Hungarian Parliament Strips Immunity of Former Ministers and PM Magyar

The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office has launched investigations into four high-profile cases, including the visa scandal connected to Orbán’s brother. Former culture and innovation minister Balázs Hankó faces accusations of causing a 17 billion forint loss to the state budget through the misuse of National Cultural Fund resources. Prosecutors allege these funds were diverted on 1,079 separate occasions between September 2025 and March 2026.

Simultaneously, former development minister Miklós Seszták is under scrutiny for allegedly accepting 12.6 billion forints in bribes between 2015 and 2018. Following the vote, Seszták surrendered to the Central Investigating Chief Prosecutor’s Office and was remanded in custody. Hankó, who initially staged a public declaration of innocence from within the parliament building, eventually complied with the summons after Speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer demanded his cooperation.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar requested the removal of his own immunity regarding a June 2024 incident where he allegedly threw a bystander's phone into the Danube. The government describes this wave of legal action as 'Operation Purgatory.' Meanwhile, a resigned chief prosecutor has alleged in an open letter that Viktor Orbán personally ordered the detention of cash couriers from Ukraine, adding further pressure to the former prime minister’s inner circle as the new administration pursues its anti-corruption agenda.