Prime Minister Péter Magyar has dismissed the heads of Hungary’s four principal national security agencies in one of the most significant personnel changes since his government took office.
The dismissals were published in Friday evening’s issue of the Hungarian Gazette and take effect on Saturday, 13 June, 444.hu reported.
Under the prime ministerial decisions, the following officials have been relieved of their duties:
- Dr Krisztián Oláh, Director General of the Information Office (Információs Hivatal);
- Dr Szabolcs Bárdos, Director General of the Constitution Protection Office (Alkotmányvédelmi Hivatal);
- Dr Csaba Kiss, Director General of the Special Service for National Security (Nemzetbiztonsági Szakszolgálat);
- Norbert Tajti, Director General of the Military National Security Service (Katonai Nemzetbiztonsági Szolgálat).
The government has not yet announced who will take over the leadership of the agencies.
Entire national security leadership replaced
News of changes within Hungary’s intelligence services had already begun to emerge earlier on Friday. Telex reported that Szabolcs Bárdos, who had led the Constitution Protection Office since October 2020, had been removed from his post.
Investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi had also reported that the heads of other civilian intelligence agencies, including the Information Office and the Special Service for National Security, were expected to be dismissed.
The latest government decrees have now confirmed that all four agency chiefs have been replaced simultaneously.
New advisory structure taking shape
The dismissals come just one day after it emerged that Péter Buda, a former intelligence officer, national security analyst and recognised expert on Russian hybrid warfare, would assume a senior professional leadership role alongside national security chief adviser Péter Tóth.
According to Buda, his responsibilities will include providing professional guidance and strategic planning in national security matters, as well as ensuring the objective synthesis of information received from the relevant agencies and organisations. He said the work would be carried out with the support of a team of specialists.
Part of a bigger government overhaul
The intelligence shake-up is the latest in a series of leadership changes across Hungary’s security and law enforcement institutions since the change of government.
In recent weeks, numerous officials appointed during previous Orbán administrations have been removed from their positions. Interior Minister Gábor Pósfai recently replaced the head of the Rapid Response Police, while new leaders have also been appointed to Hungary’s disaster management authority and prison service.
Earlier this month, both the national police chief and the Budapest police chief were relieved of their duties as part of the government’s restructuring efforts.
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Instead of Fidesz national security leadership taking part in Russia’s hybrid warfare against Europe we now have an expert in Russian hybrid warfare to defend Hungary and Europe from Russian hybrid warfare. When the phrase “regime change” was made this is exactly what it meant. Evidence indicates that Russian intelligence services gained full, persistent access to the computer networks of Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Leaked internal Hungarian security documents and foreign intelligence reports detail the extent of this compromise. Russian state-sponsored hacking groups (such as APT28 and APT29) successfully infiltrated over 4,000 workstations and nearly 1,000 servers, compromising the ministry’s directory services, mail servers, and file servers. Classified Data Access: Hackers penetrated the encrypted diplomatic network used to transmit confidential state secrets and classified internal communications. This compromise is reported to have affected more than 150 objects across over 90 Hungarian foreign missions globally.Active Espionage: The network infiltration allowed Russian security services to monitor internal operations and correspondence, potentially gaining insight into Hungarian diplomatic exchanges with the EU and NATO. Cover-up Accusations: Investigative reports from outlets like Direkt36 and Bellingcat allege that the Orbán administration was aware of the network breaches for years but failed to successfully expel the hackers or publicly address the vulnerabilities. Diplomatic Fallout The recurring cyber operations and intercepted diplomatic communications have caused significant friction between Hungary and its Western allies. Concerns that sensitive internal EU documents and minute-by-minute updates from ministerial meetings were being passed directly to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov prompted European leaders to restrict Hungary’s access to classified intelligence and shift sensitive strategic talks to alternative forums.The Hungarian government has largely dismissed the allegations of state-assisted intelligence leaks, instead labeling the reports as disinformation and conspiracy theories. You can read more about the specific technical flaws that exposed the government’s systems via Bellingcat, or read the original investigative breakdowns reported by Direkt36.9 sitesParliamentary question | E-001319/2022 | European ParliamentApr 11, 2022 — On 29 March 2022, the Direkt36 investigative journalism portal wrote that hackers working for the Russian security services had co…European ParliamentHungary Leaks: A geopolitical risk analysis of Hungarian …Mar 26, 2026 — By September 2021, internal reports confirmed that Russian actors had compromised the MFA’s Directory service, mail servers, and f…INSIGHT EU MONITORINGPutin’s hackers gained full access to Hungary’s foreign …Mar 29, 2026 — Russian state actors hacked into the Hungarian Foreign Ministry’s computer network compromising internal correspondence and even a…Direkt36Show all