Hungary opens spying investigation into journalist

Hungarian authorities have launched an investigation into investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi on suspicion of spying for Ukraine, the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs confirmed that a formal investigation has been opened. Police did not immediately comment.

Panyi works for the investigative outlets Direkt36 and Vsquare and reports on the Hungarian government’s ties with Russia.

He rejected the allegations, calling them unprecedented and an attack on investigative journalism. ‘This is indeed characteristic of Putin’s Russia, Belarus and similar regimes,’ Panyi wrote on Facebook.

The case comes amid worsening relations between Hungary and Ukraine and ahead of an election that Orbán has described as a choice between ‘war and peace’. The prime minister has repeatedly claimed that Kyiv and Brussels are interfering in Hungary’s elections, which both deny.

The government has also ordered an investigation into the alleged wiretapping of the foreign minister.

(reuters, max)