NGO wins in the European Court of Justice: OLAF’s Elios report must be made public
Source: Deenur / Shutterstock.comViktor Orban’s son-in-law – István Tiborcz – co-owned and managed the company, Elios Innovatív Zrt at the time when it won contracts to install new street lights in towns across Hungary.
Gabriella Horn
Orban’s Hungary seen through the lens of a Polish photographer
Photo from Two Tailed Dog project by Michał Adamski
Travel agency “Eye of Sauron”
Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera addresses supporters at a political rally as Russian mercenaries, and Rwandan UN peacekeepers stand guard at the stadium in Bangui, Central African Republic, December 19, 2020. Source: STRINGER / Reuters / ForumAn organisation with links to Russian influence operations organised a trip featuring Hungarian Jobbik politicians and Polish journalists, among others.
Szabolcs Panyi: I was hacked with Pegasus software
Szabolcs Panyi, Hungarian journalist from the opposition website Direkt36. Source: András Pethő/Direkt36Orban put me at the same level as a dangerous criminal – says Panyi, a surveilled Hungarian journalist and a member of the international team revealing Pegasus Project.
NOTES FROM THE REGION
Europe’s newest pest
“In Poland, the party decides what I am allowed to watch”
In August 2021, Poland enacted a controversial media law. This so-called “Lex TVN” — which targets one specific private TV channel — is one more blow in the ruling party’s assault on the free press.
ABOUT US
VSquare is an independent, cross-border journalism initiative dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting and independent press in the Visegrad Region.
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fundacjareporterow.org
Reporters Foundation (Fundacja Reporterów) was established in 2010 by a group of leading Polish reporters. For many years its main mission was to train and support journalists from Eastern Europe, especially from Ukraine – through workshops, conferences and journalism awards. Support to strengthen cooperation between reporters and the skills of investigative journalists in Central Europe is an important part of Foundation’s philosophy.
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investigace.cz
The Czech Centre for Investigative Journalism (České centrum pro investigativní žurnalistiku) was founded in 2013 by Czech journalists to promote cross-border investigative projects, train journalists and address the need of local journalism to follow new media trends. Center was part of global investigative journalism projects such as Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Swissleaks or Global Laundromat.
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atlatszo.hu
“Atlatszo” means transparent in Hungarian. Established in 2011, it’s Hungary’s first investigative non-profit journalistic organisation financed by nonpartisan and non-governmental sources.
direkt36.hu
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.
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icjk.sk
The Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak (ICJK) was established in 2019. Named after the Slovak journalist who was murdered in 2018, ICJK aims to be a platform for the collaboration of Slovak investigative journalists with their colleagues abroad. Partner center of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
LEAK TO US
Have you seen something that you think should be a story? Do you have documents we should see? We want to hear from you. We encourage whistleblowers to securely submit all forms of content that might be of public concern. We take source protection very seriously. There are a safe ways to share documents and messages with us.
STAY IN TOUCH
We love to hear about what our readers are up to — both professionally and personally. If you are interested in hearing more about what is going on throughout the Visegrad countries, if you have feedback or questions about VSQUARE.ORG, please send to us your question/comment.
MEET OUR TEAM
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Wojciech Cieśla
Polish journalist, since 2016 working with Investigate Europe. Co-founder of Fundacja Reporterów (Reporters Foundation). Based in Warsaw.
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Paweł Reszka
Polish journalist of Polityka weekly, co- founder of Fundacja Reporterów (Reporters Foundation). Worked as a foreign correspondent covering Russia; former head of investigative desk at Dziennik daily. Based in Warsaw.
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Pavla Holcová
Czech journalist, founder of the Czech Center for Investigative Journalism. Closely working with OCCRP. A co-recipient of the Global Shining Light Award. Based in Prague.
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Konrad Szczygieł
Polish journalist, former reporter at Superwizjer TVN and Oko.Press, since 2016 working with Fundacja Reporterów (Reporters Foundation), in 2016 shortlisted for Grand Press award. Based in Warsaw.
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Szabolcs Panyi
Hungarian journalist at direkt36.hu. Covers foreign policy, national security, Russian influence. Former Hubert H. Humphrey/Fulbright fellow at Arizona State University.
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Anna Gielewska
Senior investigative journalist with more than 17 years experience in covering politics for leading Polish newspapers. FR’s vice-chairman. JSK Stanford Fellow focused on countering disinformation.
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Edyta Żemła
Polish journalist, since 2016 working for onet.pl. Former journalist at Rzeczpospolita daily and editor-in-chief of Polska Zbrojna, war correspondent in Afghanistan. Based in Warsaw.
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Peter Sabo
Peter Sabo is investigative reporter of Aktuality.sk. He is uncovering corruption using mostly data-driven approach. He was wroking in IT sector as analyst before joining Aktuality.
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Martin Turcek
Reporter of Aktuality.sk focused on corruption and data-based analytical journalism. Worked as an investigative data analyst for the TI Slovakia and Stop Corruption Foundation.
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Eva Kubániová
Eva is a journalist working for investigace.cz based in Prague. Investigace.cz is NGO covering organized crime topics and the only Czech partner of OCCRP. She works on projects connected to Slovakia.
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Tamás Bodoky
He is an award-winning investigative journalist and editor, co-founder and director of atlatszo.hu, Marshall Memorial Fellowship alumni, member of international investigative journalism networks. Based in Budapest.
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Lukáš Diko
Editor-in-chief at the Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak (ICJK). Experienced journalist and media leader, former director of news and journalism at RTVS and the editor-in-chief of news at Markíza television.
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Krzysztof Story
A freelance journalist, regularly published by “Tygodnik Powszechny”. Previously worked for i.a. “Gazeta Wyborcza”, “Newsweek”. Part-time traveller and mountaineer. Based in Cracow.
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Urszula Kifer
An editor with many years of experience in the biggest Polish print and online media, including WP.pl, Gazeta.pl, Newsweek Polska and Rzeczpospolita daily. Since 2020 at Reporters Foundation.
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Gabriella HornShe has been working as a journalist and news editor for over 20 years now, at News Network Ltd., RTL Klub television and a number of national print publications. Freelancing for atlatszo.hu from the beginning, she joined full time in 2019. Based in Budapest.