High-Level Corruption Probes
Hungarian Prosecutors Detain Two Orbán-Era Ministers Following Corruption Investigations
Anonymous
Hungarian prosecutors detained former ministers Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták on September 28, after Parliament voted 139-0 to suspend their immunity; Fidesz and its allies boycotted the vote and called the proceedings political revenge. Hankó is suspected of misusing National Cultural Fund money, including allegedly directing public awards to political events and 341 million forints to his own constituency, while Seszták is accused of taking bribes tied to public contracts. Both men deny wrongdoing or say they will cooperate, and the allegations have not been proven. The arrests came amid Péter Magyar’s government’s anti-corruption drive and a dispute over the vacant prosecutor general position, which has left Magyar’s party able to block the president’s nominee.
Key Points
1
Prosecutors allege that 17.3 billion forints (about €46 million) was distributed through 1,079 National Cultural Fund awards outside the fund’s statutory purposes between September 2025 and March 2026.
2
The investigation had already led to a July raid on the data centre holding Fidesz’s servers and the arrest of Hankó’s former chief of staff.
3
Hungary’s prosecution service operates as a single hierarchy, has exclusive authority to bring charges and is outside government supervision; the prosecutor general’s nine-year term and two-thirds parliamentary appointment threshold are intended to prevent one parliament from controlling the office.
4
Before his detention, Hankó remained in Parliament and said he would not hide from authorities; former prime minister Viktor Orbán livestreamed Hankó’s departure and called the proceedings a politically ordered “show trial.”
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