Hungarian government bought properties worth EUR 80 million in foreign countries

The Orbán government bought properties located in foreign countries including mansions and palaces, for diplomatic and cultural purposes. In total, at least HUF 30 billion, around EUR 80 million, has been spent in the last few years on almost two dozen buildings.

Rtl.hu learned that since 2010, the Orbán government has made several large-scale real estate investments abroad. Several properties have been purchased as part of the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the goal of cultural and diplomatic missions being carried out in the newly acquired buildings.

The Hungarian government bought properties that are mainly located in Central and Eastern European countries, but there are some in, for example, the United States, Ireland, and Iran, too.

The list of transactions revealed by rtl.hu includes 23 buildings in total. Interestingly, the vast majority of the purchases, 19 to be precise, took place after 2017. The total value paid for them exceeds EUR 80 million, with the purchase price usually paid in euros, dollars, or local currency by the government.

The most expensive was the building of the Consulate General in Munich, for which the Hungarian state paid EUR 16.9 million, or roughly HUF 6 billion, in August 2019.

Consulate General of Hungary in Munich
Photo: Magyarország Főkonzulátusa München / Facebook

The building of the embassy in Bratislava cost EUR 9.24 million, while the building of the embassy in Albania cost EUR 6.9 million. The Hungarian state spent EUR 4.7 million on the embassy in Dublin and EUR 3.8 million on the consulate general in Krakow.

Buildings that house cultural events include the Hungarian House in Brussels, which cost EUR 10 million. We reported on that purchase in detail in this article:

• Orbán government buys palace in Brussels to begin culture war?

At that time, we wrote: “The building, now owned by the Hungarian state, is strategically positioned within a 10-15 minute walk of the main EU institutions. This location symbolises Hungary’s dedication to active participation in European affairs.”

The government bought properties in picturesque locations

In general, the location of the properties purchased by the government leaves nothing to be desired. The neoclassical Munich Consulate General, for example, is located in one of the most elegant areas of the city, not far from the Isar River.

“The street is home to a number of art nouveau and baroque houses under monumental protection, which means that the foreign service staff of Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó can work in very elegant conditions,” rtl.hu writes.

Equally lucky are those who can work in the Moesz Mansion in Slovakia, the former mansion of Baron Miksa Moesz, which cost EUR 119,000. The same is true for the classicist Csáky-Dessewffy Palace in Kassa, which cost EUR 3.5 million and will house the Slovak Consulate General after renovation.

The government has also spared no expense on other cultural buildings: the Kossuth House in Washington, D.C., cost USD 3.1 million (almost a billion forints), while the Hungarian House in Kyiv cost USD 250,000, and the one in Fiume EUR 1.9 million.

The Kossuth House in Washington, DC.
Photo: kossuthfoundation.org

Rtl.hu notes that in several cases, the government bought properties from owners linked to OTP, such as the embassy building in Bratislava (which cost EUR 9.24 million) or the Balassi Institute building in Belgrade (for EUR 3.08 million).

The news site contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, headed by Péter Szijjártó, to find out why it was necessary to buy such pricey properties, but received no reply. However, it recalls how in a previous interview, the Ministry justified the sales by saying that they were much preferable as compared to unfavourable leases.

Rtl.hu also points out that their list is far from exhaustive, as their calculations only cover buildings that are used for official purposes. The list of properties purchased to be used as apartments for diplomats is not public.

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Source: RTL