Orbán’s spies were hunting me, says Hungarian journalist accused of espionage

Hungary’s foreign intelligence services monitored private conversations of the investigative reporter Szabolcs Panyi, he alleged Friday in an interview with POLITICO after being accused of espionage.

Panyi, who has reported for years on Russian influence in Hungary, said he was warned by sources within the government that his conversations with contacts had been intercepted and passed to the Hungarian Information Office, later to be used by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government in an effort to discredit him.

The alleged campaign began in the middle of 2025 and became “more aggressive” after Direkt36, a nonprofit investigative journalism center in Hungary that Panyi writes for, published an article last year about a Hungarian intelligence operative attempting to recruit officials working for the European Commission in Brussels.

“After this reporting, I already received warnings from Hungarian security sources that the Hungarian Information Office chief is really pissed,” Panyi told POLITICO, about the civilian foreign intelligence agency of Hungary. “I got the tip that Hungarian foreign intelligence was aware of certain conversations about an investigation I was working on involving members of the Hungarian Cabinet.”

The spying allegations land at a perilous moment for Orbán, just weeks before a high-stakes election with huge implications for Europe, as POLITICO’s Poll of Polls shows his party trailing by roughly nine percentage points amid intensifying criticism of democratic backsliding and EU obstructionism.

Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Panyi’s accusations on Friday afternoon.

‘Kompromat’

Panyi said he believes surveillance was likely carried out by bugging a room or via the phones of his sources, since there was no indication that other information on his devices was leaked.

He regularly checks his phone for spyware after he reported in 2021 that it had been infected by the Israeli spyware tool Pegasus — which was reportedly also used to target prominent figures including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi

Panyi added that pressure intensified when the government became aware he was investigating Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s communications with Russian officials, including the alleged use of a separate phone not disclosed to his ministry.

“That’s when they grabbed all the material they had on me, edited it, spun it around and published it as a sort of kompromat,” Panyi said, referring to a Russian term for compromising material.

Szijjártó has acknowledged speaking with Russian counterparts before and after EU meetings, following reporting by The Washington Post that he gave Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reports on what was discussed, and the possible solutions proposed, during EU meetings.

On Thursday, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás announced that the government had filed a criminal complaint against Panyi, accusing him of espionage and collusion with Ukrainian intelligence services. The complaint alleges he shared sensitive information about Szijjártó but does not disclose specific details or evidence. Prosecutors now have to decide whether to launch an investigation or not.

Orbán and Szijjártó have maintained close relations with the Kremlin — including making multiple trips to meet top-level officials in Moscow — even after the EU ostracized Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That has fueled ongoing tensions between Budapest and Kyiv, which continues to resist Russia’s aggression.

‘Betrayed’

Panyi said it had been an “open secret” among European security services that communications between Szijjártó and Lavrov were a regular occurrence. He said the communications were monitored by multiple intelligence agencies, but that no action was taken by EU governments.

“I kind of feel betrayed. I’ve always been feeling betrayed by the EU … how they let Orbán build his own small Russia,” he said. But this time “they had evidence that something almost criminal was going on and they didn’t act. As a Hungarian journalist and citizen, my mission was to make it public.” The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Panyi argued that the scare tactics he accuses the prime minister’s Fidesz party of using reflect that Orbán is not in command, “but on the back foot.”

“We don’t want to go back to an era where intelligence services are used to suppress dissent,” he added. “What happened to me was meant to psychologically pressure me and shatter my credibility.”

Despite that, Panyi said he has received an outpouring of public support — including €10,000 through small donations on a crowdfunding website to support his work in just three days.

In a statement on the Media Forum Association, together with other media outlets, Direkt36 said it “firmly rejects and condemns the coordinated smear campaign launched against journalist Szabolcs Panyi, supported by secret service methods and conducted by the government media.”

“We find it alarming that the government is already trying to stigmatize the journalist on charges of espionage,” it added.