Espionage scandal in Hungary. Journalist accused of treason

Hungarian Justice Minister Bence Tuzson confirmed on Thursday that he had filed a criminal complaint against investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi over alleged espionage. The journalist rejected the allegations on Facebook as “completely baseless.”

In an interview with Radio Kossuth, Minister Tuzson described the case as unprecedented in the history of Hungary. The politician accused Panyi of collaborating with foreign intelligence services and providing the telephone number of Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto for the purpose of surveillance.

Tuzson added that he had submitted a report to the attorney general's office, and a formal investigation had already been initiated. The minister also drew attention to the political dimension of the matter, claiming that Panyi maintains contacts with people associated with the opposition TISHA party and took part in discussions on personnel decisions that the party would make when forming a new government after a possible victory in the April 12 elections.

Then Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, stated at a press conference that Panyi was “spying against his own country in cooperation with a foreign country” and that his role as a journalist was a “cover.”

In the recording, recorded without Panyi's knowledge and published in media linked to the Hungarian government this week, the journalist can be heard talking to his source about a telephone number used by Minister Szijjarto as part of an investigation into his communications with the Russian foreign minister. The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Szijjarto regularly contacted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during breaks in EU Council meetings to provide him with “direct reports on the matters discussed.”

Szijjarto rejected these reports, while admitting that he consults Lavrov before and after the meetings of EU foreign ministers on the decisions made there.

Panyi himself, commenting on the case on Facebook on Thursday, wrote that “accusing investigative journalists of espionage is virtually unprecedented in the 21st century for a European Union member state.”

“This is something typical of Putin's Russia, Belarus and similar regimes. Not only have I never engaged in espionage, but I actually see my investigative work as a kind of journalistic counterintelligence activity aimed at countering Russian operations,” he added, calling the allegations “completely baseless.”

Parliamentary elections will be held in Hungary on April 12. The opposition TISHA party is ahead of Prime Minister Orban's Fidesz in most independent polls. In a March survey by Median, this party gained a 23-point advantage among decisive voters. Polls from centers linked to the government indicate that Fidesz has an advantage of several percent.

Jakub Bawołek from Budapest (PAP)

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