Hungary: two former Orbán government ministers detained in corruption probes

BUDAPEST, Sept 29 /ATSH-DPA/ – Hungarian prosecutors have detained two ministers from Viktor Orbán’s former right-wing nationalist government on suspicion of corruption and embezzlement of funds.

The arrests of Balazs Hanko and Miklos Sesztak came immediately after parliament lifted the immunity they enjoyed as lawmakers, in Monday’s session.

Judges must now decide whether the two men, who can initially be held in custody for a maximum of 72 hours, should remain in detention for a longer period.

“Both voluntarily presented themselves to prosecutors after being summoned late Monday,” Hungarian media reported.

Hanko and Sesztak are the first senior officials from Orbán’s governments to face corruption investigations.

The new prime minister, Peter Magyar, welcomed the developments in a Facebook post.

“After decades of lies, millions of Hungarians have learned for the first time what a real change of regime and equality before the law means. Hungary is finally no longer a country without consequences,” he wrote.

Investigators accuse Hanko of misusing state funds for election campaign expenses while serving as Minister of Culture and Innovation (2024–2026), causing — allegedly — losses of 17.3 billion forints ($53 million).

Prosecutors accuse Sesztak, who served as Minister of Development from 2014 to 2018, of involvement in a corruption scandal linked to the transport company “Volanbusz ZRT”.

In this case, bribes worth over 11 billion forints are suspected to have been paid to state officials making decisions.