The European People’s Party (EPP) is blocking efforts by progressive groups in the European Parliament to establish an inquiry committee into alleged espionage activities linked to Hungarian intelligence operations in Brussels, arguing that such a move could ultimately benefit Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán politically.
The proposed committee would investigate claims that the Hungarian intelligence services attempted to recruit EU officials as informants. According to earlier media reports, agents allegedly posed as diplomats at Hungary’s Permanent Representation to the EU between 2015 and 2019, when the office was led by Olivér Várhelyi, now the European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare. The European Commission has already launched its own probe into the allegations.
Progressive factions, including the Greens, Socialists, and the liberals of Renew Europe, are calling for Parliament to conduct an independent investigation, arguing that the matter is too serious to be left solely to the Commission.
However, the EPP—the Parliament’s largest political group—is opposing the move. Party sources told Euronews that opening such an inquiry ‘would play into Orbán’s hands’ just months before Hungary’s April 2026 election, in which the prime minister faces a serious challenge from opposition leader Péter Magyar, who is himself affiliated with the EPP.
According to sources cited by Euronews, the EPP fears that Orbán could use the inquiry as a political weapon, portraying himself domestically as the defender of Hungary against EU interference.
Nevertheless, other groups insist that a parliamentary inquiry is essential to uphold transparency and institutional integrity. ‘We want to be sure that all the facts are on the table. The Parliament’s position may also have been damaged by this [spying activity],’ Green MEP Tineke Strik, rapporteur for the Parliament’s report on the rule of law in Hungary, told Euronews.
As Hungarian Conservative reported earlier, both the Hungarian government and Commissioner Várhelyi have denied the allegations.
Under parliamentary rules, an inquiry committee can be initiated with the support of one quarter of MEPs but requires a majority vote to be approved. The process begins in the Conference of Presidents—composed of group leaders and Parliament President Roberta Metsola—where votes are weighted according to each group’s size, making the EPP’s position decisive.
Related articles:
