Goulash: The Plan Behind US Envoy Picks to Poland and Hungary; Babiš’s Base in Budapest Revealed

FRESH FROM VSQUARE

WHY SLOVAKIA IS ONCE AGAIN A SAFE HAVEN FOR ITALIAN ORGANIZED CRIME

Antonino Vadalà, who stood at the center of a 2018 political scandal that shook Robert Fico’s government at the time, has quietly spent a year back in an Italian prison — a fact known only to his close family. His ties to a Fico assistant first exposed how Italian organized crime could penetrate Slovak power structures and tap millions in EU farm funds. A new cross-border investigation shows that entrepreneurs linked to the ’Ndrangheta mafia from southern Italy and connected to Vadalà have since launched fresh ventures along Slovakia’s border with Ukraine, which are under investigation for money laundering. It was the murdered journalist Ján Kuciak who first traced Vadalà’s political links, subsidies, and mafia background, though he never learned that Vadalà was also a cocaine trafficker. Meanwhile, since Fico’s return to power in 2023, Slovakia’s anti-mafia capacities have been largely dismantled. You can read this collaboration between the Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak (ICJK) and Italy’s IrpiMedia in Slovak, Italian, and, of course, in English on VSquare.

FSB-LINKED PRIEST MEETS SANCTIONED BILLIONAIRE — WHILE HUNGARY LOBBIES ON HIS BEHALF

This investigation by Re:Baltica and 24.hu reveals how sanctioned Russian oligarch Petr Aven met with Metropolitan Hilarion, a senior Russian Orthodox Church figure who at the time led the Russian church in Hungary, in Latvia. Hilarion’s activities, including his shooting practice at the FSB’s own range and Hungarian counterintelligence assessing him as effectively working for the FSB, have been detailed in multiple previous Goulash issues. He has long been described as a go-between for the Kremlin and the Hungarian government, and now his former assistant claims he also played a role in Viktor Orbán’s government lobbying to remove Aven from the EU sanctions list. Read this story in Hungarian, Latvian, or the full English version on VSquare.

FROM DARKNET TO DISINFO: HOW A ‘BULLETPROOF’ RUSSIAN HOST EVADES EU SANCTIONS

Aéza, a Russian server hosting company tied to the pro-Kremlin Doppelganger disinformation network, was sanctioned by the US, UK, and Australia for aiding cybercriminals, and its founders had been charged in Russia for running a darknet drug market. Recorded Future recently called Aéza “one of the most significant sources of malicious infrastructure,” while the company denies wrongdoing. Its services are marketed as “bulletproof” hosting — infrastructure built to resist takedowns and often used to facilitate illegal activity. And guess what: despite Aéza operating servers in Europe, EU authorities have taken no action. Read the story by Investigace.cz’s Kristina Vejnbender in Czech, or the English version on VSquare.

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. 

SEB GORKA ALLEGEDLY BEHIND TRUMP’S AMBASSADOR PICKS TO POLAND AND HUNGARY

Thomas Rose was sworn in as US ambassador to Poland in October 2025, just days after Benjamin Landa was nominated to serve as ambassador to Hungary. These two appointments are part of a broader strategy — and one alleged mastermind stands behind it, according to a source with deep knowledge of US-Polish relations who spoke to VSquare’s editor-in-chief, Anna Gielewska. The plan, the source said, is for both men to act as “dual ambassadors,” representing not only the Trump administration but also safeguarding close ties with Israel.  Thomas Rose had previously worked as an editor and commentator for Jewish and pro-Israel media outlets, while Benjamin Landa, an Orthodox Jewish businessman, is the son of a Holocaust-surviving rabbi from Czechoslovakia who was educated in a yeshiva and is deeply involved in Americam and Israeli Jewish charitable causes. (Landa’s controversial nursing home businesses, detailed in the previous Goulash issue, add another layer to his profile.)

