{"id":490322,"date":"2025-10-11T06:33:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T06:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/490322\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T06:33:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T06:33:18","slug":"sad-chickens-spies-and-sold-secrets-follow-the-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/490322\/","title":{"rendered":"Sad chickens, spies, and sold secrets – Follow the Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members. Not a member yet? Sign up now<\/a><\/p>\n

This week:<\/strong> Orb\u00e1n is caught red-handed running a spy network inside the EU, politicians turn paid ads into weapons against journalists, and the EU\u2019s most sensitive health data is sold to a U.S. firm run by ex-Israeli spies. Ah Europe, the plot writes itself…<\/p>\n

Know a must-read investigation for our next issue? Send it to [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the best investigative journalism of the week.<\/p>\n

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Under the Lens\ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udd75\ufe0f\u200d\u2642\ufe0f<\/strong>Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n has been spying on EU institutions in Brussels for years<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

De Tijd | 09.10.2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

An investigation by De Tijd, Direkt36, Paper Trail Media, Der Spiegel, and Der Standard revealed that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n has been spying on EU institutions for years through a secret intelligence network, including Hungary\u2019s permanent representation to the EU when Commissioner Oliv\u00e9r V\u00e1rhelyi served as ambassador. The European Commission said it takes the claims \u201cvery seriously\u201d and will form an internal group to examine them. A spokesperson for Ursula von der Leyen confirmed the president is aware but declined to say whether she will take action. MEP Elio Di Rupo called for a parliamentary investigation, warning this could be \u201cone of the biggest scandals in EU history\u201d, while MEP Sara Matthieu urged a full probe, saying if V\u00e1rhelyi was involved, \u201che cannot remain in office\u201d.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf10\ud83d\udcf1#SponsoredHate: How Politicians Paid for Meta Ads to Attack Journalists<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Investigat\u00edvne centrum J\u00e1na Kuciaka (ICJK) \u00a0| 08.10.25<\/strong><\/p>\n

An international project led by ICJK in collaboration with VSquare<\/a>, FRONTSTORY.PL, and Investigace.cz. found 773 sponsored political ads on Meta targeting journalists, NGOs and media in the Visegrad region \u2013 523 in Slovakia alone. Most were paid for by Smer-SD, a left-wing populist and nationalist party attacking Denn\u00edk N, SME, and Aktuality. Meta may have earned around \u20ac60,000 from these posts. \u201cPoliticians have turned paid ads into a weapon against the free press,\u201d warned a researcher. Hungary had nearly 200 such ads pushing Fidesz narratives, Czech far-right parties smeared public media, and Poland saw few. Experts warn that even with new EU rules banning political ads, hate campaigns may persist through bots and fake networks.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1\ud83d\uddc4\ufe0f<\/strong>Europeans\u2019 health data sold to U.S. firm run by ex-Israeli spies<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Follow the Money | 09.10.25<\/strong><\/p>\n

A former intelligence officer told Follow the Money that \u201call the red flags should have been raised\u201d over the sale of Dutch secure messaging firm Zivver to a U.S. company led by former Israeli intelligence officers. Used by hospitals, courts and immigration services across the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, the 2025 acquisition has put highly sensitive European data in foreign hands. Follow the Money also found that Zivver\u2019s system, advertised as fully encrypted, allows temporary access to messages before encryption, raising further questions about privacy and oversight.<\/p>\n

We also liked<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc14\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa Europe\u2019s chickens are growing faster, and suffering more<\/strong><\/p>\n

#ChicksOnSpeed, a cross-border investigation<\/a> by Bloomberg, Le Parisien, UFC-Que Choisir, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and Mindcraft Stories exposed the rise of \u2018turbochickens\u2019 \u2013 fast-growing breeds reaching slaughter weight in just five weeks. Making up nearly two-fifths of the world\u2019s 22.7 billion meat chickens, they pose what experts call the \u201cbiggest animal welfare problem in all animal husbandry\u201d. The probe also reveals tensions between poultry giants and NGOs pushing higher welfare standards through the BCC and ECC.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf0\ud83d\udca3 Documents reveal Denmark sending fighter jet parts to Israel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Previously secret records obtained by Danwatch, Information, and The Ditch show<\/a> Denmark\u2019s Defence Ministry sent F-35 jet parts from Southern Jutland to Israel as recently as August, despite evidence of war crimes in Gaza. The parts, labelled \u201cmilitary aircraft spares\u201d, went directly to Nevatim Air Base. \u201cIt is a violation of EU and UN arms export rules\u201d, said law professor Jacques Hartmann, calling Denmark\u2019s role \u201cgrotesque\u201d. The government claims the U.S.-owned stock is exempt \u2013 a defence scholars call a legal loophole.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddf7 Climate displacement forcing Greek\u2019s out of their homes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Devastating floods that struck Greece in 2023 forced thousands from their homes, with some still living in Koutsochero, a former refugee camp once housing people from Syria and Afghanistan. Solomon and Meridio News\u2019s investigation<\/a> reveals a striking irony: in 2015, over 800,000 refugees entered Europe through Greece, and now Greeks themselves seek shelter in the very same camps.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9\ud83d\udcbcItalian businessman tycoon among targets of Israeli Paragon spyware<\/strong><\/p>\n

An investigation<\/a> by IrpiMedia and La Stampa found that billionaire Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone was among Italians targeted by Graphite, spyware made by Israeli firm Paragon Solutions and spread via a WhatsApp flaw. Journalists and NGO workers were also hit, raising concerns over surveillance and accountability in Europe. The findings follow Follow the Money\u2019s reporting<\/a> that EU and Italian funds supported spyware makers like Cy4Gate and the Intellexa Alliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our journalism is only possible thanks to the trust of our paying members. Not a member yet? Sign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187],"class_list":{"0":"post-490322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115354141396418382","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}