Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office issued a report October 14 falsely accusing OCCRP and its publisher, Drew Sullivan, of being “mercenaries of the European Commission” because of a grant that OCCRP accepted to train investigative journalists in Europe.
The move appears to be part of Hungary’s campaign to denigrate the European Commission and independent media, including OCCRP’s Hungarian media partners Direkt36 and Átlátszó, which have reported aggressively on corruption in President Viktor Orbán’s administration and are among the last remaining independent outlets in the country. Átlátszó filed a defamation lawsuit against the Sovereignty Protection Office last year for issuing a “defamatory and unlawful” report about the media outlet. The proceedings are ongoing.
“This EU funding is to give investigative journalists across Europe advanced training in techniques that uncover organized crime and corruption,” said OCCRP Publisher Drew Sullivan. “The EU supported this project because it understands that healthy societies require independent journalists working to inform the public, something that the current Hungarian leadership actively works against.”
In December 2023, the Hungarian Parliament passed a law establishing a Sovereignty Protection Authority to find and sanction supposed foreign agents among the Hungarian populace. The legislation was viewed as a threat to political opponents, media, and civil society. The European Commission launched legal action against Hungary for enacting the law, saying it violated the bloc’s democratic values and fundamental rights.
The report is full of falsehoods and wild conspiracy theories claiming that OCCRP received money for projects that it did not receive and that it is telling partners what to publish.
OCCRP is a hybrid organization that fights crime and corruption. It is a newsroom that investigates and publishes stories, but also a media development organization. The EU provided funding to OCCRP to conduct advanced journalism training programs tailored to investigative journalists working across Europe.
Journalists who attended the trainings have given positive feedback about their value. “I gained valuable expertise in tracking money trails, monitoring aircraft and ship movements, and leveraging geolocation techniques, all of which have enhanced my investigative capabilities,” said one. “I learned several practical investigative journalism techniques that I will apply in my future work, including tracking corruption and hidden wealth, using OSINT tools for research, and analyzing public records and datasets responsibly — skills that will help me conduct more thorough, ethical, and data-driven investigations,” said another.
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