Grab a spoon. There\u2019s plenty in the pot.<\/p>\n
The name VSquare comes from V4, an abbreviation of the Visegr\u00e1d countries group. Over the years, VSquare has become the leading regional voice of investigative journalism in Central Europe. We are non-profit, independent, and driven by a passion for journalism.<\/p>\n
Support our investigations: donate today, keep our stories flowing<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Help us spread the word by sharing this newsletter\u2019s online version.<\/p>\n FRESH FROM VSQUARE<\/p>\n AS WAGNER MARCHED TOWARD MOSCOW, SZIJJ\u00c1RT\u00d3 OFFERED HELP. LAVROV LAUGHED<\/a><\/p>\n Three years ago this week, as Yevgeny Prigozhin\u2019s Wagner mercenaries rolled toward Moscow, Hungary\u2019s then-foreign minister P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3 picked up the phone \u2014 not to check on Ukraine, not to coordinate with EU partners, but to ask his friend Sergey Lavrov if he was okay and to offer \u201cpersonal\u201d help. Lavrov laughed and politely declined. This previously unpublished transcript from our Kremlin Hotline<\/a> investigation captures the nature of this relationship in full: a NATO foreign minister anxiously checking in with the Kremlin during an attempted armed rebellion against the Russian state. Read it here.<\/a><\/p>\n WHY IS POLAND HOSTING A RUSSIAN-LINKED LOGISTICS NETWORK?<\/a><\/p>\n A snowstorm, a fatal truck crash near Stockholm, and a Polish-plated lorry hauling a Kazakh trailer with a Belarusian logo \u2014 that\u2019s where our colleagues at FRONTSTORY.pl, SVT, Buro Media, and Paper Trail Media started pulling the thread. What they uncovered is a sprawling network of Polish-registered transport companies quietly funneling cargo between the EU, Belarus, and Russia for the benefit of Russian millionaire Vasily Smetanin and his Sberbank-linked partner. Four years into sanctions, the trucks keep rolling \u2014 and Polish authorities keep shrugging. Check it out here.<\/a><\/p>\n Award season isn\u2019t over! The International Press Institute and International Media Support\u00a0have awarded this year\u2019s World Press Freedom Hero Award collectively to independent Hungarian journalism<\/a>. The other recipients are Patricia Evangelista from the Philippines and M\u00f3nica Gonz\u00e1lez from Chile. This award honors journalists who have made major contributions to independent journalism, often at great personal risk. The ceremony will take place in Bogot\u00e1 at the Gabo Festival, where I will join Evangelista and Gonz\u00e1lez in a discussion representing independent Hungarian journalism<\/a>.<\/p>\n SPICY SCOOPS<\/p>\n There is always a lot of information that we hear and find interesting and newsworthy but don\u2019t publish as part of our investigative reporting \u2014 and share instead in this newsletter.<\/p>\n ORB\u00c1N\u2019S DIRTY RAID UNDER INVESTIGATION, LEGAL TROUBLES LOOM FOR THE FORMER PM<\/p>\n Some readers will remember my story, titled Orb\u00e1n\u2019s Dirty Raid: Inside Hungary\u2019s Hijacking of Ukraine\u2019s Bank Convoy<\/a>, into the March 5 Hungarian operation that intercepted a Ukrainian bank convoy in Hungary and seized cash and gold plus detained its Ukrainian crew. In recent weeks and days, Hungarian authorities \u2014 now freed up from Orb\u00e1n\u2019s control \u2014 and media have effectively confirmed what we reported: the raid, the detention of the Ukrainian bank employees, and the seizure were unlawful and were a desperate campaign stunt\u00a0 \u2014 and the orders reportedly came from the very top. Hungarian news site Telex wrote that Viktor Orb\u00e1n personally directed the operation, down to telling authorities when the raid should take place.<\/a> The tax authority\u2019s own internal review, meanwhile, uncovered unlawful conduct during the procedure, including the interrogation of the Ukrainian bank employees.<\/p>\n Multiple sources familiar with the Hungarian prosecution\u2019s investigation, as well as a document news site 444 has obtained<\/a>, indicate that prosecutors have identified the individuals who gave the orders: state secretary for intelligence services \u00d6rs Farkas, whose role was first revealed in our VSquare story; the deputy chief of Hungary\u2019s tax office, Tam\u00e1s Demeter; Orb\u00e1n\u2019s former bodyguard and head of the TEK counterterrorism unit, J\u00e1nos Hajd\u00fa; and Orb\u00e1n himself. Prosecutors consider them the potential main suspects of offences including unlawful detention and abuse of office. In reality, however, only two of them may have to really worry. The central figure of the investigation is expected to be Hajd\u00fa, who has a history of carrying out extremely risky operations on behalf of Orb\u00e1n \u2014 such as plans to extract Milorad Dodik from Banja Luka, per our previous investigation.