cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/4986396

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In the 2010s, Hungarian intelligence began spying in Brussels against the EU and tried to recruit Hungarians working in EU institutions for this purpose. However, Hungarian intelligence carried it out so blatantly and clumsily that they were exposed, and their network collapsed — as uncovered by Direkt36 in cooperation with Belgian and German partners.

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Brussels is one Europe’s spy capitals—home not only to the EU, but also NATO and numerous other international organizations. Covert intelligence-gathering there is usually the domain of Russian, Chinese, Iranian, or other Middle Eastern services—not of EU member states spying on an alliance and institutional system to which they themselves belong.

V. [a diplomat at Hungary’s Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels] and his colleagues’ methods went beyond the limits of what is still considered normal or acceptable in Brussels for an EU member state. Moreover, Hungarian intelligence officers operated recklessly, ignoring basic security precautions. In 2017, V. was exposed—an incident that compromised Hungary’s entire Brussels spy network. As the IH’s rezidentura chief—the head of the network—his fall triggered a domino effect that brought down the entire operation.

“He acted irresponsibly, and that drew the EU’s attention. He tried to recruit people in an astonishingly blatant way. Some EU employees even reported him,” said a source familiar with V.’s exposure.

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This previously unknown chapter in the deteriorating relationship between the Orbán government and EU institutions was now revealed by a joint investigation conducted by Direct36, the German investigative center Paper Trail Media and the Belgian daily De Tijd.

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