Media: Hungarian PM launches purge of security apparatus

Hungary’s new government led by Péter Magyar has begun a large-scale reorganisation of the country’s national security system aimed at countering alleged Russian influence within state institutions, after former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “deeply politicised the intelligence agencies,” according to Intelligence Online.

The report said the first step will be the dissolution of the Sovereignty Protection Office, established in 2023.

Under Orbán’s government, the agency was presented as an independent body, though opposition groups and civil society representatives criticised its activities.

The publication also noted that the new government has informed several European partners of upcoming changes to the work of Hungary’s Information Office, the country’s foreign intelligence agency.

Last year, several European media outlets reported that the service had created a spy network within EU institutions in Brussels.

Among the measures highlighted by Intelligence Online is the May 4 expulsion of Artur Sushkov, the third secretary of the Russian embassy in Budapest, whom the publication describes as an officer of Russia’s foreign intelligence service.

According to the report, Sushkov had infiltrated far-right and foreign policy operational groups close to Orbán’s government.

“Given the scale of Russian influence within Hungary’s special services, the purge being carried out by the new Hungarian government will have to be extensive,” it added.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov