As of: March 27, 2024, 5:12 p.m
By: Franziska Schwarz
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Viktor Orbán: Hungary's Prime Minister on February 26, 2024 in Parliament in Budapest © Attila Kisbenedek/AFP
A suspected corruption case shocked Hungary: thousands are protesting on the streets against Prime Minister Orbán in Hungary.
Budapest - Former Fidesz official Péter Magyar is becoming a problem for Viktor Orbán: Thousands of people demonstrated in Budapest on Tuesday evening against the government of the right-wing populist Hungarian Prime Minister.
The reason was allegations of bribery and corruption against members of the government.
Magyar, the former husband of Orbán's former Justice Minister Judit Varga, called for this.
He described Orbán as the “head of the mafia state”.
Magyar had previously published a secretly recorded private conversation with his then wife.
This is intended to prove that Orbán's government tried to cover up the involvement of Antal Rogan, minister and head of Orbán's cabinet office, in a corruption case.
Corruption case in Hungary: investigation into bribery
The government did not initially respond to the publication of the video, whose authenticity the
AFP
news agency was initially unable to verify.
A “marital dispute” has “nothing to do with public life,” said Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas.
Varga accused her ex-husband of provoking the compromising statements.
The public prosecutor's office has been investigating the corruption case since 2021. A state secretary in the Ministry of Justice, which was then led by Varga, is said to have accepted large amounts of bribes.
Varga was considered a close political companion of Orbán.
She was Minister of Justice until June 2023.
She resigned to lead her party Fidesz's list in the European elections.
She resigned from that position earlier this year in the wake of a pedophilia scandal.
US report: Is Orbán losing his “iron grip”?
Politico
describes Varga as one of Orbán’s former “star protégés.”
The media-experienced politician should lead Orbán's right-wing Fidesz party into the European elections, writes the US magazine in a current report.
The current “twist in a drama that has Hungary in suspense” shows that Orbán is losing his “iron grip” on Hungary, says
Politico
.
“This shows that the justice system is under political influence, that key figures manipulated the investigation and that Varga knew about it,” the report quoted Hungarian opposition politician and MEP Katalin Cseh as saying.
(frs with AFP and dpa)