How Hungary’s former Chief of the General Staff squandered taxpayers’ money – and must remain silent about it

Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi served as the Hungarian Defence Forces Chief of the General Staff for one year and 328 days. During that period, one of the companies owned by the Defence Ministry, HM EI Zrt, spent around HUF 1 billion converting a luxury official residence in Dunakeszi, under the authority of Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky. The parties remember differently who requested what, and precisely for what purpose. But Gábor Böröndi, who succeeded Ruszin-Szendi as Chief of the Defence Staff, did not move into the property. Instead, another house was rented for him elsewhere – at considerable expense.

From one luxury property to another

A curious housing decision emerges from General Böröndi’s three-year tenure. Although the luxury property in Dunakeszi had been created specifically for the serving Chief of the General Staff, and was available to him, he did not move in. Instead, the Defence Ministry rented him another luxury property in Szentendre.

One of the ministry’s companies, the aforementioned HM EI Zrt, paid EUR 2,890 a month for the rental. Between August 2023 and May 2026, this amounted to a cost of roughly HUF 36 million to the state, depending on exchange-rate fluctuations. As a rented property, however, the house never became state property.

The Szentendre property was no ordinary home, either. It is a three-storey family house measuring 386 square metres, set on a plot of almost 1,200 square metres. It includes, among other things, a wellness area, a jacuzzi, a sauna and a three-car garage. It is currently being offered for sale for HUF 275 million. To see what the property looks like, click here.

No one knows who wanted the luxury

The case is particularly striking because the official villa in Dunakeszi was left empty. More than HUF 1 billion had previously been spent on the property. According to an earlier report by the Government Control Office, merely maintaining the villa cost the state an average of HUF 368,000 a month.

In other words, the ministry was paying to maintain an unoccupied official residence while also covering the rent on another house for Böröndi. The distance between the two towns and Budapest cannot explain the decision, since Dunakeszi lies roughly the same distance to the north as Szentendre does to the south.

One of the most unusual aspects of the affair is that Böröndi himself is not permitted to explain why he did not use the official villa made available to him. Both 24.hu and HVG contacted the former Chief of the General Staff, who is currently a serving soldier in the reserve establishment and may speak publicly only with the Defence Ministry’s permission.

The ministry, now led by Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, did not grant that permission. As a result, the man at the centre of the affair is unable to explain why, instead of using the Dunakeszi property that the Hungarian Defence Forces could have provided, another high-value house was rented for him in Szentendre.

The available information therefore suggests that, for three years, the state incurred costs associated with two separate properties: the maintenance of the villa in Dunakeszi and tens of millions of forints in rent for Böröndi’s house in Szentendre.

There is still no answer as to why the second property was needed in place of the official residence. Böröndi himself cannot provide one because the ministry has refused him permission to speak.

A peculiar luxury project

The Dunakeszi property, which remains state-owned, is still empty. According to Ruszin-Szendi, it was fitted out to a luxury standard because it was intended for official and representational purposes, including receiving foreign delegations, as well as serving as the official residence of the serving Chief of the General Staff.

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He himself lived there with his family for several months. But according to the Government Control Office’s report, he ordered bespoke features for the villa by email, together with his wife, including a custom billiards table, panoramic terraces and a wellness area.

An April article by Átlátszó reported that the decision to undertake the luxury project had not been made by Ruszin-Szendi. Instead, it may have been taken by “either the administrative state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, the administrative state secretary of the Defence Ministry, or the board of directors of the state-owned HM EI Zrt”.

However, after annulling a final court judgment, Hungary’s Supreme Court did not release the documents requested in connection with the project. The court’s president remains András Zs. Varga, who was appointed by Fidesz and has repeatedly been urged to resign by Péter Magyar.

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