Oppositions call for security cttee meeting over Orban’s alleged informant past

Budapest, March 9 (MTI) – The opposition Socialists have called for parliament’s national security committee to be convened over remarks made by businessman Lajos Simicska concerning the prime minister’s activities during the communist era. The radical nationalist Jobbik party called on Orban to resign unless he can refute Simicska’s accusations.

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Simicska: Orban said he refused to enroll as spy but “now I don’t know what to think”

Zoltan Lukacs, the party’s deputy leader, told a press conference that Simicska, in a Sunday interview to the Mandiner blog, had implied that Orban may have joined the communist secret services.

Orban told Simicska spies had asked him to sign up but he had refused. Simicska said he had believed Orban but “now I don’t know what to think.”

Lukacs said that Simicska’s “gravest statement” was that documents supposedly proving Orban’s enrollment in the secret services are kept by the Russian authorities. If this were the case, Hungary’s sovereignty could be compromised since it could be blackmailed by the Russian authorities, Lukacs insisted.

Simicska said in the interview that Orban “reported on him” to the communist authorities with his knowledge during their military service in the 1980s. Simicska told Mandiner that the authorities had put him under surveillance during the communist era, and while performing military service he was shown a “thick batch of files”. Orban had voluntarily told him he was writing the reports and they had discussed what to include, he said. After they were discharged, Orban told him the authorities had tried to enroll him, but he refused. Simicska said that he had believed him but “now I don’t know what to think.”

The cabinet office responded by supplying documents which show that Orban had been asked to report to the authorities but had refused.

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has also initiated a meeting of the parliamentary committee, DK politician Agnes Vadai told a news conference on Monday. The party’s deputy leader said that it was not yet known what the truth of the matter was, but the accusation was a serious one. She noted that Simicska had been Orban’s room-mate in college and “these are the words of his best friend”. The suspicion arises that the “most anti-communist politician of the past 25 years could have been a communist snitch before the regime change,” she added.

The radical nationalist Jobbik party called on Orban to resign unless he can refute Simicska’s accusations. Adam Mirkoczki, the party’s spokesman, told a press conference on Monday that anyone connected to these accusations should be asked to speak before the parliamentary committee. He added that Orban’s father-in-law had been revealed as an agent working for the state intelligence services, and this points to background national security risks.

The opposition LMP party said Orban should appear before parliament and clarify the matter. Andras Schiffer told a news conference that Fidesz should  support an LMP motion at a Tuesday meeting of the justice committee concerning the public disclosure of state security files. Further lawmakers should oblige the government to take action to ensure that Russia makes KGB files concerning Hungary between 1944 and 1991 available. He said charges made, “or rather insinuated”, by Simicska brings Hungary’s capacity to act into doubt.

Photo: erdely.ma

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters