Hungary’s Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Monday to lift the parliamentary immunity of Prime Minister Péter Magyar and two former ministers from Viktor Orbán’s nationalist government. This decision clears the path for prosecutors to pursue separate criminal investigations against these high-profile political figures.
The extraordinary parliamentary session passed the motion in a 139-0 vote. Lawmakers from Orbán’s Fidesz party and its ally, the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), boycotted the proceedings. They dismissed the legal actions as politically motivated persecution.
The legal challenges stem from separate incidents involving the sitting prime minister and two former senior officials from Orbán’s 16-year tenure in power. None of the lawmakers have been formally indicted or found guilty of any crimes.
Prime Minister Magyar Seeks to Clear Name Over Phone Incident
Prime Minister Péter Magyar actively called on his fellow Tisza party lawmakers to vote in favor of lifting his immunity. He faces a misdemeanor theft investigation regarding an incident at a Budapest nightclub in June 2024, nearly two years before his party secured a landslide election victory that unseated Orbán.
According to prosecutors, Magyar allegedly took a mobile phone from a man who was filming him inside the Ötkert nightclub and threw it into the Danube River. The phone was later recovered by divers. Magyar has consistently denied that his actions constituted theft. He described the prosecution as a politically driven “character assassination” attempt involving damages scarcely exceeding $300.
Addressing the National Assembly prior to the vote, Magyar defended his transparency:
Anyone who has nothing to hide comes forward openly. I have not committed a crime, I take responsibility for all my actions.
Magyar also criticized prosecutors for grouping his minor case alongside much larger corruption probes targeting members of the former administration. He accused authorities of trying to deflect attention from past systemic abuses.
First Corruption Probes Into Orban-Era Ministers
Alongside the prime minister, legislators voted to suspend the immunity of two former senior ministers who served under Orbán. This marks the first major corruption probes into top figures from the previous administration:
- Balázs Hankó: The former Minister of Culture and Innovation and current Fidesz lawmaker is accused of overseeing the misuse of approximately 17.3 billion forints ($53.6 million) from Hungary’s National Cultural Fund. Prosecutors allege public funds were distributed based on political considerations to help finance Fidesz’s 2026 parliamentary election campaign.
- Miklós Seszták: The former National Development Minister and KDNP lawmaker is under investigation for allegedly accepting more than 12 billion forints ($37.2 million) in bribes and kickbacks tied to vehicle procurements for the state bus company Volánbusz and public construction projects.
Both former ministers have strongly denied any wrongdoing or criminal involvement.
Political Shifts and Anti-Corruption Push
The vote highlights a profound political shift in Hungary following the April elections, where Magyar’s centre-right Tisza party ended Orbán’s 16-year rule. Magyar campaigned heavily on promises to dismantle corruption, restore strict rule-of-law safeguards, and repair relations with the European Union.
Previously, when Magyar served as a Member of the European Parliament, Hungarian authorities attempted twice to have his immunity waived over the 2024 nightclub incident. The European Parliament repeatedly rejected those requests. Officials cited the principle of fumus persecutionis-the concern that the proceedings were intended to undermine his political activities.
Following Magyar’s transition to Hungary’s National Assembly in May 2026, prosecutors renewed their request under national jurisdiction. Monday’s parliamentary vote removes these legal protections, allowing the judicial system to proceed independently with the respective investigations.
