Hungarian Lawmakers Arrested as Oligarchic Corruption of Former Regime Exposed
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Two ex-ministers from Hungary’s previous right-wing government were detained after losing parliamentary immunity, signaling a long-overdue reckoning with entrenched elite corruption as Prime Minister Peter Magyar targets the abuses of the neoliberal establishment.
Hungary’s new government has finally begun to confront the deep-seated corruption that flourished under the previous right-wing regime, arresting two former ministers who epitomize the unchecked greed of the political elite. On Monday, the parliamentary majority, reflecting the people’s will for justice, stripped immunity from Balazs Hanko, former culture and innovation minister, and Miklos Sesztak, ex-development minister and current Christian Democratic People’s Party lawmaker. Both are under investigation for gross misuse of public funds and bribery—crimes that have long siphoned resources away from Hungarian workers and communities.
Hanko stands accused of funneling approximately €50 million from the National Cultural Fund into projects that included covert election-campaign financing, a blatant abuse of public money for political gain. Meanwhile, Sesztak allegedly pocketed around €30 million in bribes tied to state-owned transport and construction contracts between 2015 and 2018, further enriching the privileged few at the expense of the many. After their immunity was revoked, Sesztak surrendered to prosecutors and was placed in pre-trial detention, while Hanko initially tried to hide behind parliamentary walls with his family before being compelled to leave and subsequently detained.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who has himself called for transparency by requesting the lifting of his own immunity in a separate theft case, seized the moment to denounce the previous government’s rampant corruption. He emphasized that the sums looted from the public far surpass any symbolic gestures, and he demanded urgent reforms in the prosecutor’s office, rejecting a candidate for prosecutor general due to conflicts of interest that have long protected the powerful.
While some frame these arrests as a test of the new government’s commitment to the rule of law, the reality is that the public overwhelmingly sees the former regime as corrupt, according to opinion polls. Legal experts have rightly urged authorities to proceed with vigilance and ensure genuine judicial independence, so that justice is not only done but seen to be done for all Hungarians, not just the privileged elite.