The European Union said Thursday it would probe allegations that member state Hungary sought for years to spy on the bloc's decision-making.

An international media investigation published Thursday said that Budapest tried to pressure its citizens working at EU institutions in Brussels to conduct espionage.

The scheme, run by its intelligence service, appears to have been designed to mainly benefit Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the report added. Orban often clashes with the European Union and fellow EU leaders.

A spokesman for the European Commission said it treated such allegations "very seriously, and we remain committed to protecting commission staff, commission information and networks from illicit intelligence gathering actions.

"We will be setting up an internal group to

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