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Hungarian Operatives Ran Espionage Operation in Brussels, Trying to Recruit EU Officials, Investigation Reveals
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Hungarian intelligence operatives are believed to have run espionage activities in Brussels for years — and even attempted to recruit European Union officials, according to a joint investigation by Spiegel, De Tijd, and Direkt36, published on October 9.
The probe identifies one suspected agent, known only as “V.,” who was stationed in Brussels from 2015 to 2017 under diplomatic cover. Investigators say he sought to recruit an official from the European Commission.
According to the EU official who spoke with journalists, V. appeared interested not only in internal Commission affairs but also in gossip and rumors, meeting with him every few months under the guise of friendly conversation. He reportedly proposed ways to advance more Hungarians into key EU positions—and later offered money, which the official declined, Spiegel reported.
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Embassy documents confirm that V. worked in the Hungarian delegation’s department for cohesion policy in 2015 under then-ambassador Olivér Várhelyi, now the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement.
The investigation suggests that growing pressure from Budapest to produce intelligence likely led to V.’s exposure in 2017. As the Orbán government escalated its demands for information, agents began using unsecured communication channels, increasing the risk of detection. Several EU officials also reported suspicious recruitment attempts by V., though Belgium’s State Security Service said it could neither confirm nor deny the claims.
According to Spiegel, despite the failed mission, V. continued to advance his career. Last year, he authored an article in a Hungarian military intelligence journal discussing the “current challenges” facing the intelligence community. The publication listed him as a lieutenant colonel with Hungary’s Information Office—the country’s primary foreign intelligence agency.
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Spiegel also reports that at least two other suspected Hungarian agents drew attention in Brussels during the same period for overly aggressive networking efforts.
In a separate investigation, De Tijd and Direkt36 revealed that Hungarian operatives had tracked investigators from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) who were probing corruption allegations linked to a company owned by the son-in-law of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán openly opposed Ukraine’s potential accession to the European Union, declaring that Hungarians “do not want to be in the European Union together with Ukrainians.”
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