Goulash: Trump Tower in Budapest… Or Trump Himself?

FRESH FROM VSQUARE

FORMER RUSSIAN SPY GOES INTO BUSINESS IN POLAND

Russian ex-spy Stanislaw Szypowski, whose GRU handler would go on to orchestrate the infamous coup attempt in Montenegro, served his seven years and is now out of jail. Szypowski is working as a businessman in Poland — and his activities bear a striking resemblance to his pre-arrest espionage operations: mingling at conferences on Ukraine’s reconstruction and FinTech or sipping drinks at embassy receptions, all as if nothing ever happened. In an astonishing spy story (and likely a shocking tale of counterintelligence failure), Daniel Fils and Anna Gielewska of FRONTSTORY.PL and VSquare dive deep into Szypowski’s past and present. (The Polish version of the investigation even lets you check if you’ve attended the same conference or party as the ex-spy.)

PUTIN’S MAGIC: ROBERT FICO’S POSTS GO VIRAL AFTER KREMLIN VISIT

Prime Minister Robert Fico is Slovakia’s reigning king of Facebook reactions. But after his Moscow meeting with Vladimir Putin, the social media interactions on his posts didn’t just grow — they practically exploded. However, in an analysis by the Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak (ICJK) into this surge, experts deemed the growth to be visibly inorganic. The ICJK analysis revealed that one-fifth of the comments under a randomly selected Fico video came from accounts showing signs of inauthenticity. Fortunately, ICJK conducted similar research a year ago, allowing for a comparison — and found that the number of fake accounts interacting with Fico’s posts has doubled since then. Check out this thorough analysis, complete with methodology, which can help make it easy to scrutinize politicians’ social media activities in other countries.

INTELLIGENCE REPORT EXPOSES RUSSIAN MEDDLING IN MOLDOVA’S EU VOTE

Based on a declassified report from Moldova’s intelligence agency published a few weeks ago, Investigace’s Josef Šlerka explains how Moldovan oligarch Ilan Șor orchestrated a comprehensive Russian-backed operation to interfere in Moldova’s EU referendum. Șor, operating from Russia under FSB protection, led efforts including disinformation campaigns, illegal financing of pro-Russian parties, and the organization of violent protests — read more here. (For a deeper understanding of the Kremlin’s threat in the region, check out Josef and his Romanian colleagues’ earlier piece on Russian meddling in the Romanian presidential elections.)

SPICY SCOOPS

There is always a lot of information that we hear and find interesting and newsworthy but don’t publish as part of our investigative reporting — and share instead in this newsletter. 

POLISH JOURNALIST: HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT’S KEY ADVISOR ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED IN ROMANOWSKI’S ASYLUM

A well-informed senior Polish journalist, Andrzej Stankiewicz, revealed on the Polish news site Onet’s podcast that his sources within the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party provided him with new information regarding a controversy that has caused a deep diplomatic rift between Poland and Hungary. According to Stankiewicz’s sources, those who “finalized” the deal over fugitive ex-justice minister Marcin Romanowski’s asylum included “a certain well-known right-wing commentator and the former Hungarian ambassador to Poland, Ms. Orsolya Zsuzsanna Kovács.” This claim is highly significant and could worsen the already strained relationship between the two nations, as Kovács currently serves as the foreign affairs director for Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok. The allegation seems absolutely plausible given Kovács’s background: Before serving as ambassador to Warsaw — where she played a crucial role in turning Hungarian-Polish relations into a partisan alliance between Fidesz and PiS—Kovács was Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Polish interpreter. She participated in one-on-one talks with PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, making her privy to their discussions and decisions. Given the sensitive nature of Romanowski’s asylum case, it is hard to imagine anyone else acting as Orbán’s intermediary. (Meanwhile, as this newsletter revealed previously, the Polish Ordo Iuris Institute and the Hungarian Center for Fundamental Rights helped provide Orbán with a rather questionable justification for the asylum decision.)

