The United States has imposed sanctions on Hungarian government officials on corruption charges, and Budapest has announced it will challenge President Donald Trump once he takes office.
The US Treasury has accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s confidant Antal Rogan of using his role to secure economic interests for himself and his political allies.
“People with close ties to the ruling party have acquired vast empires of assets,” David Pressman, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary, told a news conference. “Antal Rogan is the main architect, executor, and beneficiary of this system of corruption.”
The sanctions were passed under the Global Magnitsky Act, which prohibits sanctioned persons from entering the United States, bans them from doing business with American companies, and freezes the assets of individuals under U.S. jurisdiction.
Mr. Rogan, also known as Hungary’s “propaganda minister,” has been close to Mr. Orbán for decades and oversees his extensive media apparatus and campaign operations, which were instrumental in the Hungarian leader’s fourth consecutive term in power. did. In addition to running Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Cabinet Office, he also oversees Hungary’s intelligence services.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Finance, the minister “aimed to take control of several strategic sectors of the Hungarian economy, to appropriate the revenues from those sectors and to reward supporters of his political party. “We organized a plan to do so.”
Mr. Orbán is Mr. Trump’s closest European leader, and relations between Hungary and the United States have become increasingly strained during President Joe Biden’s term, in part due to friendly relations between Budapest and Moscow despite the war in Ukraine. .
Corruption in Hungary has worsened significantly since Prime Minister Orbán took office in 2010, according to international watchdogs. In 2023, Transparency International ranked Hungary last among EU member states in its Corruption Perceptions Index.
Just six days ago, Hungary was entitled to more than 1 billion euros ($1 billion) in aid from the EU due to “failures to combat corruption, violations of public procurement rules, and lack of control and transparency.” lost.
“Corruption weakens a country’s governing institutions, limits economic development, and provides short-sighted benefits to a select few while depriving future generations of long-term benefits.” Terrorism and Financial Information said Bradley T. Smith, Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury.
Preparations for this move have been underway for three years.
“Today’s designation was not a decision that the United States made lightly. It is not common for the United States to appoint a sitting minister, and it is even rarer among allied nations,” Pressman said in a statement.
Hungarian officials described the sanctions as a “last small revenge” by Mr. Pressman, who has frequently voiced criticism of Hungary’s democratic state.
“This is an act of personal revenge by an ambassador sent to Hungary by a failed American administration… How fortunate that in just a few days America will be led by people who see our country as friends and not enemies. ” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook.
Dorka Takacs, a researcher at the Euro-Atlantic Center for Integration and Democracy, said the sanctions were a “clear message to the Orbán government.”
“[Rogan]is the head of a powerful propaganda machine that keeps Orban’s government largely in power, and has waged a harsh and sustained anti-Western communications campaign for more than a decade, funded with taxpayer dollars. ” she said.
Takacs said that even if there was the political will from the next administration, removing Logan from the sanctions list would be a difficult process. “Despite the good verbal and personal relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Orbán, Hungarian ministers who actively work to undermine U.S. strategic interests may not be a top priority.” is high,” he added.
Mr. Orban has been Mr. Trump’s most loyal and vocal supporter within the EU since 2016, publicly admitting that he was involved in the president-elect’s “policy-making system.”
The populist relationship between the two parties has only strengthened in recent years, with Orbán visiting Trump multiple times at Mar-a-Lago.
“After January 20, there will be a new government and a new president in the United States of America. Once in office, we will take the necessary legal measures,” Prime Minister Orbán said in a statement on Tuesday.
