A Hungarian official at the European Commission recounted how V., a diplomat at Hungary’s Permanent Representation to the EU, regularly met with them under friendly pretenses but was in fact an intelligence officer seeking insider information and attempting to recruit collaborators.

In one instance, V. even asked the official to sign a recruitment document to become an “official collaborator” of Hungary’s Information Office (IH), offering funding for projects important to the official as an incentive. The official rejected the proposal firmly.

Brussels, home to the EU, NATO, and numerous international bodies, is a hub for intelligence activities, though member states spying aggressively on each other’s institutions is rare and frowned upon. Hungarian intelligence overstepped accepted norms by conducting overly aggressive recruitment efforts and ignoring basic operational security, which led to their exposure.

When V., the head of the IH’s Brussels network, was unmasked in 2017, the entire espionage operation unraveled, and the network had to be rebuilt from scratch.

The operation was overseen from Budapest by government minister János Lázár and focused on politically sensitive issues for the Orbán government, including media freedom, judicial independence, and fiscal matters.

The IH used various tactics, including appeals to patriotism, financial incentives, and career promises, to approach Hungarian officials in EU bodies. Despite some recruitment successes, the overall operation undermined trust between Brussels and Hungary.

Hungarian diplomats working under diplomatic cover formed the core of the spying effort at Hungary’s Permanent Representation, with Olivér Várhelyi — now an EU Commissioner — serving as ambassador during much of the period. While there is no evidence of Várhelyi’s direct involvement in espionage, sources indicate he was aware of intelligence operations conducted under his watch and benefited from their reports.

The investigation also uncovered attempts to infiltrate EU security units by placing Hungarian intelligence operatives within them as “national experts,” raising concerns about vulnerabilities in the EU’s internal security system. Efforts were made to gather intelligence on EU reports critical of the Orbán government and to influence the content of EU documents through pressure on Hungarian EU employees.

Following the exposure of the spy ring and a major reshuffling of Hungary’s intelligence leadership in 2018, the IH’s activities in Brussels have become more discreet. Belgian intelligence agencies, while officially maintaining Hungary as a cooperative partner, increasingly regard Hungary as a “purple country” due to doubts about its loyalty, reflecting concerns over the Orbán government’s pro-Kremlin stance rather than just past espionage.

Hungary continues to strengthen its diplomatic presence in Brussels, recently opening the House of Hungary near key EU institutions — an initiative that Belgian security services monitor cautiously, aware that cultural missions can sometimes serve as fronts for intelligence activities.

This detailed account sheds light on a complex chapter in the strained relationship between Hungary’s government and EU institutions, highlighting the challenges posed by espionage within a union of member states and the delicate balance of trust that underpins it.
 

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