Thousands of people protested against Prime Minister Orban’s government in Hungary’s capital Budapest. The reason was new evidence of corruption in Orban’s former cabinet.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Budapest in the evening. Peter Magyar, the ex-husband of former Justice Minister Judit Varga, called for the protests. Varga was considered a close political companion of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. She resigned in June last year to lead her party Fidesz’s list in the European elections. She resigned from that position earlier this year because, while she was still justice minister, she signed the pardon of a man who had been convicted of aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of minors.
The Orban government presents itself as a stronghold of the traditional, harmonious family – Varga’s ex-husband described Orban as the “head of the mafia state”. He had previously published a secretly recorded private conversation with his former wife.
Attempted cover-up by Orban government?
The recording is intended to prove that Orban’s government tried to cover up Cabinet Head Antal Rogan’s involvement in a corruption case. A state secretary in the Justice Ministry, which was then led by Varga, is said to have accepted large amounts of bribes. The Hungarian public prosecutor’s office has been investigating the case since 2021. Varga accused her ex-husband of having provoked the compromising statements that can be heard in the conversation.