Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, has been cleared of spying allegations, Commission spokesperson Balázs Ujvári said on Friday.
The European Commission said it had closed closing an internal investigation into an alleged spy network whose operatives were allegedly seeking sensitive files related to Hungary and attempting to recruit Hungarian EU officials.
“Based on the information gathered during this investigation and with the tools that we have at our disposal within the Commission, it is not possible to attribute individual responsibility or involvement beyond that of the intelligence officers themselves,” Ujvári told reporters.
Hungary’s Commissioner Várhelyi was placed under investigation because he had served as Hungary’s ambassador to the EU between 2015 and 2019, nominated by then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who later nominated him for the post of commissioner.
Várhelyi has been the target of attacks also because he is perceived as a close ally of Orbán, and because he reportedly regularly attends events organised by the Patriots for Europe.
The announcement of Várhelyi having been cleared of any wrongdoing came a day before Hungary’s incoming Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, took office following his landslide election victory on April 12th.
The decision means Várhelyi can remain in his role as EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare.
Last October, several media outlets alleged that Hungary’s Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels had run a network of intelligence officers posing as diplomats who targeted the Commission’s Hungarian staff between 2012 and 2018.
