Operation “Cleanup”: arrests at the highest levels in Hungary

Hungarian prosecutors on Monday arrested two former ministers on charges of corruption and abuse of office, after parliament lifted their immunity. The arrest of Miklós Seszták and Balázs Hankó is an important development in the efforts of prime minister Péter Magyar to hold to account officials from the era of his predecessor Viktor Orbán. The campaign has been dubbed “Operation Cleanup,” as Euronews writes.

Magyar, whose Tisza party won the April parliamentary elections, has accused Orbán of running a “mafia state” that channeled billions of euros of public funds to his business associates. Tisza campaigned on the “Road to Prison” program and, after forming a government, Magyar announced Operation Cleanup in June, aimed at dismantling what he described as state capture. “We are launching Operation Cleanup, which will put an end to those long decades when Hungary could be held hostage by organized political and economic criminal groups,” Magyar said in parliament.

Prosecutors accelerated several investigations into the Orbán era over the summer. On Monday morning, parliament, where Tisza holds the majority, lifted the immunity of the two former politicians. Seszták, who served as development minister from 2014 to 2018, is suspected of taking around 30 million euros in bribes linked to bus tenders. Hankó is being investigated over the distribution of 46 million euros in cultural funds to public figures, which the authorities consider to be mostly campaign financing. Both remain in custody as suspects and deny any wrongdoing.

“After decades of lies, millions of Hungarians experienced for the first time what real regime change and equality before the law actually mean. Hungary is finally not a country without consequences,” Magyar wrote on social media after the detentions. He added that “Operation Cleanup” would be accelerated.

Political analyst Szabolcs Dull said the case resonates with voters, arguing that accountability is essential to Péter Magyar’s political message. “This is the core issue of Péter Magyar’s politics. He always had his greatest campaign success promising accountability, confrontation and consequences. One of these elements is that he will hold those responsible for the past period criminally accountable and even send them to prison. The promise of handcuffs and bars, many times,” Dull said.

Investigations could reach key allies, or Orbán himself

At the center of the cleanup is the newly created National Office for Recovery and Protection of Assets, an anti-corruption body that can take over investigations from prosecutors, launch new procedures and issue arrest warrants. The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Tax Authority are also involved in several cases.

Several other high-profile figures are also under investigation. György Matolcsy, the former governor of the National Bank of Hungary, has been questioned as a suspect in a blackmail case linked to the dismissal of a manager at Erste Bank Hungary. Parliament’s National Security Committee also invited foreign minister Péter Szijjártó to a hearing on the investment agreement with the Chinese carmaker BYD in Hungary. After the elections, Szijjártó took a leadership position at BYD, raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest. No formal investigation has been opened against him.

Orbán himself could ultimately be involved as well. Lawyers say his possible criminal liability arises in the case of the Ukrainian cash convoy. In March, at the height of the election campaign, two Ukrainian cash couriers transporting regular transfers from Vienna to Kyiv were stopped near Budapest. The couriers were detained and a large amount of cash and gold was seized. The authorities consider the raid and the detentions illegal and are investigating Orbán’s role. According to a former chief prosecutor, Orbán personally instructed the counter-terrorism police.

“The authorities must decide whether there was legal abuse in the Golden Convoy case or not. If Viktor Orbán is legally punished here, people will want to see this as political accountability for his responsibility for other corruption cases,” Dull said.

Fidesz warns of political revenge

On Monday evening, MPs from Orbán’s Fidesz party accompanied Hankó to the prosecutor’s office in a show of support. They portrayed the investigations as politically motivated and accused Hungary of acting like a tyranny. “Arbitrariness needs new victims every day. Today it is them, tomorrow it is you,” Orbán wrote on social media. “We send a message to all Hungarians: Tisza’s tyrants will not break the national community; we will not let them! They cannot imprison half the country!” he added.

Fidesz has also accused Magyar of dismantling the rule of law, including through the removal of former president Tamás Sulyok via a constitutional amendment. The party argues that Magyar’s repeated calls to punish former officials threaten judicial independence. Dull said Fidesz was under pressure to respond to voters constantly. “Fidesz must react to these investigations every hour to explain to its own voters why its politicians, now former ministers, are being arrested one by one. For this, Fidesz has built a narrative of arbitrariness, giving its voters a story that a political confrontation is under way, to keep its base together,” he said.

Magyar also faces investigations. Hungary’s parliament on Monday also lifted Magyar’s immunity at the Prosecution’s request, in connection with a theft case. The case stems from an incident in May 2024, when Magyar confronted a man who had filmed him dancing in a nightclub and threw the man’s phone into the Danube. Magyar sharply criticized the prosecutors for pursuing the case together with two corruption investigations involving millions of euros in public funds. “By placing these three cases side by side without any reasonable explanation, they made it clearer than ever to every Hungarian citizen whom the Prosecutor General’s Office has served, and with what means, over the last decade and a half,” Magyar said. He added that he was ready to face justice.