Orbán dominoes start falling: Hungary’s accountability drive reaches ex-Fidesz ministers (Day 135 of the Tisza government)
With ex-ministers facing bribery charges and a motorway concession worth €65bn under fire, the Tisza government’s push for accountability is starting to hit the wallets and freedom of the Orbán-era elite.
More than a year ago, we launched our Hungary Briefing series, in which we provided weekly roundups of news from Hungary’s election campaign. The series continues as we report on developments following the historic April election and the actions of the Tisza government. This week, we cover:
Over the past week, it has become difficult to keep track of which influential public figures have become the subjects of criminal proceedings in Hungary, and in connection with which cases.
The situation is somewhat reminiscent of Slovakia in autumn 2020, when people appointed under Smer were being handcuffed almost daily. Events in Hungary are moving even faster, however: the authorities have quickly reached the political level of alleged abuses of power, and two ministers from the Viktor Orbán government could be behind bars within days.
The following figures came under police scrutiny over the past week:
Zoltan Szalay is editor-in-chief of Napunk, a Bratislava-based hungarian-language news site that is part of Dennik N group. He studied law at Comenius University in Bratislava and worked in public administration as a lawyer. He later became editor-in-chief of Irodalmi Szemle and Új Szó. An author of several short story collections and novels, he has been on the staff of Denník N since 2019.