<\/a><\/p>\n According to my sources familiar with details of the investigation, while Hajd\u00fa issued direct orders and personally participated on the ground during the rough and completely illegal detention and interrogation of the Ukrainians, those around him believed he was on the phone with, and getting instructions from, someone high-up. As prosecutors close in, one source told me, it\u2019s Hajd\u00fa who will have to choose: take the fall and accept whatever punishment comes with it, or name his long-time boss who gave him the orders for and during the operation. Another well-informed source added that prosecutors are also looking at their own superior \u2014 Hungary\u2019s Orb\u00e1n-appointed chief prosecutor \u2014 who, they believe, also played a role in facilitating the illegal raid. Hungarian prosecutors declined to comment at this stage. Orb\u00e1n\u2019s office did not reply, but the former PM previously claimed he didn\u2019t do anything illegal.<\/p>\n HUNGARY WON\u2019T HARBOR INTERNATIONALLY WANTED CRIMINALS \u2014 WHAT ABOUT MOL\u2019S CEO?<\/p>\n \u201cHungary will not harbor internationally wanted criminals,\u201d P\u00e9ter Magyar said again and again during the election campaign \u2014 and has repeated since taking office. So far, however, his government didn\u2019t deliver on that pledge. It hasn\u2019t had to. Mostly, that\u2019s because former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his deputy Marcin Romanowski, the most famous of the fugitives who fled to Hungary under Orb\u00e1n\u2019s protection, instantly left after Magyar took office. Then there is Nikola Gruevski, the fugitive former North Macedonian prime minister who, as Goulash readers will recall, was quietly handed Hungarian citizenship<\/a> under the Orb\u00e1n government \u2014 whose whereabouts are unknown, but who was still in Hungary a few weeks ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, technically, there is a fourth name on that list, and it is the one nobody in Budapest seems eager to mention. According to fresh confirmation from the Croatian Ministry of Justice to my colleague Ana Mlinaric of RTL Croatia, both the Croatian arrest warrant and the European Arrest Warrant (based on the Croatian) against MOL chief executive Zsolt Hern\u00e1di remain in force. The Croatian judiciary convicted Hern\u00e1di in absentia of bribing former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to secure management rights over the Croatian oil company INA \u2014 a case that has dragged on through Croatian and Hungarian courts for more than a decade. In Hungary, a final ruling issued by the Budapest-Capital Regional Court on March 18 refused to recognize the Croatian convictions \u2014 but the arrest warrant itself stands. While some even around the ruling Tisza party contest Hern\u00e1di\u2019s guilt in this particular case, technically, again, he is wanted internationally.<\/p>\n At the same time, multiple government-connected sources argue the regime change Magyar promised cannot be credibly delivered while Hern\u00e1di continues to run one of Hungary\u2019s largest companies. While Magyar has framed his government as a clean break from both the Orb\u00e1n era and the Socialist years that preceded it, Hern\u00e1di has been president-CEO of MOL through all of them, continuously since 2001, becoming an integral part of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s inner circle. As a former MOL insider put it to me, the outstanding warrant has long been a useful instrument of political control: Hern\u00e1di\u2019s freedom depended on the goodwill of Orb\u00e1n, and the same logic \u2014 technically \u2014 now applies to Magyar. It\u2019s hard to see, though, how such a compromised figure can remain in place if the new government\u2019s promise of a clean break is to mean anything at all. Being forced to leave MOL and being extradited to Croatia are two separate things, of course.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve sent questions to the Prime Minister\u2019s Office and to MOL asking whether Hern\u00e1di\u2019s arrest warrant and possible extradition have been discussed inside the new Hungarian government, and whether the Magyar government considers Hern\u00e1di \u2014 by the letter of the European warrant \u2014 an internationally wanted criminal. I\u2019ve also asked if they support Hern\u00e1di staying on as CEO and president of MOL. No answers yet.