The person credited with shaping this strategy and being behind these picks, the source claimed, is Sebastian Gorka — a British-Hungarian-American political commentator and far-right media personality known for his anti-Muslim rhetoric. (A second source with deep knowledge of US relations said that Gorka’s involvement is entirely plausible but could not directly confirm it.) Gorka, who is of Hungarian descent, had even worked with Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party in the 2000s before becoming disillusioned and trying to launch his own right-wing movement in Hungary — a short-lived project that quickly fizzled. He later immigrated to the United States, reinvented himself as a self-proclaimed counterterrorism expert, and joined Steve Bannon’s circle as a Breitbart commentator. Gorka briefly served as Deputy Assistant to the President during the first Trump administration and has now returned to the White House National Security Council in a new role, Senior Director for Counterterrorism. He appears to wield more influence this time than he did during his first White House stint in 2017.

BABIŠ’S BUDAPEST BASE REVEALED

Andrej Babiš became Czech prime minister after resolving a major conflict of interest, placing his Agrofert business conglomerate into a so-called “blind trust” in a way that complies with Czech law. This also affects a lesser-known Hungarian subsidiary, GreenChem Hungary, which quietly maintained two luxury apartments on Budapest’s Andrássy Avenue. The spacious, 120 to 130 square meter apartments were purchased in 2023, property deeds obtained by VSquare show. According to sources familiar with Agrofert’s regional operations, longtime Babiš confidant Tünde Bartha — who oversaw Agrofert’s subsidiaries in Hungary, Croatia, and Romania — used one of these apartments as her Budapest office. The apartments also served as a private base or accommodation for visiting Agrofert executives, including Babiš himself. For example, Babiš used this apartment when visiting a 2023 August Hungarian state celebration as well as CPAC Hungary events in past years. You can check out the computer-generated images of the apartment interiors in the building’s brochure — first floor, apartments L1 and L2.

The building, however, ties the story directly into Hungary’s ruling elite. It was renovated by a company group owned by Attila Balázs, a business partner of Viktor Orbán’s son-in-law, István Tiborcz. The property has also hosted a revolving cast of politically exposed tenants: VSquare and Radio Zet previously revealed that former Polish Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek hid out in a penthouse apartment in this same building in the summer of 2024, and we even photographed Viktor Orbán’s secretary Dávid Héjj entering and exiting the building. (Obajtek lived on the penthouse level, apartment L11.) Agrofert sources insist they had no contact with these figures — and stress that in downtown Budapest “it’s nearly impossible to find high-end real estate not tied to the ruling Fidesz business ecosystem.” Czech media and experts now speculate that Bartha, an ethnic Hungarian, would return to her previous role as head of the Czech government office — essentially chief of staff to Babiš. I reached out to Agrofert for comment. The company replied that all their properties are legally acquired and properly managed, adding: “We will not comment on media speculation, especially concerning individuals who do not even work for our group.” (See more on Babiš’s new Czech government later in this newsletter, as well as our earlier story on Babiš selling his French villa.)

HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT PROXY TARGETS SLOVAK BOOK MARKET

Hungary’s lavishly state-funded Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) is quietly scouting acquisitions in Slovakia’s book market, multiple industry sources told me. MCC — nominally an elite talent program but effectively a government-backed influence and lobbying vehicle — operates on dividends from state-transferred MOL (oil) and Richter (pharmaceuticals) company shares and has been expanding into commercial ventures. After buying Hungary’s largest book retailer and distributor, Libri, MCC is now attempting to replicate the model abroad. Several business insiders say MCC has approached multiple Slovak companies and is currently eyeing Panta Rhei, the biggest one. I reached out to both sides for confirmation and asked about the stage of their negotiations — and received very similar replies, with no denial.

