Hungary
Hungarian intelligence presses ahead with reforms in midst of upheavals

Hungary, Sweden
Saab agrees to defence cooperation as part of new Gripen aircraft deal

On Friday 23 February, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán announced that the government was buying four additional JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft from Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab, catching his own diplomatic corps off guard.

The Intelligence Gazette
Orban's comms chiefs on fire duty, DGSE traitor's ex-wife to tell her story, Macron and Wang Yi hunt date for Paris trip

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community.

HungaryOrban's communications advisers try to contain Fidesz revolt

FranceDGSE traitor's ex-wife to take part in French TV documentary on China's secret services

ChineEmmanuel Macron to meet Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi regarding Xi Jinping's visit to France

Hungary
Hungarian defence ministry's rising star takes charge of strategy review

Innovation commissioner Imre Porkolab is moving up the ranks in a Hungarian defence ministry in the throes of reform, as it tries to maintain cordial relations with Moscow while also deepening its involvement in European defence structures.

Europe, Hungary
Informal Fidesz lobby starts to take shape in Brussels

Two young Hungarians, sent by the government in Budapest, have been organising informal evenings for their compatriots in the "Brussels bubble". This embryonic lobby can only be good news for the Hungarian authorities, which are mobilising hard in the European Union capital.

Belarus, Russia
Lukashenko takes care to keep Russophile strongman Karpenkov onside

The regime's creation of a commission supposedly to facilitate the return of political exiles to Belarus is intended to send a message both to Washington and to Belarus's siloviki. The measure is largely symbolic, since powerful deputy internal affairs minister Nikolay Karpenkov is opposed to any attempt to appease the country's dissidents.

Europe, Hungary
Viktor Orban's intelligence corps keeps watch in Brussels

Hungary's two-year battle for access to EU funding has had a profound effect on its external intelligence missions. The Informacios Hivatal's priority is now to carefully observe EU policymakers in Brussels.

The Intelligence Gazette
Access to UK Special Forces, DGSI and criminal records, JIO's new hub, TurkStream under threat and spying on French pilots in China?

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week we hone in on London, Paris and Budapest.

United KingdomBen Wallace and the Defence Committee cross swords over parliamentary control of UK Special Forces.

FranceDGSI to have permanent access to criminal records file.

United KingdomThe Joint Intelligence Organisation creates an OSINT "insights hub".

HungaryBudapest scans TurkStream for sabotage risks.

FranceIs DGSE now keeping an eye on ex-Air Force staff abroad following Intelligence Online's revelations?

Europe, Russia
Russian Orthodox Church bounces back via Budapest posting

Russian Patriarch Kirill and his Hungary-based right-hand man Hilarion have taken stock of their faux pas at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and are manoeuvring on various fronts to try to emerge from their religious and diplomatic isolation.