<\/p>\n Support independent investigative journalism! VSquare is a fully non-profit investigative outlet \u2014 just like our core partners: \u00c1tl\u00e1tsz\u00f3<\/a> and Direkt36<\/a> in Hungary, Frontstory<\/a> in Poland, Investigace<\/a> in the Czech Republic, and the Investigative Center of J\u00e1n Kuciak<\/a> in Slovakia. As pressure on journalists in the region rises once again, please consider supporting our local partners (all links go directly to their donation pages) \u2014 and VSquare as well.<\/p>\n Every contribution counts. Supporting us is simple, you can donate here<\/a>.<\/p>\n BREWING IN THE BOTTOM<\/p>\n VSquare\u2019s Tamara Ka\u0148uchov\u00e1 explains how the Czech government\u2019s move against the public media\u2019s independence has triggered protests.<\/p>\n Czech public broadcasters went on a warning strike this week. For 24 hours, Czech Television (\u010cesk\u00e1 televize) and Czech Radio altered their regular programming to protest a proposal recently approved by the Babi\u0161 government. If finally adopted, the new law would abolish the license-fee model<\/a> that currently finances public broadcasters and cut their planned state funding by 15 percent, effectively returning their budgets to 2008 levels<\/a>. Employees are calling for the independence of public media to be protected from political and other forms of pressure. They fear that if concession fees are abolished and broadcasters become fully dependent on government funding, the result will be layoffs and cuts to programming. Under the proposed budget, Czech Television may no longer be able to meet its legally mandated quota for regional coverage.<\/p>\n On Monday, June 22, Czech Television\u2019s broadcasts began one minute late. Hosts across its programming wore black, and its social media accounts posted only sparingly, each time including a message about their strike. Czech Radio\u2019s main, regional, and digital stations joined together several times throughout the day, airing explanations of the strike as well as a minute of silence. Opposition politicians and President Petr Pavel have warned that the Czech Republic is following the playbook used in Slovakia and Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s Hungary. \u201cThe Slovak and Hungarian scenarios resonate strongly in the Czech context. And while critics of these changes point primarily to the Slovak scenario, the Czech governing majority rejects that comparison as unfair, claiming instead that it is taking inspiration from the Nordic countries,\u201d said Pavol Szalai, director of the Prague bureau of Reporters Without Borders.<\/p>\n \u201cBut first, the only minister of a foreign country with whom the Czech culture minister discussed this issue in an official meeting was the Slovak culture minister \u2014 and he clearly described that meeting as inspiring. And second, when we offered the government and members of parliament a meeting with our Slovak expert, who had come to Prague specifically to discuss how cultural institutions are run and funded in the Nordic countries, the government and the governing majority showed no interest in that expertise,\u201d Szalai said. He pointed to another key difference: the European Media Freedom Act, which was not yet available when Slovakia overhauled its public broadcaster. \u201cIn response to our appeal as Reporters Without Borders, the European Commission has agreed to review the Czech legislation, even before its adoption, specifically in light of this binding European law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, what began as a 24-hour warning strike, may continue. \u201cIn the case of Czech Radio, this was the first strike since 1990. In the case of Czech Television, the last strike was only in 2025. So they are really mobilized on an unprecedented scale,\u201d Szalai said. \u201cI think this was a kind of test, and the strike could happen again \u2014 and it could be even stronger. As for the government, we do not know exactly when Parliament will debate the bill. It could happen in July or September. I think it will really depend on public pressure and on any steps the European Commission may take. In any case, we are calling for common sense to return to this debate. Given the ruling majority\u2019s political attacks on the media, and the fact that these changes are not based on any expert assessment, we see this as an attempt to undermine media independence,\u201d Szalai said.<\/p>\n MORE FROM OUR PARTNERS<\/p>\n If you like our scoops and stories, here are some more articles from our partners!