BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will set up an internal group to examine allegations that Hungary has been spying on European institutions, a spokesperson for the Commission said on Thursday.
The allegations were made following a joint investigation by Hungarian nonprofit investigative journalism group Direkt36 and newspapers including Belgium's De Tijd and German magazine Der Spiegel.
"The Commission is taking note of all the reporting today, according to which there have been espionage operations pursued by a Hungarian intelligence service against the EU and members of its staff. The Commission takes such allegations very seriously," the Commission spokesperson said.
"We will be setting up an internal group to look into these allegations."
A spokesperson for Hungary's permanent representation to the EU in Brussels said a European Parliament lawmaker asked Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto about the allegations during a committee meeting on Thursday.
“I have no knowledge of any procedure corresponding to the claims made by these so-called investigative portals,” Szijjarto was quoted as saying to the lawmaker.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Julia Payne; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten, Sharon Singleton, Rod Nickel)