 “Panta Rhei, as the largest bookstore chain in Slovakia, has been approached by several potential investors — mainly from abroad — since 2017. So far, we have not concluded any agreement that would lead to a change in ownership,” the Slovak company replied to me, adding that “we do not have any information that we would consider important to share with the media or the public.” Pál Valentinyi, head of MCC’s commercial ventures (including Libri), sent the following: “The Libri Group is one of the most significant cultural and book-market players in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to its market-leading position in Hungary, it has long been present in neighboring countries through its own distribution as well as through partner and reseller networks. … The company group has been monitoring regional opportunities for a long time, and naturally, discussions with other players in the book market are ongoing. At the moment, there is no development we wish to disclose.” Both Panta Rhei and MCC’s representatives said they would inform us as soon as they have something to share.

A Hungarian government-linked source suggested the purchases could provide MCC with alternative revenue if Viktor Orbán loses the April 2025 election and public funding for the vast MCC empire dries up. Assets held abroad would also be shielded from any nationalization efforts by a future democratic government in Budapest. At the same time, MCC’s entry into Slovakia could bolster Orbán-aligned populist actors in local cultural battles. Since MCC operates using assets donated by the Hungarian state, it is clearly a matter of public interest how and why funds originating from the Hungarian state budget would be transferred abroad, and how this would benefit Hungarian taxpayers. At the same time, given that MCC’s de facto leader is Viktor Orbán’s political director and the campaign director of the governing Fidesz party, Balázs Orbán (no relation), it may also raise questions in Slovakia about why a proxy of the neighboring government is attempting to enter its book market.

BREWING IN THE BOTTOM — EXCLUSIVE ANALYSIS

VSquare’s Tamara Kaňuchová talked with Pavel Havlíček, a research fellow at the Association for International Affairs (AMO) in Prague to discuss key figures in the next Czech government.

Meet Babiš’s (incomplete) team. It took more than two months after the Czech parliamentary elections (see our previous explainer on the outcome here) for Andrej Babiš to be sworn in as prime minister on Monday. In the meantime, he has not only had to manage the scandal around coalition partner Motorists party’s Filip Turek, whose past racist, Nazi, and misogynistic comments resurfaced, but has also had to resolve his own conflict of interest by placing his business assets into a blind trust. Yet his cabinet list is still not complete.

“We are still waiting for the full list — especially regarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment, which, for now, will oddly be led by the same person, Petr Macinka, the founder of the Motorists for Themselves party,” said Pavel Havlíček. The original candidate for foreign minister, the aforementioned Turek — who was absent from the Prague Castle swearing-in ceremony due to health issues — is almost certainly out after his scandals. “There are other options on the table, including figures from inside the Motorists party, but it’s too early to say who that might be,” Havlíček added. He believes it would have been wiser for President Petr Pavel not to allow this temporary arrangement, in which Macinka holds two portfolios, and instead to press Babiš to present a final decision.

The incoming defense minister, Jaromír Zůna, is a former general who once sought the post of Chief of the General Staff under President Miloš Zeman. After that unsuccessful bid, he served as a military attaché in China and ended his military career in January 2025. Following his meeting with President Pavel, there seems to be broad agreement on Czech security strategy, though details — including what will happen with the previous Fiala government’s ammunition initiative for Ukraine — remain unclear. For the head of the Government Office (essentially a chief of staff), Tünde Bartha appears to be the obvious choice. “She is Babiš’s most trusted ally in both business and politics — a loyal and skilled executive manager. For this key position, I don’t see many other candidates. And the team is already forming, including Milena Hrdinková for EU affairs, a sherpa-type role that will be crucial for European policy,” Havlíček said.

MORE FROM OUR PARTNERS

If you like our scoops and stories, here are some more articles from our partners!

ÁTLÁTSZÓ WINS FIRST-INSTANCE LAWSUIT AGAINST THE SOVEREIGNTY PROTECTION OFFICE. A court ruled that the Office defamed Átlátszó by falsely accusing it of intelligence gathering, disinformation, and misuse of public data, ordering the authority to apologize, pay damages, and cease further violations, though the verdict is not yet final. (Text in Hungarian and English.)