Suspicion surrounding Kovács’s involvement is further fueled by my peculiar correspondence with the Hungarian President’s office. Despite my efforts to obtain a clear denial of her role, they avoided doing so. In their initial response, they ignored my questions regarding Kovács’s alleged involvement, stating only that the President’s office and its staff have no influence over asylum procedures or decisions. When pressed to confirm or deny whether Kovács had played a personal role in Romanowski’s asylum, they replied that they had “no knowledge” of her “having participated in the asylum procedure,” referring strictly to the legal process and not addressing the possibility of an informal intermediary role, as suggested by Stankiewicz. As a previous joint investigation by VSquare and Direkt36 revealed, Kovács, who served as ambassador until summer 2024, found herself in a difficult position after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. She reportedly struggled personally with representing the Orbán government’s pro-Russian foreign policy stance in her diplomatic role. Polish society’s anger over Budapest’s pro-Kremlin stance was illustrated by the incident when Kovács’s embassy was mailed a box of excrement.

HUNGARY’S FIRST REAL SKYSCRAPER: GRAND BUDAPEST… OR TRUMP TOWER?

“Grand Budapest” will be the official name of the planned Emirati luxury district — so far better known as “mini Dubai” — surrounding Budapest’s first real skyscraper – one that will completely alter the Hungarian capital’s skyline. This project was first revealed by yours truly in this newsletter back in December 2023. Fast forward to January 20, 2025: while the world was watching Donald Trump’s inauguration, Viktor Orbán’s government announced that they signed the contract for the €12.3 billion development project with Eagle Hills, a company owned by Mohammed Alabbar, the billionaire behind the Burj Khalifa, among other projects. Budapest’s opposition leadership has strongly denounced the deal, calling it treason. They highlight that the 100-hectare plot in central Budapest — one of the most valuable areas of land in the city — was sold for a mere €123 million. What’s more, the government will only receive the full amount if it fulfills its own commitment to spending €800 million on traffic and infrastructure development around the plot. And while my initial scoop reported plans for a 220-240 meter tall building, the contract specifies a height of between 250 and 500 meters. As this newsletter reported weeks ago, the new ambition is to build Europe’s tallest skyscraper — but at least surpassing London’s The Shard. But here’s the latest bombshell: while the elegant “Grand Budapest” name might evoke Wes Anderson’s charming 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel, the skyscraper could actually end up resembling the Trump Tower. 

A government-connected source revealed that the January 20 contract signing might not be a coincidence , but a “welcome gift ”— as those involved in the project anticipate that business interests linked to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, may later join the deal in a yet undisclosed way, specifically regarding the Grand Budapest project’s centerpiece, the skyscraper which would destroy the city’s view (and I’m not exaggerating: check the visualizations here). While rumors of Kushner’s possible involvement have been circulating for months, this is the first time I feel confident enough to report on them. For context, just days earlier, on January 17, it was announced that the same Muhammed Alabbar’s Eagle Hills is partnering with Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners investment group to develop a Trump Hotel and luxury apartments in Belgrade, on the site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense. In the official statement, Kushner conspicuously expressed the hope that the Serbia project would be the “first of many” with Eagle Hills. The following day, on January 18, Viktor Orbán visited Belgrade and met Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. According to my government-connected source, Orbán briefed Vučić on key details of the Grand Budapest development. And, to round off this scoop, I’m also hearing Orbán plans to visit Dubai soon to discuss outstanding issues. (Eagle Hills, Affinity Partners, and the Hungarian government did not respond to my request for comment before publication. The Budapest municipality stated that they have no information on the matter, as the government has not shared anything with them.)

HUNGARY’S BID FOR A SHARE OF TRUMP’S GLORY

Hungary’s government, along with GONGOs it finances — such as the Center for Fundamental Rights, one of Orbán’s most robust foreign influence operations, which I extensively covered in this newsletter’s previous issue — is working hard to secure a visit to Budapest, ideally by President Donald Trump, my government-connected sources tell me. However, they would also be content with welcoming JD Vance for now. While recent weeks have seen much discussion about Bratislava and Budapest as potential venues for peace talks on the war in Ukraine, after I spoke with at least a dozen diplomatic sources and government officials from EU countries, their consensus is that it’s unrealistic for any Central European capital — apart from Vienna, a non-NATO territory — to play such a role. A Trump-Putin meeting would more likely occur in Turkey or, for instance, Qatar. However, this does not rule out the possibility of Trump visiting Central Europe. EU diplomats widely expect Trump to visit Paris, Rome (given his close relationship with Giorgia Meloni), and possibly Berlin, depending on the outcome of the German elections and the timeline for forming a new government.

