“While the investigations remain incomplete, I assure you the Commission will express its concerns to the Hungarian government at all levels,” he stated.
He refrained from providing specifics of the Commission’s comprehensive investigation, citing the need for confidentiality to “ensure the integrity of the investigation.”
During the plenary debate on the scandal, some lawmakers argued that the Commission should suspend Hungary’s commissioner, Oliver Várhelyi, who oversees the health portfolio.
Várhelyi has come under scrutiny as he served as Hungary’s ambassador to the EU during part of the period the spy network allegedly operated from the embassy.
There is no indication that Várhelyi was involved in any alleged espionage, and he has informed Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that he was “not aware” of any supposed efforts by Orbán’s government to recruit spies in Brussels, according to a Commission spokesperson.
However, Sophie Wilmès, an MEP from the centrist Renew group, argued that the EU executive should have suspended the commissioner “at least [while] waiting to shed some light on the matter.”
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