Category Archives: Magyar külpolitika

Hungary refuses to disclose Chinese chemical hub project documents, Direkt36 sues

Since Direkt36 reported based on leaked documents that a large-scale Chinese chemical trade hub would be set up in Budapest and the town of Záhony, the Orbán government has denied the plans. However, a letter sent by Orbán’s chief of staff on the matter has been withheld from the public because it is considered as “data supporting decision-making”. Direkt36 is suing the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office for the documents.

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Hungary could become a European hub for Chinese chemicals, leaked documents reveal

According to secret plans uncovered by Direkt36, the Orbán government is close to reaching an agreement with China to transport Chinese chemicals supplying battery factories and other industries in Europe by rail through a Hungarian hub. One possible distribution center is on the outskirts of Budapest, while one of the companies involved in the project has ties to PM Orbán’s chief of staff.

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How Viktor Orbán angered his closest friends in Europe

A box of excrement was sent to the Hungarian Embassy in Warsaw, president Katalin Novák was lectured by the Polish prime minister, and Viktor Orbán’s European ambitions were jeopardized. Direkt36, in cooperation with Vsquare, have uncovered the behind the scenes story of the Hungarian-Polish alliance, which previously seemed unbreakable, since the outbreak of the war.

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Before the Hungarian government exited the Russian bank, it was helped out by a government-close financial institution

Cyber companies accompanied the Israeli Prime Minister to Budapest, later one of them trained foreign intelligence officials in Hungary

A company that sells surveillance intelligence technology accompanied Benjamin Netanyahu to his visit to Hungary in 2017. Direkt36 found out details about how later this company trained Bangladeshi secret agents in Budapest, during which they probably illegally intercepted Hungarian telephone conversations.

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How Viktor Orbán decided to arm Hungary

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

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

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

Cables show how Orbán’s diplomats gather information on journalists

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

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.

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Spies, business deals and criminals. How Orbán favors Russian interests instead of Western ones

In the past 12 years, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has gotten into a situation many times, when they had to decide between the interests of Western allies, or Russia. Direkt36 has revealed many cases, where, in the end, the government favored Vladimir Putin and his circles. It occurred, for example, that they drove a Hungarian company out of business, just to be able to make space for a Russian firm.

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Orbánék leszerződtették a Pegasus kémszoftver gyártójának korábbi lobbistáját

Orbán’s government tried to hide sensitive information on €1.5B Chinese university project

To please China, Orbán’s government shifted plans to favor Fudan’s campus over Student City

Huge Chinese loan to cover the construction of Fudan University in Budapest

Chinese workers will construct Fudan’s Budapest campus using Chinese building materials, all covered by a Chinese loan, but the Hungarian state is the one paying the huge bill. Fudan University has already picked a contractor: state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation, a company embroiled in suspicions of corruption and espionage in several countries around the world.

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Chinese spy games in Orbán’s Hungary

A fugitive wanted for murder became a businessman in Budapest under false identity

How Orban played Germany, Europe’s great power

Huawei is slowly pushed out from European 5G networks but the Orban government still supports them