A Hungarian conservative outlet has obtained an audio recording in which an investigative journalist claims to have ties to foreign secret services and to the Tisza Party’s foreign minister candidate Anita Orbán. Mandiner says it was sent the recording by an entity calling itself ‘The Fourth Branch of Government’ (Negyedik Hatalmi Ág).
The journalist is Szabolcs Panyi, who works for VSquare and Direkt36—both harshly critical of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government, and funded by the European Union and, indirectly, by George Soros.
Published on Mandiner’s website, the recording reveals Panyi saying he is in touch with “services” that he “cannot name.” He claims he gave the number of “Péter” to the services of “a European state” and asked them if “that is the number they see,” and received the reply “they told me yes, they cannot see any other number.”
Panyi apparently had access to the transcripts of some conversations these unnamed foreign services “eavesdropped on,” specifically mentioning one between Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Panyi even shows the transcript to his anonymous female interlocutor, claiming it proves that in 2020 Szijjártó helped arrange a visit to Moscow for former Slovak prime minister Peter Pellegrini in the run-up to the Slovak elections. According to Panyi, this “came in handy” for Pellegrini, since Slovak society is “quite pro-Russian.” As a side note, Panyi—a self-professed liberal never hesitant to critique the Fidesz government’s anti-gender ideology policies—also makes the nonchalant remark in the conversation that Pellegrini is “a fag,” even adding “very much so.”
Panyi also boasts about his close relationship with Anita Orbán, Tisza’s choice for a foreign minister should the party come to power after April 12th. The ‘independent’ reporter says “Anita is my quasi-friend,” revealing that he had worked for her in her campaign back in 2009-2010 when she was running as a Fidesz MP candidate in a Budapest constituency, but ultimately withdrew her candidacy as a result of, Panyi suggests, Fidesz-infighting.
According to Panyi, he has such a close relationship with “Anita” that he can make specific suggestions as to who the Tisza politician should keep and who she should fire if she becomes foreign minister. “I can recommend people to her, who to keep and who to fire,” he tells his interlocutor at one point, also alluding to the fact that he may have access to foreign ministry files if Tisza wins the elections.
Reacting to the bombshell report, Panyi admitted this morning the recording is authentic. He claimed the leaking of the recording is a “preemptive strike,” aiming to ”reframe my investigations about how Péter Szijjártó shares information with the Russians.” The ‘independent’ reporter claimed in his statement he had not actually given Szijjártó’s number to the foreign services, as they were already aware of it, he merely asked if that was the number they were listening in on. Quite a difference, isn’t it?
The fact remains, however, that Szabolcs Panyi, a Hungarian reporter working for VSquare and Direkt36, is in contact with foreign secret services; he provided the telephone number of Péter Szijjártó to the services of an EU member state, enabling them to bug the Hungarian foreign minister’s phone calls; he is not only a close friend of Anita Orbán’s but actually works with her; he would have access to documents at the Hungarian foreign ministry and have a say in who could work or not work at the ministry if Tisza wins the elections. Pretty shocking.
Viktor Orbán reacted to the Mandiner article by stating
The wiretapping of a government member is a serious attack on Hungary. I have instructed the Minister of Justice to immediately investigate the information regarding the wiretapping of Péter Szijjártó.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó reacted to the news on his Facebook page. The minister said “I was shocked to learn that I was wiretapped by one or more foreign secret services with the active participation of a Hungarian journalist,” adding
Now, I don’t know what the legal definition for a Hungarian citizen to maintain this type of contact with a foreign secret service is, but what is gross is that this Hungarian journalist who maintains active contact with foreign services belongs to the innermost circles of the Tisza Party.
