Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar accused former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of promoting systemic corruption, nepotism, and contributing to the erosion of democracy in Hungary during his years in power. Orbán strongly denies these allegations.
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In an official statement, the government indicated that during Orbán’s 16 years in power, his government allocated about 65 billion forints (178.7 million euros) of public funds to various public opinion polls, consulting services, and media research and analysis, reports “TVP World”.
The majority of the research was conducted by an organization linked to Orbán
It is claimed that the majority of the research was carried out by the Hungarian analysis center “Századvég,” which the current government associates with Orbán. The research covered trends and public moods both in Hungary and across Europe.
The government asserts that this organization, using state funds, “became one of the centers supporting the policies of Orbán’s government.”
Magyar stated in the statement that the documents reveal how Orbán’s government used national security protection mechanisms to conceal decisions regarding the use of public funds.
The statement adds that these mechanisms were created to “prevent the disclosure of truly sensitive government decisions, such as those related to national security or defense information.”
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“However, the current review shows that over the past 16 years, this measure has been abused to hide issues whose classification is no longer justified,” the document states.
“Real state secrets must continue to be protected, but the mere use of public funds cannot be the basis for classifying data and restricting its availability to the public.”
Magyar’s center-right party “Tisza” ousted Orbán’s “Fidesz” government in the historic parliamentary elections in April.
Magyar based his election campaign on promises to fight corruption and unblock billions of frozen EU funds that Hungary had not received for several years due to disagreements between Brussels and Budapest over violations of the rule of law principles.
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