Hungary: Politicians demand inquiry into alleged spying

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Opposition lawmakers in Hungary’s parliament have demanded an inquiry into findings by an international investigation that the country’s right-wing government used powerful malware to spy on critical journalists, politicians and business figures. The results of the investigation, headed by the French nonprofit journalism organization Forbidden Stories, were published Sunday, prompting three members of Hungary’s parliamentary national security committee to call for an emergency session to question government agencies on their potential involvement in the spying. Janos Stummer, the committee’s chairman and a lawmaker from the right-wing opposition party Jobbik, told The Associated Press that the surveillance described by the investigation is “not permissible in a state governed by the rule of law.” The committee will question Hungary’s national security and intelligence agencies on the allegations, he said, adding that a majority of seats on the committee are held by governing party lawmakers who could potentially block the inquiry by boycotting the session. NSO Group denied in an emailed response to the AP that it had ever maintained “a list of potential, past or existing targets.” In a separate statement, it called the Forbidden Stories report “full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories.” In response to questions from the AP, a spokesperson for the Hungarian government wrote in an email that Hungary “is a democratic state governed by the rule of law,” and that state bodies authorized to use covert instruments “are regularly monitored by governmental and nongovernmental institutions.” “What would be the answer of the governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany or France to the same questions?