Hungary’s prosecutor general calls for Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s immunity to be lifted and for two former Viktor Orbán ministers to be investigated

Hungary’s interim prosecutor general, Istvan Lajtar, on Tuesday called for Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s parliamentary immunity to be lifted, as well as that of two former ministers from the government of nationalist Viktor Orbán. The moves open the first criminal investigations announced against former senior officials from the 16 years of Orbán’s rule.

Peter Magyar, leader of the pro-European Tisza party, which came to power after the parliamentary elections in April, is the subject of a theft case. He is accused of taking the phone of a man who was filming him at a nightclub in 2024 and throwing it into the Danube. Magyar rejected the investigation, calling it “a disgrace.” Last year, the European Parliament refused to lift his immunity as a member of the European Parliament.

Former Culture and Innovation Minister Balazs Hanko is being investigated for the alleged embezzlement of 47 million euros in public funds, money that was reportedly used, among other things, for the 2026 election campaign. In July, investigators seized the Fidesz party’s servers, an action condemned by Viktor Orbán.

Miklos Sesztak, a former national development minister, is suspected of receiving millions of euros in bribes in connection with second-hand bus purchases made between 2014 and 2018.

The prosecutor general’s announcements come amid a conflict between Peter Magyar and President Andras Baka over the appointment of the next prosecutor general. The previous officeholder resigned in July, after the new majority pledged to combat corruption.