“While criminals are supporting Tisza, we’re seen as corrupt because of insinuations and inuendo — this is the absurdity of the situation,” former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview published by Index on Monday evening.

Orbán: Hatvanpuszta is a fake scandal

Responding to corruption allegations made against Fidesz during the election campaign, Orbán referred to a particular allegation known as the “Hatvanpuszta case” as “a typical fake scandal with no real basis”, insisting there were no substantive claims and fell under the scope of “propaganda”.

Regarding a graft case related to the former governor of Hungary’s central bank, Gyorgy Matolcsy, he said it was a matter for the authorities, and investigations had been launched during the Fidesz government’s term. “Now there’s a new government, we’ll see where they get to.”

Orbán added that there was reality, and then there was a perception of reality, “and we haven’t been good at this”. “Take the case of László Bige: he is a convicted criminal. There are proceedings against him for perfectly obvious reasons. He is a white-collar criminal, Tisza’s biggest financial backer to the tune of several hundred million forints, and yet we are the ones who look corrupt,” he said, adding, “we must be doing something wrong”.

viktor orbán fidesz tisza
Photo: Facebook/Orbán Viktor

Criminals backing Tisza

Asked how Fidesz would address corruption allegations against former ministers and current MPs János Lázár, Péter Szijjártó and Balázs Hankó, Orbán said the allegations against them were “insinuations and inuendo”.

“While criminals are backing Tisza, we’re the ones seen as corrupt because of insinuations and inuendo. That’s the absurdity of the situation. But time will sort this out,” he said. He insisted all three MPs were “fine“, adding that the opposition was exploiting its post-election momentum to keep attacking Fidesz, and that this was “a normal dynamic in the first months after a defeat”.

Asked if these allegations had played a part in Fidesz’s loss in April, Orbán said: “Insinuation, inuendo and slander were effective, while our fact-based responses were not.” “We should have talked about this more; we just didn’t find the right way,” he added.

Political theatre

Orbán said the new government now had to separate fact from fiction. “Those who made insinuations and inuendo now have the chance to prove them,” he said. He called corruption cases emerging in Budapest’s political scene a “pressing issue“, noting that suspects include Fidesz members, opposition figures and Tisza sympathisers. “There’s a clean-up happening in the capital now,” he said, emphasising that “everyone must … account for their actions in power.

“This is our task now after the election,” he said. Orbán accused the new government of turning investigations launched under Fidesz’s term into “propaganda”, prioritising “political theatre” over governance. As regards the reasons behind Fidesz’s election loss, he said the party had not been innovative enough in its “online mobilisation”.

Contrasting his government’s earliest measures in 2010 with those of the Tisza government, Orbán said that whereas Fidesz had taxed banks to fund public benefits, Tisza had scrapped the mortgage interest rate cap, “thereby taking money from the people”. “The systematic plundering of the country is under way and will become visible by the autumn,” the former prime minister said. “Then we’ll need a serious patriotic movement to stop Hungary from being stripped bare.”

Would Orbán have brought home the EU funds, too?

Orbán urged Fidesz to force the government to backtrack on issues like implementing the European Union’s migration pact and scrapping the interest rate cap. He called proposals to cut mayors’ and MPs’ salaries “hypocrisy” and “crude communist propaganda“, arguing that attracting quality public servants required competitive pay, not cuts.

He also criticised Tisza’s election promises, such as raising police salaries and restoring early retirement benefits, saying he had never made such pledges because he “knew they were unfeasible”. “Hopefully Tisza manages to deliver on its promises, though it’s doubtful, since many in this government were failures or second-tier figures in Fidesz,” he said.

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On EU funds, Orbán insisted Hungary was entitled to the money and said he would have vetoed the EU’s next seven-year budget in December if Hungary had not received its share.

Renewal and rejuvenation

On Fidesz’s future, he underscored the need for renewal and rejuvenation, saying generational change had already begun in the parliamentary group, which was why he chose not to take up his seat in parliament. He said the reason why he had taken on the party leadership for just one year was to “sort out Fidesz”.

“In a year, we’ll see where we stand, and then the young members can take over,” Orban said. “I can’t wait for someone to finally take the reins from me and take this burden off me. Fidesz is full of talented people — plenty are capable of leading the party.”

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