Péter Magyar could lose his immunity today, alongside Ilaria Salis – updates

The European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is set to decide today on whether to lift the immunity of five MEPs, including Péter Magyar, leader of Tisza and vocal critic of Viktor Orbán, and Ilaria Salis, who is wanted by Hungarian authorities over the 2023 antifa-related attacks in Budapest.

The 25 members of JURI will cast secret votes on seven requests to strip immunity, following which they will recommend whether to approve or reject each case. The ultimate decision will be taken in a plenary session, where all MEPs can either uphold or overturn the committee’s recommendations. Should immunity be lifted, national authorities would be free to initiate legal proceedings against the MEPs, though they would retain their parliamentary seats.

Three of these requests originate from Hungarian authorities: one targets Magyar, another concerns Ilaria Salis, and the third involves Klára Dobrev, former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány’s ex-wife and leader of the opposition Democratic Coalition. The other two MEPs in question belong to Poland’s ruling PiS party, with Poland’s authorities requesting their immunity be lifted.

What’s the issue with Péter Magyar?

According to Euronews, Hungarian authorities seek to waive Magyar’s immunity to advance investigations into three allegations:

• Allegedly throwing a man’s phone into the Danube following a nightclub dispute in Budapest.
• A defamation lawsuit filed against him by former Fidesz MP György Simonka.
• Similar legal action initiated by the far-right Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazánk).

Opposition parties dismiss all three charges as politically motivated, noting that Magyar has consistently led all independent polls since last autumn.

• Extensive secret poll indicates PM Orbán may win in 2026 again: is Péter Magyar in trouble?

“I believe it’s clear to everyone this is a political matter. I’m a 44-year-old lawyer with three children, a spotless record, and I have held national security clearances for over half of the last two decades due to my professional roles and my ex-wife,” Magyar told the JURI Committee. His ex-wife is none other than Hungary’s former Justice Minister, Judit Varga. Euronews suggests that Magyar’s immunity is unlikely to be lifted, which means he would not lose his seat.

Click to read more about Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party.

Will Ilaria Salis lose her immunity?

Hungarian authorities accuse Ilaria Salis of involvement in the assault of two far-right militants in Budapest in February 2023. She was held in pre-trial detention for 15 months in Hungary before being elected as an MEP.

• PM Orbán’s new target: the antifa movement could be labeled a terrorist organisation in Hungary

“In Budapest, I would face a show trial without fundamental democratic safeguards, in a judicial system lacking independence, where the prime minister has already declared me guilty before trial. For charges considered minor elsewhere, I could be sentenced to 24 years of hard labour,” she told reporters ahead of the JURI session.

Euronews reports that parliamentary sources suggest the European People’s Party (EPP) might back the lifting of immunity in her case, voting alongside the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE).