EU chief Ursula von der Leyen will raise allegations that Budapest sought to spy on the bloc’s decision-making with Hungarian commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who has been linked to the scandal, Brussels said today.
Varhelyi, currently a member of von der Leyen’s top executive team, has come under intense scrutiny since an international media investigation said Budapest tried to recruit informers within EU institutions when he was Hungary’s ambassador to Brussels.
“It is obviously the intention of President von der Leyen to raise this and discuss this with Commissioner Varhelyi directly,” European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho told a press conference in the Belgian capital.
This will happen “at the earliest convenience”, she added.
On Thursday the commission said it was to set up an “internal group” to probe the allegations.
Hungarian investigative outlet Direkt36 said the country’s intelligence service developed a Brussels spy network between 2012 and 2018, citing unnamed Hungarian EU officials and other sources familiar with the operation.
Hungarian spies attempting to recruit EU officials operated under diplomatic cover at the country’s permanent representation to the bloc, which was led at the time by Varhelyi, said the investigation.
The scheme appeared to have been designed to mainly benefit Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who often clashes with the European Union and fellow EU leaders, according to the report.
Budapest has dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign orchestrated by foreign intelligence services.
On Friday, anti-graft watchdog Transparency International called on the European Parliament, “as the EU’s only directly elected body”, to set up its own inquiry into the matter.
“If true, these disgraceful allegations that Hungary sought to spy on the EU itself further demonstrate Viktor Orban’s flagrant disregard for the rule of law across the Union,” said the group’s EU director Nick Aiossa.
Direkt36 collaborated with Belgian daily De Tijd, Germany-based investigative outlet Paper Trail Media, Austrian daily Der Standard and Germany’s Der Spiegel for the investigation.
Hungary’s nationalist leader Orban has been at loggerheads with Brussels since his return to power in 2010 over what the EU says is his undermining of democratic institutions and divisive foreign policy stance.
Varhelyi currently serves as the EU’s commissioner for health and animal welfare.
