Former leaders stay away from parliament hearing into alleged Metro 4 project graft

Budapest, February 15 (MTI) – Péter Medgyessy, Ferenc Gyurcsány, and Gordon Bajnai, Hungary’s prime ministers before 2010, and former Budapest Mayor Gábor Demszky did not turn up to Wednesday’s session of parliament’s economic committee which is investigating alleged corruption connected with construction of Budapest’s fourth metro line completed in 2014.

Medgyessy, who is abroad, said he would answer questions in March, while Gyurcsány and Demszky declined the invitation. Bajnai did not respond to the invitation, Erik Bánki, Fidesz head of the committee said.

For its next session, the body has invited former deputy mayor Csaba Horváth, former head of the Socialist group in the municipal council.

Demszky said recently that European anti-fraud OLAF’s report on the alleged graft was “one-sided and unfounded”. He said OLAF had based its report on a State Audit Office report dating back to 2010. He blamed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for influencing the audit office with a view to ensuring allegations of criminal activity.

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Photo: MTI

Source: MTI