Russian-backed Orbán regime caught running espionage network in Brussels
A major European investigation has uncovered that Hungarian intelligence officers — operating under the government of Viktor Orbán — conducted covert operations inside EU institutions, gathering information on officials and attempting to recruit informants. The findings have triggered an internal probe by the European Commission and deepened concerns over Budapest’s alignment with Moscow.
According to a joint report by Der Spiegel, De Tijd, and Direkt36, Hungarian operatives disguised as diplomats infiltrated EU networks between 2015 and 2017 while Olivér Várhelyi — now a European Commissioner — was serving as Hungary’s ambassador to the bloc. Documents reviewed by investigators reveal that at least one intelligence officer, stationed in Brussels under the cover of the Hungarian Embassy’s “cohesion policy department,” was in fact an agent of Hungary’s Információs Hivatal (IH), the country’s foreign intelligence service.
The operative reportedly cultivated contacts within the European Commission and other EU bodies, seeking to extract “any kind of gossip” and sensitive internal information. One senior EU official told investigators that the Hungarian agent met him every few months for friendly chats in Brussels parks, eventually presenting him with a document that would formalize him as a “secret agent” for Hungary’s intelligence service. The official refused to sign and declined an offer of money, according to sources cited in the investigation.
The European Commission confirmed Thursday that it will launch an internal security review in response to the reports. Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari stated, “The Commission takes such allegations very seriously and remains committed to protecting officials and networks from illicit espionage.” Chief spokesperson Paula Pinho added that President Ursula von der Leyen has been briefed on the matter.
Neither Várhelyi nor the Hungarian government has issued a response to the allegations.
Moscow’s hand behind Budapest
While the investigation centers on Hungarian intelligence activities, European officials are increasingly framing them within Orbán’s broader alignment with Russia. For years, Hungary has obstructed EU sanctions against Moscow, delayed military aid for Ukraine, and maintained extensive energy and financial ties with the Kremlin.
Analysts describe the espionage operation as consistent with Moscow-style infiltration tactics — the kind of intelligence gathering long associated with Russia and China, not a NATO or EU member state. “Orbán’s government has effectively imported Russian methods into the heart of Brussels,” one senior European security official said privately. “This is not just Hungary acting alone — it’s a proxy extension of the Kremlin’s network.”
Political fallout in Brussels
The revelations threaten to further isolate Hungary within the EU, where Orbán’s government already faces multiple infringement procedures and frozen funding over corruption, judicial independence, and democratic backsliding.
Várhelyi’s position as a European Commissioner — and his past oversight of the Hungarian Embassy during the espionage operation — now raises serious questions about conflicts of loyalty within EU leadership itself.
As one diplomat put it, “It’s one thing to obstruct decisions in the Council. It’s another to place spies in the Commission.”
The European Commission’s investigation is expected to focus on how deep the infiltration went, whether classified information was compromised, and whether the operation had direct coordination or approval from Russian intelligence.
Brussels security officials warn that this case marks a dangerous escalation of intelligence activity inside the EU capital. With the Kremlin’s influence increasingly visible through sympathetic regimes like Orbán’s, Europe faces not just political obstruction from within — but espionage at the core of its institutions.
