BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungarian authorities have filed criminal espionage charges against investigative reporter Szabolcs Panyi, with officials claiming he conducted intelligence activities in collaboration with a foreign nation, according to a government minister’s announcement Thursday.
Panyi specializes in national security and intelligence coverage and has written numerous pieces exposing Russian influence campaigns within Hungary, including detailed reporting on connections between Moscow and Hungary’s foreign minister.
The journalist has rejected these accusations, while media organizations he contributes to have criticized Hungary’s administration for employing “authoritarian tactics” to undermine the reporter and discredit his investigative work.
Government-affiliated Hungarian media this week broadcast portions of a covertly recorded conversation featuring Panyi discussing verification of a phone number belonging to Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. The recording was made without the journalist’s consent as part of his investigation into Szijjártó’s communications with Russian officials.
The Washington Post recently published a report, based on information from multiple current and former European security officials, revealing that Szijjártó routinely briefed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during European Union council meeting intermissions, providing him with “direct reports on what was discussed” along with potential solutions.
While Szijjártó has rejected this reporting, he has confirmed that he does communicate with Lavrov before and after EU foreign minister gatherings regarding meeting agendas and outcomes.
During Thursday’s press briefing, Gergely Gulyás, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, announced that Hungary’s justice minister had brought espionage charges against Panyi. Gulyás claimed the journalist had “spied against his own country in cooperation with a foreign state,” describing his journalism work as a “cover activity.”
Gulyás further stated it remained “legally debatable” whether the journalist’s actions constituted treason.
Through social media statements and interviews with Hungarian news outlet Telex, Panyi has maintained his innocence and disputed the government’s claims that he provided Szijjártó’s phone number to any foreign government. He did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.
Panyi contributes to Hungarian investigative publication Direkt36 and the Warsaw-based Central European investigative platform VSquare. In a Wednesday statement issued before the charges were filed, VSquare declared that Orbán’s administration was “once again resorting to authoritarian tactics to target a journalist whose reporting exposes truths inconvenient to the regime.”
The publication accused Hungary’s government of launching a “smear campaign” against Panyi “to undermine his findings, distract the public, and discredit a reporter who reveals compromising information.”
A 2021 investigation conducted by an international consortium revealed that Panyi had been surveilled using Pegasus, military-grade surveillance software developed by Israeli company NSO Group. This spyware can infiltrate mobile devices to gather personal information and location data while secretly accessing microphones and cameras.
A high-ranking official within Orbán’s party subsequently confirmed that the Hungarian government had acquired and utilized this software, targeting at least 10 attorneys, one opposition political figure, and multiple journalists critical of the administration.
Prime Minister Orbán and his Fidesz party are confronting their most significant electoral challenge in his 16-year tenure. With polling data showing him trailing a center-right challenger by double-digit margins, Orbán has characterized the April 12 election as crucial for Hungary’s survival, claiming that his defeat would result in the country being pulled into Russia’s conflict with neighboring Ukraine.
Orbán’s campaign strategy has centered on strong anti-Ukraine rhetoric, with the government recently alleging that Kyiv has deployed intelligence operatives to manipulate the election results.
In a Thursday social media video, Orbán demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “immediately call home his agents,” though he offered no supporting evidence for these accusations.
Hungary’s administration has rejected reports suggesting that Russian intelligence services are working to influence the election in Orbán’s favor.
