Hungarian immunity rights have returned to the spotlight after prosecutors asked parliament to suspend the immunity of two former government ministers, while a separate request has also been filed concerning Prime Minister Péter Magyar. The three requests relate to separate criminal investigations and do not in themselves constitute findings of guilt.
According to 24.hu, prosecutors have requested the suspension of the parliamentary immunity of former culture and innovation minister Balázs Hankó, a Fidesz MP, and former national development minister Miklós Seszták, a KDNP MP. The authorities have also renewed proceedings concerning Magyar over an incident dating back to 2024.
Hungarian immunity rights and the investigation into Miklós Seszták
The most serious allegations outlined by prosecutors concern Seszták, who served as national development minister between 2014 and 2018.
According to the prosecution’s account cited by 24.hu, investigators suspect that Seszták and the former chief executive of the Hungarian National Asset Management company received more than HUF 11 billion (approximately EUR 30.4 million) in unlawful benefits between 2015 and 2018 from a representative of companies that had contractual links to the state-owned Volánbusz transport company.
Investigators also suspect that a representative of a construction group offered to return 10 percent of the value of certain contracts to Seszták through an intermediary in exchange for anticipated state orders. Prosecutors say the company group won several major state projects between 2015 and 2018 and allegedly provided more than HUF 1 billion, or around EUR 2.8 million, in unlawful benefits.
The broader Volán investigation is examining suspected losses of around HUF 10 billion (EUR 27.6 million) linked to allegedly overpriced bus purchases and other transactions. These remain allegations under investigation, and criminal liability can only be established by a final court judgment.
Prosecutors also seek to lift Balázs Hankó’s immunity
A separate request concerns Balázs Hankó and an investigation into the National Cultural Fund, known by its Hungarian abbreviation NKA.
Prosecutors suspect that a temporary NKA committee was used to distribute public funds for purposes that differed from those authorised by legislation and the body’s founding documents. According to investigators, some applications submitted under a funding scheme launched in July 2025 were approved without substantive assessment, with money allegedly used for election campaign-related expenses or personal purposes.
The case concerns funding decisions worth more than HUF 17 billion, equivalent to roughly EUR 46.9 million. Prosecutors believe Hankó’s alleged conduct could qualify as breach of trust causing particularly significant financial damage. Hankó and other people concerned by the investigation are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Former prime minister Viktor Orbán previously rejected the accusations surrounding the NKA case, describing the investigation as politically motivated and arguing that the fund’s decision-makers had merely distributed money allocated to Hungarian culture.
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Péter Magyar’s immunity is also at issue
In an entirely separate case, prosecutors have once again sought the suspension of Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s parliamentary immunity over an alleged theft dating back to June 2024.
Authorities allege that during an altercation at a Budapest nightclub, Magyar took a man’s mobile phone after noticing that he was being filmed. The phone was later allegedly thrown into the Danube. Prosecutors first sought to have Magyar’s immunity lifted while he was serving as a Member of the European Parliament.
The European Parliament refused to waive his immunity in October 2025, citing concerns over possible political motivation behind the proceedings. The European Parliament stressed at the time that an immunity procedure was not a determination of criminal responsibility.
Magyar’s European Parliament mandate, and the immunity attached to it, ended on 8 May 2026. He became a member of Hungary’s National Assembly the following day and was elected prime minister on 9 May following TISZA’s victory in the April parliamentary election.
As a Hungarian MP, however, Magyar again enjoys parliamentary immunity. Prosecutors therefore need parliament’s consent before the criminal proceedings can continue against him.
Under Hungarian rules on parliamentary immunity, criminal proceedings against an MP generally cannot be initiated or continued without the prior consent of the National Assembly. Parliament will therefore have to decide separately whether the immunity of the politicians concerned should be suspended, making the requests the next major procedural step in all three cases.
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