Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said he will not visit his younger brother Áron in prison following his pre-trial detention in a suspected human-smuggling case, claiming he does not want to give the media something to celebrate.

Speaking in an interview with online channel Ultrahang, the Fidesz leader described the investigation involving his brother as a politically motivated spectacle and insisted that Áron was innocent. A Budapest court ordered Áron Orbán and his partner into pre-trial detention for one month on Wednesday over their alleged involvement in a scheme helping Vietnamese nationals obtain Hungarian visas.

Orbán said he last spoke to his brother by phone around two weeks ago. Áron had called to ask whether he should take his children to Slovenia during the autumn school holidays. According to the former prime minister, he told him that he had done nothing wrong and should continue living as he had before.

Orbán, who said he had known his brother for 49 years, described him as a decent, good-hearted person and said he was 100% certain he was innocent. He added that he would not visit him in prison because he did not want the media to be pleased by the visit.

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Orbán calls investigation a political show

The former prime minister accused the government of staging a political spectacle through the detention of his brother and former government officials. He claimed the measures were not part of an ordinary legal procedure and likened their theatrical presentation to methods associated with forced confessions.

Orbán said he had no objection to investigations or official scrutiny in principle, but argued that law enforcement was being used for political purposes. He also claimed that the authorities were sent after people who spoke out against the government.

He repeated his earlier assertion that he himself was the real target and his brother merely a tool in a political campaign. The authorities have not publicly established that the investigation is directed at Viktor Orbán.

Former PM defends his record and criticises government

During the interview, Orbán also defended his time in office, rejecting comparisons between Fidesz’s former government and the current Tisza administration. He accused the new government of acting arbitrarily and predicted that Hungary’s economic situation would worsen in 2027 and 2028, citing what he described as damaging tax increases and austerity measures.

He also guaranteed that investigators would find no wrongdoing among his former ministers, describing their decisions as lawful and appropriate.

Asked about rumours that he could become the next United Nations secretary-general, Orbán declined to comment, saying the question was not timely.