Szabolcs Panyi - Profile and Journalist Details
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Szabolcs Panyi
Verified
Investigative Journalist, Direkt36
Budapest
Beats
Biography
Budapest-based Hungarian investigative journalist focused on national security, Russian and Chinese influence, foreign affairs, corruption, cybersurveillance. Member of the 'Pegasus Project' team uncovering spyware abuses in 2021. European Press Prize finalist in 2018 & 2021. Co-founder of VSquare.org in 2017. 2017-2018 Hubert H. Humphrey (Fulbright) fellow at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University. Winner of the annual Transparency-Soma Award for best Hungarian investigative journalism in 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022.
corruption, Central Eastern Europepolitics, Hungary national security, diplomacy
Content
By Szabolcs Panyi Verified| VSQUARE@ Welcome to another serving of Goulash — your trusted dish of Central European chaos, slowly stewed with investigative spice and a pinch of political scoops. This week’s pot is particularly rich: we’re dishing out a story about how Viktor Orbán used Hungary’s EU presidency to quietly ladle public money into his family’s hotel. You’ll also find some hot new details on Pegasus spyware — yes, it’s back on the boil — with links to Hungary and the Czech Republic.
By Szabolcs Panyi Verified| VSQUARE@ Flóra Tárkányi (Direkt36) Szabolcs Panyi (VSquare, Direkt36) Photo: Viktor Orbán's Facebook page 2025-04-17 During Hungary’s EU presidency, Viktor Orbán’s government pushed visiting delegations to stay at Hotel Dorothea, a luxury hotel owned by the prime minister’s son-in-law. One of the most striking cases was Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, whose delegation was redirected there by Hungarian organizers despite having booked elsewhere.
By Szabolcs Panyi Verified| VSQUARE@ HungaryHungary ranks second in terms of public warmth toward authoritarian powers. However, despite Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s overtures to Moscow, 61% of Hungarian respondents view Russia negatively, and only 21% hold a positive view of the country. Supporters of Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party are the most pro-Russian (42%), closely followed by voters of the far-right Our Homeland party (40%).
Company Info
Direkt36
Direkt36 is a non-profit investigative journalism center in Hungary with the mission to expose wrongdoings and abuse of power through fair but tough reporting, a kind of journalism that is vital for any democracy. We provide the Hungarian and international audience with in-depth accountability reporting that most of the Hungarian media outlets do not have the resources to pursue. Direkt36 is not part of the competition of news organizations covering daily events, which allows us to focus our resources exclusively on conducting systematic investigations. We actively participate in the work of a growing international investigative journalism community and we publish all of our stories – which often have international implications – also in English.
Budapest, Hungary, Hungary
Founded: 2015