BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — For Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyardefeat Viktor Orban in a landslide election was only the beginning. Less than six months into his mandate, his new government is pursuing former officials whom it accuses of corruption and abuse of power.
In his first interview with a global news agency since taking office, Magyar, 45, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that efforts to recover assets allegedly misused under his predecessor were underway, but that pressure for accountability must follow the rule of law that Orbán’s government often flouted.
“The Hungarian people obviously want to achieve results by holding those responsible to account, punishing them and recovering stolen property,” Magyar said from his central office in Budapest.
Under Orbán’s rule, he said, Hungarians “have seen that this wonderful country, which achieved great results when it joined the European Union in 2004, has become one of the poorest and most corrupt member states in Europe.”
Tisza, center-right and pro-European Magyar party defeated Orbán’s far-right Fidesz in April, ending 16 years of rule admired by the global nationalist right for its antagonistic approach to the EU and tough stance against immigration and the “liberal mainstream.”
Orbán’s self-described “illiberal democracy” has dismantled checks and balances and enriched the bottom line of the allied business community, largely by awarding them with lucrative EU-funded state contracts. Concerns about corruption and democratic backsliding prompted the bloc to begin withhold billions in funding in Hungary in 2021.
New government continues asset recovery
Before the elections, Magyar promised to bring to justice those responsible for past abuses and to recover public assets misappropriated under Orbán. Recent polls show that a large majority of voters expect him to keep this commitment.
The Magyar government established the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, which has investigative and prosecutorial powers to pursue cases of misappropriation of public funds. Magyar called the office a “superauthority” capable of recruiting police, prosecutors and the national tax administration “so that it does not take years to uncover a complex corruption case.”
Magyar also applied to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which investigates crimes involving EU funds, overturning Orbán’s long-standing refusal to participate.
While several former officials have already been detained Suspected of corruption-related offenses, Magyar acknowledged that there is pressure to achieve faster results.
“I feel impatient,” he said. “But everyone must understand that we want to build a rule of law, a democratic country, a country that respects the EU and fundamental rights, and that takes time. »
“I try to tell people that it’s not the first 10 minutes of mafia and crime films that are the most exciting, but the middle and the end,” he said.
Stand your ground on migration
Rapid reforms targeting corruption and strengthening judicial independence have helped ensure the EU’s security. announced in May that it would release 16.4 billion euros (around $18.4 billion) for Hungary, which it had frozen under Orbán.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Budapest on Friday for the 70th anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, in a further sign that troubled relations with the EU are turning a corner.
But this rapprochement has not erased the differences on migration.
Magyar said his administration would retain Orbán-era immigration and asylum policies, including escorting migrants who entered irregularly across the southern border into Serbia. THE razor wire fences along the border, erected by Orbán in 2015 to prevent the entry of migrants and asylum seekers, will also remain in place.
In 2024, the European Court of Justice fined Hungary 200 million euros ($225 million) plus 1 million euros ($1.1 million) per day for failing to comply with a 2020 ruling on its asylum and removal practices.
Magyar said that since the decision, “there is a completely new political environment” in the EU when it comes to immigration, and that Hungary has “already lost a billion euros because of this sanction, and I don’t think it’s fair.”
He hopes for a deal ending the fines by the end of the year and linked the dispute to negotiations over the EU’s next seven-year budget, which requires unanimous approval from member states.
“I don’t believe there can be a common European budget until this problem is resolved,” he said.
Rebuilding ties with Ukraine
The Magyars have also sought to repair relations with neighboring Ukraine after Orbán’s arrival on several occasions. aid blocked in Kyiv and delayed EU sanctions against Russia, while maintaining cordial ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a reversal from Orbán’s hostile approach toward kyiv, the Magyar government expressed solidarity with Ukraine and designated Russia as a threat to national security. But he maintained Hungary’s demand that Ukraine protect the right of its Hungarian ethnic minority to education in their native language.
While Orbán’s government failed to achieve such change, Ukraine’s parliament last week expanded education rights in minority languages alongside Ukrainian, after weeks of bilateral consultations.
Magyar called the adoption of the law “a chance to open a new chapter in Ukrainian-Hungarian relations,” which he said had been “very frosty” for many years.
He welcomed other Ukrainian gestures, including recognition of Soviet Ukraine’s responsibility for the deportation and torture of Hungarians between 1944 and 1946, which he said was “an important step towards reconciliation.”
However, the Magyars are opposed to an acceleration Ukraine’s accession to the EU – championed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and many EU leaders – saying membership must be based on merit and that he does not believe a country at war can join the bloc.
“It undermines the credibility of the European Union if you put some (potential) member countries on a fast track,” he said.
Tax wealth, increase benefits
At home, Magyar’s proposed budget for 2027 combines tax cuts for lower incomes with a new wealth tax, reflecting his criticism that Orbán’s economic policies were dividing Hungary into two groups: “The well-off, the rich, the oligarchs and their circles, and then everyone else.”
The government expects a 1% annual tax on net wealth above 1 billion forints ($3.1 million) to affect about 15,000 people and raise 200 billion forints ($617 million), helping to finance tax cuts for about 2 million people on the lowest incomes. The rate would increase to 1.5% on wealth above 100 billion forints ($308 million).
The government also plans to double family allowances, the base rate of which is about $37 a month for a family with one child and has been unchanged since 2008. It will also more than quadruple the minimum monthly pension, from about $88 — which Magyar called “inhumane” — to about $370.
“That doesn’t make me a socialist. That doesn’t make me a leftist. That’s what we call humanity. That’s called social justice,” Magyar said.
Gn world
