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Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar has condemned what he called a covert intelligence operation against his Tisza Party, after investigative reports revealed that state authorities interrogated two IT specialists linked to the party and tried to breach its systems.
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Hungary will go to the polls on 12 April for parliamentary elections in which Magyar’s party is leading in opinion surveys, ahead of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party.
Orbán has governed the country with an absolute majority for 16 years. The campaign has been marked by personal attacks, allegations of foreign interference, and physical violence against activists.
According to Hungarian investigative outlet Direct36, authorities opened an investigation in 2025 against two IT specialists who were responsible for the party’s servers and networks, following an anonymous tip alleging they possessed child sexual abuse material.
Computers, discs and servers were confiscated, but no evidence of illegal files was found. The report states that Hungary’s internal intelligence agency, the Constitution Protection Office, directed the investigation.
Direct36 further reported that the investigation started shortly after one of the IT specialists refused an approach from an unidentified individual who had asked him to breach the party’s IT infrastructure and carry out hacking attacks ahead of the elections.
Magyar condemned the allegations and vowed to launch investigations if his party wins the elections.
“The Hungarian secret services, on the orders of Viktor Orbán and his family, targeted Tisza as it was preparing for a change of government. This case — which I am calling Orbán-gate — is reminiscent of the worst abuses of the communist era and is more serious than the Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon,” Magyar wrote in a social media post.
He added that the allegations went beyond “all acceptable limits” and described the episode as an attempted coup against a free Hungary.
“Under a Tisza government, both the political figures who commissioned these actions and the heads of the secret services will be held to account before the Hungarian judiciary,” Magyar said.
The Hungarian government has not responded to the allegations.