<\/p>\n RUSSIA\u2019S FSB HAS STARTED ARRESTING ST. PETERSBURG MOBSTERS FROM PUTIN\u2019S INNER CIRCLE<\/a>. Investigate.cz\u2019s Pavla Holcov\u00e1 reports that the FSB has detained Ilya Traber \u2014 the \u201cAntikvar,\u201d a 1990s St. Petersburg crime boss who knew Putin from his city hall days and once controlled the port, the fuel terminals, and the Pulkovo aviation refuelling business \u2014 over the 2020 contract killing, while another aging godfather, Gennady Petrov, is facing house searches. (Text in Czech<\/a>.)<\/p>\n DEFENSE MINISTRY ORDERED PILOT TRAINING WORTH OVER \u20ac1 MILLION WITHOUT A TENDER \u2014 FROM A COMPANY WITH NEITHER A SIMULATOR NOR A TRAINING LICENCE<\/a>. ICJK reveals that Robert Kali\u0148\u00e1k\u2019s Slovak defense ministry spent \u20ac1.2 million for pilot-training orders for its two no-bid Bombardier Global 5000 luxury jets in a rather questionable way. (Text in Slovak<\/a>.)<\/p>\n THE REMARKABLE STORY OF P\u00c9TER SZIJJ\u00c1RT\u00d3\u2019S BEST FRIEND AND THE BILLIONS OF PUBLIC FUNDS<\/a>. Direkt36 traces how Szil\u00e1rd Benk\u0151 \u2014 P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3\u2019s chief of staff turned construction entrepreneur and self-described \u201cbest friend of 30 years\u201d \u2014 landed billions in state-backed contracts at the BMW and CATL plants in Debrecen, and even bagged a slice of a water treatment project in Rwanda that Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3 personally negotiated with his Rwandan counterpart. (Text in English<\/a> and Hungarian<\/a>.)<\/p>\n AS STATE BILLIONS HAVE DRIED UP, FIDESZ\u2019S MEDIA EMPIRE IS SHRINKING<\/a>. With state advertising revenues collapsing after Orb\u00e1n\u2019s defeat, \u00c1tl\u00e1tsz\u00f3 explains how mass layoffs are sweeping through the pro-government media universe. (Text in English<\/a> and Hungarian<\/a>.)<\/p>\n THE BOY I RAISED \u2014 MOURNING AND REMEMBRANCE OF BENJAMIN ASHER IN UKRAINE<\/a>. \u00c1tl\u00e1tsz\u00f3\u2019s documentary follows Nathan Asher, a Canadian father, as he travels back to Ukraine to visit the grave of his son Benjamin, the first Hungarian volunteer to be killed fighting in the Ukrainian armed forces since the start of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion. (Text in English<\/a> and Hungarian<\/a>.)<\/p>\n DESSERT AND FURTHER READINGS<\/p>\n For those still hungry for more, we\u2019re finishing today\u2019s menu with a couple of recommendations from our friends and colleagues.<\/p>\n NEW HUNGARIAN PM MAGYAR \u201cRELAUNCHES\u201d VISEGR\u00c1D GROUP WITH POLAND, SLOVAKIA AND CZECH REPUBLIC<\/a>. Notes from Poland covers the first V4 summit in over two years, hosted by P\u00e9ter Magyar at G\u00f6d\u00f6ll\u0151 Palace, Hungary, where Donald Tusk, Robert Fico and Andrej Babi\u0161 agreed to coordinate ahead of EU Council meetings and floated a high-speed rail line linking the four capitals \u2014 with Russian energy dependence and Ukraine policy still standing as the elephants in the room.<\/p>\n FALL AND IMPUNITY: ME\u010cIAR\u2019S FATE COULD SERVE AS A WARNING FOR ORB\u00c1N AND HUNGARY<\/a>. My latest Hungarian-language Substack essay digs into the post-1998 career of Vladim\u00edr Me\u010diar \u2014 Slovakia\u2019s Orb\u00e1n-before-Orb\u00e1n \u2014 and what his failed comebacks, amnesty maneuvers, and slow fade into irrelevance might tell us about what to expect from Hungary\u2019s defeated former prime minister. Follow my Substack here.<\/a><\/p>\n EU CITIZEN\u2019S COMPANY SENT SANCTIONED EQUIPMENT TO RUSSIAN DEFENSE FIRMS<\/a>. Trade data dug up by Kyiv Independent and IrpiMedia for OCCRP shows that Redwing Metal, a Turkey-based outfit co-owned by a Dutch national, shipped over $5 million in Italian, German, Spanish and Czech metalworking machinery to two Rostec-linked Russian defense plants making components for Kh-101 cruise missiles and combat aircraft.<\/p>\n NOT SO STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: AN ASPIRING MAGA INFLUENCER\u2019S RUSSIAN FRIEND TURNS OUT TO BE AN FSB OFFICER WITH TIES TO THE WAGNER GROUP<\/a>. The Insider unpacks the curious case of \u201cElizabeth Lane\u201d \u2014 born Iza Bendianishvili, a Georgia-born aspiring MAGA influencer boosted onto the conspiracy-podcast circuit by Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens \u2014 whose Russian boyfriend turns out to be FSB officer Dmitry Grizdak, a Spetsnaz operative attached to both Kadyrov\u2019s Akhmat Battalion and the Wagner Group.<\/p>\n Subscribe to Goulash, our original VSquare newsletter that delivers the best investigative journalism from Central Europe straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n
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