“JUMP UP AND LICK THE TABLE” – COMPLAINTS OF SERIOUS ABUSE ARE BEING INVESTIGATED AT A BUDAPEST CHILDREN’S HOME. Direkt36’s investigation reveals yet another example of serious shortcomings in Hungary’s child protection system. (Text in Hungarian and English.)

NEW ERA OF CYBERCRIME: HACKERS WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. AI has drastically accelerated cyberattacks, enabling lone hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in hours and even alter malicious code directly on victims’ computers, Investigace.cz’s Josef Šlerka explains. (Text in Czech.)

PRE-ELECTION DEEPFAKE: THE INCIDENT HAPPENED, BUT POLICE ARE NO LONGER INVESTIGATING THE CASE. Slovak police have closed the investigation into the 2023 pre-election deepfake targeting journalist Monika Tódová, recognizing it as a crime but ending the case because the perpetrator could not be identified, ICJK writes. (Text in Slovak.)

DESSERT AND FURTHER READINGS

For those still hungry for more, we’re finishing today’s menu with a couple of recommendations from our friends and colleagues.

HUNGRY FOR NUCLEAR DEALS – BUT WITH WHOM? Europe is racing to sign major nuclear deals, scrambling to find the skilled professionals needed to run new reactors and reclaim a strong position at the global nuclear table — but reversing decades of retreat from the sector is proving far harder than expected. Read Tamara Kaňuchová’s full article in The European Correspondent.

ON MS PRESIDENT. In her Substack newsletter, VSquare’s Emily Tamkin reviews a new documentary on former Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová, tracing her rise after the Kuciak murders, her fight against disinformation and corruption, and Slovakia’s return to Robert Fico — who helped drive  Čaputová out of politics by smearing her as an American agent. Read it here and check out Emily’s other pieces.

DE-OLIGARCHISATION AS A STRATEGY TO ENHANCE SECURITY AND POLITICAL FREEDOM OF HUNGARY AND THE EUROPEAN UNION. Continuing its annual Europe Future Forum, Warsaw-based Visegrad Insight – Res Publica Foundation has launched a new, smaller bilateral format bringing together experts from Poland, Hungary and the wider CEE region. Using strategic foresight methods, participants will map possible future scenarios and develop recommendations to strengthen democratic and economic security. Their aim is to rebuild ties between Warsaw and Budapest, identify new areas of European cooperation, and support a more resilient, democratic, and competitive Central Europe. You can read the first policy brief here and Visegrád Insight’s podcast on the topic here.

YOUNG, ATTRACTIVE, FANS OF FOOTBALL, ORBÁN AND RELATIONSHIP DRAMA: INSIDE THE MOST SOPHISTICATED PRO-FIDESZ FAKE-PROFILE NETWORK ON FACEBOOK. Lakmusz.hu’s Szilvi Német uncovered a network of nearly 100 Facebook profiles “living” in an AI-generated reality and systematically spreading content in support of Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party (Hungarian and English versions both available). 

‘MAKE EUROPE GREAT AGAIN’ AND MORE FROM A LONGER VERSION OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY. Defense One reviewed a fuller version of the new, controversial US strategy, which explicitly aims to meddle in Central Europe: “Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland are listed as countries the U.S. should ‘work more with… with the goal of pulling them away from the [European Union].’” Read it here.

KREMLIN’S SANCTIONED CRYPTO PAYMENT NETWORK HAS BUDAPEST LINK. “A multi-billion-dollar, supposedly ‘sanctions-proof’ international payment system backed by the Kremlin and sanctioned by the West, has been associated with a business in downtown Budapest – staffed by a Latvian go-karting enthusiast – since December 2024.” Read this intriguing piece by Reporter.London. here in English (or read the Romanian version on Context.ro). 

This was VSquare’s 55th 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