The Hungarian government is determined to lobby for Budapest’s inclusion in any European tour but has come to realize that securing a White House visit for Viktor Orbán may be more plausible. Hungarian officials have already floated this idea. If a Budapest visit were to happen, my sources connected to the government suggest that one of the next iterations of the CPAC Hungary event — organized by the above-mentioned Center for Fundamental Rights — could serve as a convenient occasion for such a trip. If Trump were to participate not in this year’s event but in the one scheduled for spring 2026, it could strategically align with Hungary’s parliamentary elections, potentially boosting Orbán’s chances. In the meantime, alongside efforts to finalize details for Orbán’s White House visit, the Hungarian government is also working to bring Vice President JD Vance to Hungary. Notably, some American right-wingers who are well-acquainted with JD Vance are already based in Budapest, working on Orbán’s payroll; therefore, this mission has a higher likelihood of success.

SECOND HELPINGS

We’d already reported but the story went on… here’s a second bite of our previous stories and scoops.

Substantial restructuring is underway in Orbán’s online media empire. Here’s an update to my scoop from last September, when I wrote that, dissatisfied with his polling numbers and blaming them on failing propaganda operations, Viktor Orbán has reportedly ordered a recalibration of both the ownership and leadership of government-controlled outlets. At least two sources connected to this propaganda apparatus suggest there are plans for Origo, the primary online news mouthpiece of the Orbán government, to undergo a significant revamp. According to current plans, which are still subject to change, the site would come under the ownership and control of the Megafon Center, known for successfully driving Orbán’s social media propaganda through short, impactful videos on Facebook. One source claims that current Origo content creators—let’s not call them journalists—were offered the option to transfer to other outlets if they are unwilling to work under Megafon, which essentially operates as a 30-second video production hub.

Hungarian Soldiers Ready for Deployment in Chad. A European diplomatic source informed me that Hungary’s army seems now fully prepared to send its 200-strong military mission to Chad, a nation perpetually on the brink of civil war. I’ve covered this peculiar mission extensively in previous newsletters and articles, including investigations for Direkt36 and Le Monde, which revealed the secret involvement of Viktor Orbán’s son, whose pet project this mission appears to be. For now, my source indicates that Budapest is waiting for approval from the parliament in N’Djamena to greenlight the mission. However, with Chad currently preoccupied with expelling the French army from its territory, it remains unclear when this approval might come.

MORE FROM OUR PARTNERS

HEAD OF HUNGARIAN ANTI-FRAUD AGENCY INVESTIGATED FOR CORRUPTION AFTER CONFLICT WITH ORBÁN’S OLIGARCHS. Atlatszo.hu summarizes a recent scandal involving the president of Hungary’s Integrity Authority, an anti-corruption authority watching over EU funds, and his suspected abuse of office — featuring car rentals. (Text in Hungarian and English.)

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW I GOT HERE” – BILLIONAIRE DEFENDANT TESTIFIES IN MINISTRY TRIAL. Direkt36 reports that Hungarian government-connected billionaire businessman Kristóf Nobilis testified in court as a defendant in a corruption case involving Ministry of Agriculture funds. (Text in Hungarian and English.)

AZERBAIJANI PROPERTIES REMAIN HIDDEN IN THE UK DESPITE A NEW LAW. IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, ASSETS ARE OWNED BY AN AZERBAIJANI MINISTRY OF TAXES OFFICIAL OR THE BROTHER OF PRESIDENT ALIYEV’S CHIEF BODYGUARD. While Aliyev’s inner circle is hiding their wealth in the UK, in the Czech Republic, the Azerbaijani elite openly own businesses and properties, Investigace.cz writes. (Text in Czech.)

This was VSquare’s 35th Goulash newsletter. I hope you gobbled it up. Come back soon for another serving. 

Still hungry? Check the previous newsletter issues here! 

SZABOLCS PANYI & THE VSQUARE TEAM