In Budapest, a new government elected on the promise of accountability has taken its first formal step toward that reckoning — and toward its own. Hungary's parliament voted unanimously to lift the prosecutorial immunity of Prime Minister Peter Magyar and two former ministers of his predecessor Viktor Orban, opening the door to corruption investigations that will test whether the ideals of an election campaign can endure the weight of power. Magyar himself welcomed the move, a gesture that speaks to the delicate art of governing by the same standards one has promised to impose on others.
Hungary lifts PM Magyar's immunity, opens door to corruption probes of Orban allies
He ran on investigating Orban's corruption, so fighting to keep his immunity would look like selective justice.
Mark
So Magyar called for his own immunity to be lifted? That seems unusual for a sitting prime minister.
Mimi
It does, but it makes sense in context. He ran on investigating Orban's corruption. If he'd fought to keep his immunity while pursuing those cases, it would look like selective justice.
Luke
Right, but we should be clear about what he's actually facing—a phone incident from 2024. That's not corruption in the way Hanko's case is.
Mark
What's the scale of what Hanko allegedly did?
Mimi
Over seventeen billion forints in misused cultural funds across more than a thousand cases. That's real money—44 million euros.
Luke
And Hanko denies it. We don't know yet what prosecutors can prove.
Mark
What about Sesztak?
Mimi
Alleged bribes tied to contracts with a state bus company. The details are still emerging.
Luke
The interesting thing is that Orban's allies abstained from voting. They didn't block this.
Mark
Why would they do that?
Mimi
Maybe they're signaling they won't obstruct investigations. Or maybe they're confident the cases won't stick. Either way, it lets the process move forward without them looking like they're protecting corruption.
Luke
The real test is whether these investigations actually happen and what they find. Right now it's just immunity lifted and allegations made.
O Pulso
- A 139-0 parliamentary vote stripped immunity from PM Magyar and two Orban-era ministers, signaling an unprecedented willingness to expose all sides to legal scrutiny.
- Former Culture Minister Hanko faces staggering allegations — over a thousand instances of alleged misuse totaling 17.3 billion forints from Hungary's National Cultural Fund.
- Former Development Minister Sesztak is under separate investigation for alleged bribes tied to contracts with state bus company Volanbusz, adding a second front to the accountability push.
- Magyar's own exposure — a 2024 nightclub incident in which he allegedly threw a man's phone into the Danube — risks undermining the moral authority at the heart of his political brand.
- Orban's Fidesz bloc abstained entirely, a calculated silence that neither blocks the investigations nor endorses them, leaving the political meaning of the vote deliberately ambiguous.
In Budapest, a new government elected on the promise of accountability has taken its first formal step toward that reckoning — and toward its own. Hungary's parliament voted unanimously to lift the prosecutorial immunity of Prime Minister Peter Magyar and two former ministers of his predecessor Viktor Orban, opening the door to corruption investigations that will test whether the ideals of an election campaign can endure the weight of power. Magyar himself welcomed the move, a gesture that speaks to the delicate art of governing by the same standards one has promised to impose on others.
Hungary's parliament voted unanimously Monday to lift the prosecutorial immunity of Prime Minister Peter Magyar alongside two former ministers from Viktor Orban's government. The 139-0 result — with Orban's Fidesz bloc abstaining rather than opposing — cleared the path for separate corruption investigations into all three men. Magyar had actively supported the removal of his own immunity, framing the gesture as consistent with the anti-corruption mandate that carried his Tisza party to power in April.
The charges facing the former ministers are substantial. Balazs Hanko, who served as Culture and Innovation Minister under Orban, is accused of overseeing the improper diversion of public funds in more than a thousand cases, with losses estimated at 17.3 billion forints — roughly 52 million dollars. Miklos Sesztak, National Development Minister from 2014 to 2018, faces a separate probe into alleged bribes connected to state bus company contracts. Both men deny the allegations.
Magyar's own legal jeopardy is comparatively modest but politically charged: prosecutors are examining a 2024 incident in which he allegedly seized and threw a man's phone into the Danube during a nightclub confrontation. He has called the case a distraction engineered to obscure the graver allegations against Orban's former circle.
The months ahead will determine whether Magyar's willingness to submit to scrutiny reads as principled transparency or as a calculated maneuver — and whether the investigations into his predecessors deliver the accountability his voters were promised.
Hungary's parliament voted unanimously on Monday to strip Prime Minister Peter Magyar of his immunity from prosecution, along with two former ministers who served under his predecessor Viktor Orban. The 139-0 vote cleared the way for separate corruption investigations involving all three men. Magyar himself had called for the removal of his immunity, a move that underscores the unusual political moment unfolding in Budapest.
Magyar's center-right Tisza party swept to power in April on a platform centered entirely around investigating alleged corruption and abuses of power during Orban's sixteen-year tenure. Now, barely five months into his premiership, Magyar faces his own legal exposure. Prosecutors are investigating an incident from 2024 in which Magyar allegedly took a mobile phone from a man who was filming him at a Budapest nightclub and threw it into the Danube. Magyar has dismissed the case as a "farce" and suggested prosecutors are using it to muddy the waters around the more serious allegations against Orban's former government.
The two former ministers whose immunity was also lifted face far weightier charges. Balazs Hanko, who served as Culture and Innovation Minister under Orban and now sits as a Fidesz lawmaker, is under investigation for the alleged misuse of public money from Hungary's National Cultural Fund. Prosecutors allege that public funds were improperly diverted in more than one thousand cases, resulting in losses totaling 17.3 billion forints—roughly 44.5 million euros or 52.3 million dollars. Hanko has rejected the allegations outright.
Miklos Sesztak, a member of Orban's Christian Democratic People's Party ally, served as National Development Minister from 2014 to 2018. He now faces a separate investigation concerning alleged bribes connected to contracts involving Volanbusz, a state-owned bus company. The specifics of those allegations remain under investigation.
Notably, lawmakers from Orban's Fidesz party and its KDNP coalition partner abstained from the vote entirely, neither voting for nor against the immunity removals. This abstention itself carries political weight—it allows the investigations to proceed without Orban's bloc appearing to obstruct them, while also signaling their distance from the proceedings.
Magyar's decision to support the lifting of his own immunity appears calculated. By voluntarily submitting to investigation on the nightclub incident, he positions himself as willing to face scrutiny while simultaneously pursuing the corruption probes that formed the centerpiece of his election campaign. Whether this gambit succeeds depends partly on how quickly and thoroughly those investigations into Hanko and Sesztak proceed, and whether the public perceives them as genuine accountability or political theater. The next months will test whether Magyar's anti-corruption mandate can survive the complications of governing alongside his own legal jeopardy.
Citações Notáveis
Magyar dismissed his own case as a 'farce' and suggested prosecutors are using it to obscure more serious allegations against Orban's former government.— Peter Magyar, Prime Minister of Hungary
Quer a matéria completa?
Leia o original em Deutsche Welle ↗