Hungary top court orders politician jailed over EU spying for Russia

Hungary’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a former opposition politician to be jailed over spying on the EU for Russia while he was a member of the European Parliament.

The highest court sentenced nationalist Jobbik party member Bela Kovacs to five years in jail for espionage, as well as fiscal fraud and falsification of documents.

Kovacs, who is reportedly in Russia, was sentenced in absentia.

The charges, filed in 2017 against Kovacs, included “spying against EU institutions” and “engaging in espionage in the interests of a foreign state” between 2012 and 2014.

Prosecutors said Kovacs — a frequent visitor to Moscow and son of a Russian — regularly met covertly with a Russian diplomat believed to be a secret service agent.

Besides that, he has been accused of signing “fictitious” internship contracts leading to substantial financial losses for institutions of the European Parliament.

An MEP between 2010 and 2019, Kovacs was accused of passing on information about energy issues including Hungary’s only nuclear plant, European Parliament elections and Hungarian domestic politics.

The politician has consistently denied the allegations, which were first made by the Hungarian authorities prior to the EP elections in 2014.

Kovacs said he was “the victim of political attacks” and accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing party Fidesz of “using” him to attack Jobbik.

Dubbed in the local press as “KGBela” referring to his alleged ties to Russian secret services, Kovacs quit his membership of the nationalist party soon after the charges were raised.