Hungary's PM dismisses top spy chief in sweeping security restructuring

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has dismissed the head of the country’s National Information Centre (NIK), Anna Hatala, continuing a sweeping overhaul of senior officials appointed under the previous government led by Viktor Orbán.

“I have dismissed the head of the National Information Centre, the country’s central intelligence agency,” Magyar wrote on Facebook.

The NIK is often referred to in Hungary as a “super-agency” because it coordinates the activities of the country’s intelligence services and consolidates information gathered by them. According to the agency’s official description, it was established to ensure more coordinated and efficient information-sharing among national security services, law enforcement bodies and other state institutions dealing with national and public security threats, while also enabling a more flexible response to evolving challenges.

Hatala, who holds the rank of major general in the national security service, had led the NIC since 2024.

Magyar had previously dismissed the heads of the Constitution Protection Office, the Information Office (foreign intelligence service), the Special Service for National Security and the Military National Security Service. The head of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre was also replaced.

The new Hungarian government, which came to power following the parliamentary elections held on April 12, has also carried out a broad reshuffle across other state institutions. Ministries are continuing to renew their senior leadership teams, while the Foreign Ministry has recalled nearly half of Hungary’s ambassadors from overseas postings.

By Jeyhun Aghazada