Category Archives: Magyar külpolitika

Orbánék leszerződtették a Pegasus kémszoftver gyártójának korábbi lobbistáját

Panyi Szabolcs 2022.01.24.

Egy olyan washingtoni lobbistát szerződtetett 2021 végén a magyar kormány, aki egészen odáig az okostelefonok feltörésére alkalmas Pegasus kémszoftvert kifejlesztő izraeli cégnek dolgozott

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

Panyi Szabolcs 2021.09.24.

Although Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government published its plans for the taxpayer funded Fudan Hungary University, it censored all politically sensitive and explosive information from the documents.

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

Panyi Szabolcs 2021.05.14.

An internal conflict erupted in Hungary’s government as the Budapest Student City project, designed for low-income Hungarian university students, was scrapped in favor of a Chinese private university for wealthy foreigners. Direkt36 also acquired Fudan Hungary University’s financial projections.

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

Panyi Szabolcs 2021.04.06.

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.

Chinese spy games in Orbán’s Hungary

Panyi Szabolcs 2021.03.15. 4 Comments

The policy of ’Eastern Opening’ set out by Viktor Orbán in hope of tons of Chinese money never actually resulted in momentous Chinese investments. The China-friendly environment in Hungary, on the other hand, came in handy for Chinese intelligence. Direkt36 presents the hidden history of Hungarian-Chinese relations.

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

Zöldi Blanka 2021.02.01. 10 Comments

Haris Ahmed has escaped from Bangladesh, where his brother currently serves as Army Chief. The man had been on the Interpol’s Red Notice list for years, now he is using his connections at home to enrich himself in Europe.

How Orban played Germany, Europe’s great power

Panyi Szabolcs 2020.09.18. 15 Comments

Why isn’t Germany tougher with the Hungarian government? Viktor Orbán has been building his alliances for decades through personal friendships, political gimmicks and pouring hundreds of billions of forints on German corporations. Direkt36 explored in detail the hidden history of Hungarian-German relations.

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

Panyi Szabolcs 2020.07.03.

5G rollout has finally started in Hungary during the pandemic. Telenor, the partly state-owned mobile operator could be the lifeline for the beleaguered Chinese company.

“Mr. Russia” is now helping Viktor Orbán’s government to nurture German relations

Szabó András 2020.06.26.

Klaus Mangold, an influential German businessman with links to the European and Russian business elites has been advising the Orbán-government for many years. His consultancy contracts obtained by Direkt36 show that Mangold has been recently focusing on deepening Hungarian-German industrial relations.

People close to Orban’s advisor appear in controversial Russia-connected megaproject

Szabó András 2020.05.15. 3 Comments

Preparations for a megaproject in which a Russian-Hungarian company will supply 1300 rail cars to Egypt seem to have accelerated. Simultaneously, people close to Arpad Habony, the PM’s chief advisor, and Zsolt Hernadi, CEO of MOL have appeared inside the firm which co-owns the winning company.

How once cherished Iranians became coronavirus scapegoats in Orban’s Hungary

Panyi Szabolcs 2020.04.02. 1 Comment

Hungary saw great business opportunities in Iran and the Orban government tried to strenghten relations through university scholarships and residence permits. Then the course of world politics and the coronavirus changed everything.

Orbán’s media machine in the Balkans investigated for suspicious transactions

Zöldi Blanka, Szabó András 2020.02.28.

A Hungarian businessman close to the government has expanded his media empire to the Balkans. However, a high-value contract between his Slovenian and North Macedonian companies raised the attention of local authorities.

Hungary pressured by diplomats to stop blocking NATO-Ukraine talks

Panyi Szabolcs 2020.02.13. 7 Comments

There is growing pressure on Hungary’s government to stop blocking high-level Ukraine-NATO meetings. They are accused of doing a favor to Russia, while Hungary says “we’re not blocking just for fun”.

U.S. is still trying to push out the Russian-led bank from Hungary

Panyi Szabolcs 2019.12.21. 3 Comments

American and British diplomacy are upset that the International Investment Bank has relocated its headquarters to Budapest. The bank’s employees were supposed to receive wide diplomatic immunities, but the Orban government seems to be backtracking on issuing them.

Companies close to Orbán’s allies will operate Hungarian trading houses in the Balkan

Zöldi Blanka, Szabó András 2019.12.16. 4 Comments

The Hungarian government started to rebuild its controversial trading house system on the Balkans – once again, with the old local partners that have good political connections.

How Viktor Orban got involved in Trump’s Ukraine scandal

Panyi Szabolcs 2019.12.09. 4 Comments

Several influential U.S. government officials have stated in recent weeks that Viktor Orban was inciting Donald Trump against Ukraine. However, reality is more complex and there are tough diplomatic battles being fought in the background.

Hungary’s government is quietly neck-deep in the U.S.-Huawei war

Panyi Szabolcs 2019.11.01. 1 Comment

The Trump administration is nervous about the good relationship between the Orban government and Huawei. The Chinese giant has been involved in several Hungarian state developments in recent years, and their devices have even emerged with Hungarian security agencies.

Viktor Orban promised something to Vladimir Putin, but the U.S. intervened

Panyi Szabolcs 2019.10.30.

Hungary’s government promised diplomatic immunities to the Russian-led, now Budapest-based International Investment Bank, but U.S. diplomacy had concerns over the bank’s alleged ties to Russian intelligence.

The Russians are poised to benefit from international deal financed by Hungary

Szabó András 2019.10.29.

In addition to the Russians, several government-close people are also watching closely the project developments. The business partner of Árpád Habony has appeared in the company that signed the contract. The investment is likely to come up at the Orbán-Putin meeting.

How the alliance with Israel has reshaped the politics of Viktor Orban

Panyi Szabolcs 2019.09.30. 16 Comments

Direkt36 tells the story of how the Hungarian and Israeli Right slowly found each other through the relationship of Viktor Orban and Benjamin Netanyahu.