As concerns about espionage grow louder across the EU, members of the European Parliament visiting Hungary this week were handed Faraday pouches to shield their devices from potential snooping. The move, rarely seen on official EU visits, highlights the heightened anxiety surrounding digital surveillance within the bloc.
The five-member delegation from the Parliament’s civil liberties committee landed in Hungary on Monday for a three-day fact-finding mission. Their goal? Assessing Hungary’s adherence to democratic norms, rule of law, and fundamental rights. But before they even boarded the plane, officials were advised to avoid public Wi-Fi and charging stations — and were issued Faraday bags, those sleek, signal-blocking pouches often reserved for high-security scenarios.
“It’s not every day we get those,” one MEP told European media, suggesting the Parliament’s own security team wasn’t taking any chances.
The backdrop to this high-alert visit is anything but calm. Hungary’s government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has long been under fire from Brussels over democratic backsliding. Tensions hit a boiling point after revelations that Hungarian authorities had deployed powerful spyware to monitor opposition figures, journalists, and activists — a scandal that triggered a deep-dive inquiry by the Parliament’s PEGA committee last year.
Even more unsettling: reports surfaced in late 2023 alleging that Hungary’s intelligence services had previously spied on EU officials during visits between 2015 and 2017. Allegations included hotel room sweeps and wiretaps. Budapest flatly denied the claims, but trust hasn’t exactly bounced back.
This week’s delegation, led by Dutch Green MEP Tineke Strik, also includes Belgian liberal Sophie Wilmès, Spaniard Pernando Barrena Arza, and two Polish lawmakers: Krzysztof Śmiszek (Social Democrats) and Michał Wawrykiewicz (center-right).
The use of Faraday bags underscores how EU institutions are tightening up digital defenses, especially when visiting countries where surveillance concerns linger. These pouches essentially create a force field that blocks incoming and outgoing signals — a low-tech fix with high stakes when espionage is in the air.
Two insiders familiar with internal procedures told European media the Parliament doesn’t routinely distribute the pouches for member trips, which speaks volumes about the current climate of caution.
Meanwhile, a parallel storyline emerged just days earlier: a Financial Times report revealed that some EU Commission staff headed to the U.S. had been given burner phones and stripped-down laptops to avoid cyber threats. While the Commission denied any blanket recommendation to use such devices on U.S. trips, it acknowledged that top officials occasionally receive burner phones when dealing with ultra-sensitive matters.
Those sorts of precautions, while more common for visits to places like China, have apparently started making their way into the European theater — especially when political trust is wearing thin.
Notably, MEPs traveling to Hungary weren’t given burner phones or low-tech laptops, but the Faraday pouches alone were enough to signal how seriously the Parliament is taking digital risk.
When pressed for more details, Parliament spokespersons declined to elaborate on security protocols, citing a blanket statement: “All necessary assessments are in place to ensure fact-finding missions proceed safely, with full duty of care for members and staff.”
Lawmakers, the statement added, receive regular security briefings and access to relevant materials — just in case politics gets a little too close for comfort.
