Hungary has become the “poorest and most corrupt country” in the European Union, the Prime Minister said on Saturday in response to remarks made by his predecessor.

Orbán strikes on Facebook

Following a press tour of the ministerial buildings in the Castle District, Péter Magyar was asked to comment on a Facebook post by Hungary’s former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in which he wrote that Magyar was “talking nonsense” and that the previous government had not looted the country but had instead lifted it up, writes MTI.

The former premier also announced that, like the members of his former cabinet, he would donate the severance payment due to him to a children’s home in Transcarpathia. In response, Magyar said that the Hungarian people could see the reality and the European statistics, and that they could see Hungary had become the “poorest and most corrupt country”.

Magyar attacks back with statistics

Citing figures from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (Központi Statisztikai Hivatal, KSH), he said that 400,000 children and nearly one million pensioners were living in deep poverty, while almost three million people were living below the subsistence level.

He added that there had been virtually no economic growth for four years, that Hungary had recorded Europe’s highest increase in food prices, and that between 700,000 and 800,000 people had been forced to seek work abroad.

“It is worth facing reality,” he said. He stressed that developments had taken place, which was only to be expected over a 16-year period, during a decade-long global economic upswing and after the arrival of such large amounts of EU funding.

Magyar claims an insane amount of money to have been stolen by the former government

However, he said that if one looked at Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states, it was also clear how far Hungary could have progressed “if a significant portion of the money had not been stolen”. Addressing Viktor Orbán, he added: “You do not have to convince me, but the Hungarian people.”

He added that their task was to govern far better and more honestly, to safeguard public funds much more carefully, and to ensure that “if anyone does dip into the honey pot, there are consequences — immediate, visible and severe consequences”.

In case you missed it: Péter Magyar showed the Carmelite Monastery to the press, where he unexpectedly met Orbán’s former press chief

Orbán can’t get severance pay, so he offers the amount for charity

Péter Magyar described the former prime minister’s offer regarding the severance payment as commendable and said they would accept it. However, as with the former ministers, he asked Orbán to provide the relevant bank account details so that the money could be transferred centrally.

He also asked Viktor Orbán to speak to his former press chief, Bertalan Havasi, Deputy State Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office — at least up until today —, who reportedly does not wish to waive the payment and is even prepared to take legal action over it. Earlier this evening, Magyar dismissed Havasi from his position.

The Prime Minister said they were prepared for litigation, but asked the “outgoing captain of the chief accountants’ team” to persuade his team members not to sue the state.

Hungary’s new government dismisses top Orbán-era administrative officials with immediate effect

Featured image: Magyarország Kormánya/Facebook