Olivér Várhelyi

Olivér Várhelyi (; born 22 March 1972) is a Hungarian lawyer and diplomat who is the European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare in the von der Leyen Commission II since December 2024. He previously served as the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement from 2019 to 2024 after the rejection of László Trócsányi by the European Parliament.

Biography

Studies Várhelyi obtained a Master of European Legal Studies at Aalborg University, Denmark, in 1994, and a Law degree at the University of Szeged, in 1996. In 2005 he passed the bar exam.

Career Várhelyi started his career in the Hungarian public administration in 1996 at the Ministry for Industry and Trade. He then moved to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, where he was tasked with alignment with the EU acquis. From 1998 to 2001 he was chief of cabinet of the head of the legal unit of the ministry. He then moved to Brussels at the Hungarian mission to the EU, as legal counselor and then head of legal service until 2006, after Hungary's EU accession.

For two years Várhelyi then served as head of the EU law department at the Hungarian Ministry of Justice. From 2008 to 2011 he briefly served as head of unit at the European Commission, in charge of industrial property rights at the Directorate General Internal Market and Services.

In 2019 Várhelyi was appointed by Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán to the post of European Commissioner from Hungary to the von der Leyen Commission, after the European Parliament had rejected his first appointee, László Trócsányi. He was entrusted with the portfolio of European Neighbourhood and Enlargement. In his Parliamentary hearing, Várhelyi did not gather two thirds of votes, thus being subject to an additional round of written questions from MEPs.

Várhelyi generated controversy on 15 February 2023 for calling MEPs "idiots" during a hearing on the western Balkans. Due to this incident, other MEPs demanded Várhelyi's resignation.

He generated controversy again on 9 October 2023 by announcing via social media that all EU aid to Palestinians had been frozen. Four hours later his colleague Commissioner Janez Lenarčič made a contradictory announcement via social media stating that "EU humanitarian aid to #Palestinians in need will continue as long as needed."

In 2024 Várhelyi mentioned the attempted assassination of Robert Fico during phone negotiations with prime-minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze. After details of the call were made public Várhelyi stated that "one part of my phone call was not just fully taken out of context but was also presented to the public in a way which could give rise to a complete misinterpretation of the originally intended aim of my phone call". The prime minister of Georgia considered mentioning the assassination of Fico as a personal threat.

Following the 2024 European Parliament election he was nominated as the Commissioner-Designate of Health and Animal Welfare. His hearing took place in November 2024. His nomination was rejected after the first round, with European parliamentarians questioning his positions on areas including animal welfare and abortion. This led to an additional round of questions.

On October 9, 2025, a joint investigation by Der Spiegel, De Tijd, and others reported that Hungarian intelligence officials disguised as diplomats tried to infiltrate EU institutions while Várhelyi was Hungary's ambassador to the bloc. The European Commission will probe reports that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government deployed intelligence officers to Brussels to gather information on EU institutions and recruit an EU official. While the Hungarian government remained silent, at least thirty-five MEPs wanted Várhelyi to be fired.