Hungary’s diplomats with controversial backgrounds caught up in an investigation by international journalists

Wirth Zsuzsanna, Marton Kamilla 2022.11.15.

Direkt36 has been part of the “Shadow Diplomats” project, an investigation into the murky world of honorary consuls, led by ICIJ and ProPublica. We found that Hungary is represented by honorary consuls who are accused of crimes such as financing terrorism.

Szexuális bűnözők, drogdílerek, gyilkosok is megbújnak a világ tiszteletbeli konzuljai között

Direkt36 2022.11.15.

Az Árnyék Diplomaták nevű nyomozó újságíró projekt több mint 500, bűncselekményben vagy kétes ügyben érintett tiszteletbeli konzult számolt össze világszerte.

Russian spy chief’s son has a Budapest home address. In the company property of an old friend of Orbán’s chief of staff

Panyi Szabolcs 2022.11.10.

Official document shows that Andrey Naryshkin, who acquired residency permit in the Hungarian golden visa scheme, had his registered home address in a property owned by pro-government businessman Shabtai Michaeli’s company just a few months ago. According to the government, Naryshkin’s residency permit was revoked by the counterintelligence service two years ago, but the case was stalled in court.

Inside Viktor Orbán’s Response to the War in Ukraine

Szabó András, Panyi Szabolcs 2022.10.21.

Viktor Orbán came home from his talks with Vladimir Putin saying that he did not expect war. When it did break out, there was some wavering on the continuation of the government’s pro-Russian policy, but in the end, there was no change of direction because of the importance of Russian natural gas as well as longtime anti-Western sentiments.

A 10 legfontosabb részlet az Orbán háborús döntéseiről szóló tényfeltáró cikkből

Szabó András, Panyi Szabolcs 2022.10.21.

Mi érdekelte Putyint, amikor februárban találkozott Orbánnal? Miért látta lehetőségnek a háborút Rogán a kampányban? Miért nézi rossz szemmel az USA-t a magyar miniszterelnök? Itt vannak a nyomozásunk legizgalmasabb részletei.

The inside story of how Pegasus was brought to Hungary

Panyi Szabolcs 2022.09.28.

Direkt36 has revealed that the cyber weapon was purchased by the Hungarian state through a broker company that later became partly owned by Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér’s close confidant, László Tasnádi, who once worked for the Communist state security apparatus. The company also involved a businessman who had previous ties to the current left-wing opposition. Pegasus was considered such an expensive and top-class weapon by the intelligence agencies that it was kept secret even in internal circles.

Áron Orbán promotes both diet-food and weapons. Meanwhile, pro-government businessmen are popping up around him

Szőke Dániel 2022.09.15.

The company of the prime minister’s brother runs a shop of Norbert Schobert’s chain in Croatia. The gun shop he regularly advertises is building a shooting range on his land and has won an EU tender.

“The Russian Government Wants To See Me Dead” – says the source of the Panama Papers

Pethő András 2022.07.22.

The revelations about offshore firms brought to light by the source behind the Panama Papers toppled government leaders and spawned thousands of investigations. Now for the first time the source gave an interview.

How state funds help the miracle business of a top minister’s former wife

Szőke Dániel 2022.07.22.

We have revealed where the money comes from for Cecília Rogán-Gaál’s tabloid’s publishing house

Western allies puzzled by Hungary’s mild reaction to Russian hacking

Panyi Szabolcs 2022.07.14.

Russia’s hacking of the Hungarian foreign ministry is a concern for the EU, and the U.S. has already warned Hungary and other allies about the dangers of Russian cyberattacks. The Orbán government could in principle ask for EU help to tackle the problem, but there is no sign so far that it will do so.

“Az erőszak garantálja a sikert” – Így tarolta le a fél világot az Uber

Wirth Zsuzsanna 2022.07.11.

124 ezer belső irat szivárgott ki az Uber amerikai techóriástól, az International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) nevű nemzetközi újságíró szervezet és 180 újságíró dolgozta fel őket. Az együttműködés egyedüli magyar tagja a Direkt36 volt. Az iratok az Uber ellentmondásos belső működésébe és agresszív lobbizási gyakorlatába nyújtanak betekintést.

Leaked files of Uber reveal secret lobbying operations in Hungary

Wirth Zsuzsanna, Pethő András 2022.07.11.

As part of an international investigative project, Direkt36 has gained access to the lobbying files of Uber, the world’s most well-known ride-sharing company. These documents revealed that the US company’s representatives had access to Hungarian ministers and other decision-makers. In the end, however, the Orbán government turned out to be more afraid of upsetting Hungarian taxi drivers, and this was partly the reason why Uber was defeated, and eventually left Hungary.

Sinking ground on the Paks II nuclear power plant site could further delay the project

Szabó András 2022.06.22.

The Hungarian authority assessing the plans of Russian Rosatom will have to make a decision whether safe construction above a fault line which is vulnerable to earthquakes is possible.

Orbán government keeps silent about Russian residency bond owners – even as the EU prepares to end the practice

Matyasovszki Fanni, Szőke Dániel 2022.06.14.

Fidesz MEPs did not vote for the revision of the visas already issued. Several beneficiaries of Putin’s regime have previously obtained Hungarian papers.

Cables show how Orbán’s diplomats gather information on journalists

Panyi Szabolcs 2022.06.09.

The information contained in these documents was gathered by diplomats of the Orbán government from social media profiles of journalists or online reports, as well as by inquiring foreign government officials.

Inside the opposition’s crushing defeat against Viktor Orbán

Panyi Szabolcs, Pethő András, Szabó András, Matyasovszki Fanni, Szőke Dániel 2022.05.17.

The chaos was even bigger inside the campaign than it looked from the outside. Direkt36 has investigated how the opposition, which led in the polls last fall, lost against Viktor Orbán’s governing party yet again.

A tíz legmeghökkentőbb dolog, ami az ellenzéki kampányban történt

Pethő András 2022.05.17.

Számos új részletet tártunk fel az ellenzéki választási kampányról. Kigyűjtöttük a legérdekesebbeket.

The cost of the MNB’s new prestige investment, given to a friend of Matolcsy’s son, has been very high

Szőke Dániel 2022.04.29.

The bank headed by György Matolcsy has spent tens of billions of public money on the renovation of the Postal Palace without knowing much about the background of the project. According to an internal report, the work was beautiful, but “it did not meet the criteria of austerity”.

The attorney became a Pegasus target when one of Hungary’s most notorious murder cases took a turn

Panyi Szabolcs, Matyasovszki Fanni 2022.03.31.

Ilona Patócs is not the first lawyer to be targeted, despite the fact that protecting client communication is an essential part of her job, Direkt36 has learned. Nor is she the only target to have been involved in a Portik case.

Putin’s hackers gained full access to Hungary’s foreign ministry networks, the Orbán government has been unable to stop them

Panyi Szabolcs 2022.03.29.

Russian state actors hacked into the Hungarian Foreign Ministry’s computer network compromising internal correspondence and even a secure network that transmits classified information. The recurring cyberattacks over the past decade were kept quiet by the Orbán government, and have not been successfully countered. With the help of internal documents and background interviews, Direkt36 exposes Russian cyber espionage against Hungary’s MFA.