Hungary's government files charges against prominent journalist for alleged espionage

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's pro-Russian government has launched criminal charges against a prominent investigative journalist whom it accuses of conducting spying activities in coordination with a foreign country, a minister said on Thursday.

The journalist, Szabolcs Panyi, focuses on national security and intelligence reporting and has published extensive reports detailing Russian influence operations in Hungary as well as the relationship between Moscow and Hungary's foreign minister.

Panyi denies the allegations, and an outlet Panyi writes for has accused Hungary's government of “resorting to authoritarian tactics” to discredit the journalist and his findings.

In a secret recording made without Panyi's knowledge and released in an edited format in Hungary's government-tied media this week, Panyi can be heard speaking to a source about confirming a phone number used by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó as part of an investigation he was conducting into Szijjártó's communications with his Russian counterpart.

The Washington Post, citing several current and former European security officials, reported on the weekend that Szijjártó regularly conferred with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during breaks in EU council meetings to provide him with “direct reports on what was discussed” and possible solutions.

Szijjártó has dismissed the report while acknowledging that he confers with Lavrov before and after EU foreign minister meetings about their agenda and decisions.

In a news conference on Thursday, Gergely Gulyás, the chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said Hungary's justice minister had filed charges against Panyi on suspicion of espionage. Gulyás said Panyi had “spied against his own country in cooperation with a foreign state,” and that his role as a journalist was a “cover activity.”

Gulyás added it was “legally debatable” whether the journalist's activities amounted to treason.

In social media posts and comments to Hungarian outlet Telex, Panyi has denied any wrongdoing and rejected the Hungarian government's allegations that he had shared Szijjártó's phone number with any foreign state. He did not immediate respond to a request for comment.

Panyi writes for Hungarian investigative outlet Direkt36, as well as the Warsaw-based Central European investigative outlet VSquare. In a statement on Wednesday prior to the filing of charges, VSquare wrote that Orbán's government was “once again resorting to authoritarian tactics to target a journalist whose reporting exposes truths inconvenient to the regime.”

The outlet wrote that Hungary's government had launched a “smear campaign” against Panyi “to undermine his findings, distract the public, and discredit a reporter who reveals compromising information."

An investigation by an international consortium in 2021 found that Panyi had been targeted by the military-grade spyware Pegasus, produced by Israel-based NSO Group. Pegasus infiltrates phones to collect personal and location data and can surreptitiously control the phone’s microphones and cameras.

A senior government official in Orbán's party later acknowledged that the Hungarian government had purchased and deployed the software, which was used against at least 10 lawyers, one opposition politician and several government-critical journalists.

Prime Minister Orbán and his Fidesz party are facing an election challenge unprecedented in his last 16 years in power. Trailing by double digits in most polls behind a center-right opponent, Orbán has cast the stakes of the April 12 vote as existential for Hungary, arguing that if he loses the election the country will be dragged into Russia's war in neighboring Ukraine.

Orbán's campaign has revolved around aggressive anti-Ukraine messaging, and in recent days the government has accused Kyiv of deploying its secret services to influence the outcome of the election.

In a video posted to social media Thursday, Orbán called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “immediately call home his agents,” but provided no evidence for his claims.

Hungary's government has dismissed reporting that suggests Russian intelligence agencies are conducting operations to sway the election in Orbán's favor.