Europe28 September, 20262 min read
Hungary’s Parliament Lifts Immunity Of PM Peter Magyar And Two Orban-Era Ministers
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Parliament lifts immunity of Péter Magyar and two former Orban-era ministers. Probes allege embezzlement of over €80 million by the ministers; Magyar faces theft claim.
Immunity lifted in Hungary
Hungary’s Parliament stripped Prime Minister Peter Magyar and two ministers in former leader Viktor Orban’s nationalist government of their immunity, clearing the way for prosecutors to pursue separate criminal investigations into each of them. Legislators voted overwhelmingly in favour of lifting their immunity, and Orban’s Fidesz party and its ally KDNP boycotted the session.
Prosecutors sought to investigate Magyar, as well as former Minister of Culture Balazs Hanko and former Minister of National Development Miklos Sesztak, after Magyar asked for his immunity to be lifted so he could clear himself of “character assassination”. Prosecutors alleged Magyar took a mobile phone from a man filming him at a Budapest nightclub in June 2024 and threw it into the Danube River, while Magyar called the case a “sham” and accused prosecutors of trying “to conflate” the ex-ministers’ cases with “the attempt at political character assassination… which has already failed several times”.
Numbers and allegations
Hungarian lawmakers voted 139-0 to lift the immunity of Magyar, former Culture and Innovation Minister Balazs Hanko and former National Development Minister Miklos Sesztak, and Fidesz and KDNP did not take part in the vote. Prosecutors investigated Magyar over an incident in 2024 in which he allegedly took a mobile phone from a man who was filming him at a Budapest nightclub and threw it into the Danube, and Magyar described the case as a "farce".
Prosecutors accused Hanko of alleged misuse of public money from Hungary's National Cultural Fund, alleging public funds were improperly used in more than 1,000 cases, causing losses of 17.3 billion forints (€44.5 million/$52.3 million). Prosecutors also investigated Sesztak over alleged bribes linked to contracts involving the state-owned bus company Volanbusz, and prosecutors alleged the misuse involved losses of 17.3 billion forints (€44.5 million/$52.3 million) and bribes and kickbacks described in the reporting as more than 12 billion forints ($37.2 million).
Political fallout and next steps
Magyar told lawmakers before the vote, “I have not committed a crime, I take responsibility for all my actions,” and he also said “Anyone who has nothing to hide comes forward openly,” as prosecutors proceeded with criminal investigations. Fidesz and its coalition partner, the Christian Democrats, did not take part in Monday’s vote, calling the charges against their lawmakers political tyranny by Magyar’s government.
Prosecutors alleged Hankó personally intervened to award money from the fund intended to support cultural projects based on political considerations and used the funds to cover campaign costs for Orbán's Fidesz party in the run-up to the election in April. Prosecutors also suspected Miklós Seszták of accepting more than $37.2 million in bribes and kickbacks connected to vehicle procurements under Hungary’s state bus company, and lawmakers lifted the immunity so authorities could question Magyar and formally bring him into the proceedings.