gathering. They allegedly pushed sympathetic EU staffers to alter reports, “rewrite this, take that out,” to align documents with the Hungarian government’s narrative. In one case, an IH operative demanded internal Commission papers, insisting, “We’re both Hungarians, working for the same goal.”

A particularly striking episode involved a former IH officer, “E.”, who after serving in Hungary’s Brussels mission, was seconded to an EU counterintelligence unit as a national expert – the very body meant to protect the EU from foreign infiltration. When former Commission colleagues recognised the name, they raised the alarm, but the internal response was muted. “The EU system isn’t prepared for what happens when a member state starts behaving in a hostile way,” one official commented.

Under Várhelyi’s watch

At the time, the Hungarian Permanent Representation was headed by Olivér Várhelyi, now the European Commissioner responsible for health and animal welfare in the second von der Leyen Commission (he was responsible for EU enlargement during her first term). Multiple sources confirmed that the IH operated from within the Representation during his tenure between 2015 and 2019. Although it is said that Várhelyi was not directly involved in covert operations, he reportedly knew which of his diplomats were intelligence officers. A Commission spokesperson told Direkt36 there was “no indication that Commissioner Várhelyi has breached any of his obligations.”

The IH’s aggressive intelligence drive coincided with rising EU criticism of Hungary’s democratic backsliding. According to sources, the Prime Minister’s Office in Budapest – then overseen by János Lázár, pressed intelligence officers for rapid results, leading them to cut corners and use insecure communication channels. The resulting leaks ultimately led to their downfall.

Trust eroded inside the Union

Belgian authorities never officially confirmed the exposure of Hungary’s network, but Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said any espionage “targeting EU officials or institutions must be taken seriously,” warning that “espionage conducted under diplomatic cover undermines mutual trust between states.”

Although Belgium still classifies Hungary as a “blue country,” meaning a cooperative intelligence partner, insiders told De Tijd that Budapest is increasingly viewed as “purple” – no longer hostile, but no longer trusted either. The downgrade reflects not just past spying but also Orbán’s ongoing closeness to Moscow.

The Commission said Thursday it would probe reports the media reports. Belgian Member of the European Parliament Elio Di Rupo also called for a parliamentary investigation into the allegations during the plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday (9 November).

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will address allegations of Hungarian espionage with Várhelyi — but has ruled out suspending him at this stage, Politico reported on Friday.

Accoring to the Orbán-friendly press, the media who authored the investigation were paid by George Soros and the now defunct USAID, and the effort is a repeat of tactics used to topple the conservative government in Poland.

Today, Hungarian intelligence officers reportedly remain active in Brussels, as the government expands its diplomatic presence and cultural institutions. Whether they are still collecting intelligence inside EU bodies remains outside the scope of this investgation – but after the collapse of the 2010s network, one lesson stands: in the heart of Europe, espionage can come not only from adversaries, but from what is still considered an allied country.

The full article of Direkt36 can be found here.

Caption: File photo. Handshake between Viktor Orbán, Hungarian Prime Minister, on the left and Olivér Várhelyi. On 17 November 2023, Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, went to Budapest, Hungary, where he participated in the 11th Meeting of Speakers of Parliaments of Southeast European Countries on EU Enlargement./Ferenc Isza, EC – Audiovisual Service