Hungarian prosecutors detained two former government officials on Monday as part of ongoing corruption investigations into the previous Orbán administration. Balázs Hankó, who served as culture minister and currently holds a parliamentary seat in Orbán’s Fidesz party, was taken into custody on suspicion of misappropriating public funds. Miklós Seszták, an MP representing the KDNP party aligned with Fidesz, was also detained in connection with an alleged bribery investigation. Both men have denied wrongdoing.
The detentions followed parliamentary action on Monday in which Hungary’s legislature voted to suspend the immunity protections for both former ministers, as well as for current Prime Minister Péter Magyar. Magyar, whose Tisza party won elections in April on a platform of investigating alleged corruption from the Orbán era, voluntarily requested the lifting of his own immunity. Magyar faces separate allegations related to an incident in 2024 involving a phone at a nightclub, which he has characterized as a minor matter and criticized as a politically motivated case.
According to prosecutors, Hankó allegedly oversaw the misappropriation of approximately 17.3 billion forints, or roughly €47 million, from Hungary’s national cultural fund. The funds are suspected of having been directed to artists and organizations with connections to Fidesz and used to finance campaign activities. In July, authorities conducted raids on Fidesz party offices and seized computer servers as part of the investigation into the cultural fund matter.
Seszták is suspected of accepting more than 12 billion forints in bribes and kickbacks related to vehicle procurement contracts and public construction projects, with particular focus on the purchase of secondhand buses at allegedly inflated prices. Prime Minister Magyar stated that the arrests represent a significant development in addressing corruption, asserting that Hungary will now experience “real regime change and equality before the law.” He has contended that corruption under previous administrations cost Hungary between 8 and 10 percent of its annual economic output.
Separately, Hungary’s newly established national asset protection and recovery office announced its first four cases to investigate, addressing issues including residence permit sales, local council spending, state-owned company investments, and expenses at a defunct Orbán-era sovereignty protection office. The broader investigation into the Orbán period represents the first significant prosecutorial action against senior figures from the former administration.
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