BERLIN — One of Hungary’s most outspoken critics in Brussels has filed a criminal complaint against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán following a failed attempt to hack his email account using spyware in the run-up to the European Parliament elections.
German Green MEP Daniel Freund and German NGO the Society for Civil Rights named “Viktor Orbán and unknown” in the complaint, which was seen by POLITICO, and requested that the state prosecutor in the western German city of Krefeld and cyber crime authorities launch an investigation.
“There are indications that the Hungarian secret service is behind the attack,” Freund and the NGO said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
The complaint gives details about an email that someone claiming to be a Ukrainian student sent to Freund’s parliamentary email address at the end of May 2024. The message asked the MEP to write a short message in which he would share his “beliefs concerning the accession of Ukraine to the European Union,” as well as a link. Freund did not click on the link.
The complaint said that Parliament warned Freund that the link contained spyware likely made by the Israeli company Candiru, which was blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2021 for human rights violations.
“According to the EU Parliament’s IT experts, the Hungarian government could be behind the eavesdropping on me,” Freund said in a statement. “This comes as no surprise: Orbán despises democracy and the rule of law. If the suspicion is confirmed, it would be an outrageous attack on the European Parliament.”
Freund and the NGO asked prosecutors to open an investigation to clarify “the facts of the case” through investigative measures including the questioning of witnesses and conducting an independent forensic analysis.
The Hungarian government had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
If a device is infected with spyware, attackers can access all stored data and communications. They can also activate the camera and microphone to listen in on conversations.
Freund has been one of the key players to have successfully advocated for EU funds for Hungary to be frozen. He also led a push to suspend Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU last year.
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