Foreign nationals with no genuine ties to Hungary may have been able to obtain Hungarian citizenship for tens of thousands of dollars, according to György László Velkey, parliamentary state secretary and deputy minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He claims the evidence suggests that former deputy prime minister Zsolt Semjén, as well as ministers Péter Szijjártó and Gergely Gulyás, either supported or were aware of the fraudulent naturalisations.
Wealthy Canadians may have bought their way in
Velkey has raised suspicions of serious abuses, stating that internal investigations within the ministry have uncovered cases in which Canadian citizens acquired Hungarian citizenship in exchange for money. According to him, the legal mechanism of “naturalisation in the national interest” may have been used to grant passports to individuals who would otherwise have failed to meet the criteria, lacking both verifiable Hungarian ancestry and knowledge of the language.
He added that some applicants had no meaningful connection to Hungary whatsoever, yet may have paid substantial sums to secure citizenship. For them, a Hungarian passport chiefly offered easier access to European travel, business opportunities, and broader international mobility.
Alleged backing from Semjén
Velkey suggested that recommendations and letters of support from diaspora organisations played a pivotal role in establishing the system. He claims that Semjén sent supportive signals to diaspora leaders on several occasions, and that these endorsements were cited when Hungarian diplomatic missions accepted certain applications.
According to the state secretary, this gave rise to an institutional network through which individuals who did not meet standard naturalisation requirements could nevertheless obtain citizenship. Some applicants, he said, were not even fully aware of the nature of the process when they appeared at consulates, while others treated it as though they were purchasing a premium service.
Private firm with political links
One of the most sensitive aspects of the investigation concerns an alleged conflict of interest. Velkey stated that a Canadian private company under Hungarian ownership, Hungarian Citizenship Consulting, may have assisted foreign clients in securing Hungarian citizenship.
He further claimed that one of the firm’s executives was also the official responsible for the state naturalisation programme, while its co-director was a diaspora leader who signed recommendation letters. In effect, the same actors appeared to operate simultaneously within the state system and on the commercial side.
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Not an isolated case
The ministry believes intermediary fees may have been exceptionally high. Velkey said some Canadian clients may have paid between 30,000 and 50,000 Canadian dollars—up to around 10 million forints at current exchange rates—for assistance with the process.
He indicated that the Canadian cases were unlikely to be isolated, suggesting that similar arrangements may have emerged in other countries, involving cooperation between state officials and intermediary firms. The ministry has promised further investigations and will also examine whether citizenships obtained under disputed circumstances can be revoked. Under Hungarian law, the President has the authority to withdraw citizenship if it was acquired fraudulently.
Velkey added that many conscientious officials within the foreign ministry had flagged the issue, but their concerns were overridden by the political leadership.
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Every person who was involved in this reason must serve years in prison. Secondly all citizenships obtained by these criminals must be revoked.
I totally agree with this article. I know of so many South African families that bought their citizenship for around €10000 a few years ago that has nothing to do or have any connections to Hungary. Most of them don’t even speak a word of Hungarian. I’m a South African born Hungarian, both my parents are Hungarian and I was fortunate to get my citizenship and passport from Hungary. My daughter also received hers. My wife who I’m married to for 20 years and we lived in Balatonfured for 2 years, we invested millions of HUF in property and other assets can’t get her residency or citizenship, that to me is very unfair. We travel now every year to Hungary and have family in Hungary and she can’t get her passport. Yes my wife does struggle to speak Hungarian for it is not an easy language to learn especially cause she is 58 years old. So in short it is unfair for wealthy and previously connected individuals to acquire citizenship in Hungary. Lastly if some can assist me to organise a passport for my wife I’d appreciate it.
Regardless of the reason, removing citizenship once granted is a really challenging proposition. Needless to say it may raise questions about many aspects of especially some of the nationalist rhetoric of the past decades as well as multinational/international recognition but nonetheless depriving someone of citizenship once it exists is a very challenging concept.
I worry that despite the mandate and the free and fair (if anything biased in the opposite direction in my opinion) election, the new government is perhaps not reflecting as much as it might with respect to the emergence of the Tisza Party, Mr. Orbán and Fidesz circa 1989, Mr. Orbán and Fidesz circa 2009, and now present-day, supermajorities, Fundamental Law, institutional knowledge, sustainability in governance, and so on.
If citizenship was awarded illegally (as it surely must have been if it was merely bought for a fistful of Canadian dollars) then there’s nothing controversial in removing it from the beneficiaries. I don’t doubt that the burden of proof will fall upon the government to prove that citizenship was awarded contrary to law, I also don’t doubt that’ll be able to meet this burden of proof for someone without Hungarian forebears or any history of residency in Hungary. Some countries award citizenship purely off the back of payment; they tend to be small tax havens and have taken a decision to dole out passports in exchange for dollars but Hungary is not a member of this club who openly advertise such offers and are legal in their territory.
I doubt anyone will be left stateless by having their citizenship revoked, any right thinking Canadian citizen will have known that it’s highly irregular to acquire citizenship of an EU state merely through payment and therefore knowingly ran the risk that may lose it in the future with no refund on their initial payment.
This is a reflection of the old days, when the communist government has taken away from Hungarians who were born in Hungary their citizenship, due to the fact that in 1956 they left the country to escape persecution. We all had to later re apply to get back our own citizenships. This brings back old times, perhaps a return to pre 1956.