Orbán compares anti-graft body to communist secret police, drawing sharp rebuke from PM Magyar
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Péter Magyar responded to Viktor Orbán’s remarks threatening a Hungarian anti-corruption body (Photo: REUTERS/Marton Monus)
Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán compared the country's newly established anti-corruption body to communist-era secret police, drawing a sharp rebuke from current Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who called the comments tantamount to “violence against a public official,” Euractiv reported on September 15.
Orbán’s remarks were aimed at the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH), which is tasked with tracing and recovering misused public assets.
He described the NVVH as an “ÁVH-type institution” – a reference to Hungary’s notorious communist-era secret police – and called it a tool of an “aggressive, new-communist government.”
The former prime minister warned that if his party returns to power, the agency's staff could face legal and financial consequences regardless of their specific roles.
Orbán added that his party, Fidesz, plans to publish the names of the agency's employees and monitor every case in which they participated.
“We must say it ahead of time, calmly and with a clean slate: tyranny must not be tolerated,” Orbán said.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar responded in parliament, saying Orbán’s comments could amount to “violence against a public official” – an offence that can carry a prison sentence under Hungarian law.
Magyar called it “unprecedented” for a former head of government to threaten investigators, police officers, and prosecutors for carrying out lawful procedures.
Addressing Fidesz MPs, Magyar said investigations would be conducted “against you, your oligarchs, criminals, and mafiosi.”
Hungary’s newly appointed anti-corruption chief Anna Unger vowed to protect agency staff from intimidation following Orbán’s remarks.
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