Hungary’s Foreign Minister, Anita Orbán, has strongly rejected accusations of betrayal made by former members of the Orbán government, arguing that she has remained loyal to Hungary while the political system around her has changed.

FM Anita Orbán addresses allegations

The dispute erupted after a group of former government figures linked to the ruling Fidesz camp published an unusually informal open letter addressing Anita Orbán by her first name and accusing her of disloyalty. The letter criticised the minister, who now serves in the government of Prime Minister Péter Magyar, for previous comments in which she alleged corruption among former government colleagues.

Responding on social media, Orbán said reading the letter had been difficult because it reminded her of a time when she believed everyone involved was genuinely working in the service of the country.

“I did not change, the system did”

Anita Orbán, who served in Hungary’s foreign affairs system between 2010 and 2015 as an ambassador-at-large responsible for energy security, insisted that her values had remained consistent. “One thing is important for you to know: I did not change. The system that you are trying to defend to the very end changed,” she wrote.

According to the minister, she witnessed from within how professional expertise was gradually replaced by loyalty, national interests by personal interests, and public service by the pursuit of wealth and privileges. She argued that every decent person eventually faces a choice between accepting such developments or rejecting them despite the personal consequences, writes 444.

Orbán also turned the accusation of betrayal back on her critics. She questioned whether a traitor is someone who loves their country more than their political community, or someone who, as a member of the former government, contributed to what she described as the looting and weakening of Hungary.

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She hit back with Fidesz ruining Hungary’s international image

The foreign minister further argued that the letter reflected the current state of the Fidesz political community because it focused on her behaviour and appearance rather than what she called the country’s real problems.

She also addressed claims that she should feel ashamed of her actions. Anita Orbán said many Hungarians had experienced embarrassment abroad in recent years when Hungary became associated not with internationally respected figures such as Nobel Prize winners, football legend Ferenc Puskás or composer Béla Bartók, but with accusations of anti-European policies, corruption, oligarchic influence and unchecked enrichment.

Concluding her response, Orbán said the key question was not whether someone remained loyal to a particular political side, but whether they remained loyal to Hungary itself.

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