Amidst the spat Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is having with the EU bubble, there is another, even more bitter fight unfolding, between Orbán and his former ally-turned-enemy Péter Magyar.
Magyar, leader of the leading opposition party Tisza, who got broad support in the EU for being the challenger of Orbán, says he is the democratic, incorruptible alternative to the current Hungarian government that is, in his eyes, failing on all fronts.
But in Hungary, the public prosecutor is after him, something Orbán’s Fidesz party has been highlighting during the plenary in Strasbourg.
Hungary’s chief prosecutor requested the European Parliament to lift Magyar’s immunity, a standard request that should be granted automatically, members of Fidesz say.
The request was announced by the EP President on October 10. It will be referred to the relevant European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs, JURI.
JURI will appoint a rapporteur during the coordinators’ meeting on Monday, October 14 and then they could make a referral, but this is not set in stone.
Such requests have an order of procedure but are not bound by any timetables, so MEPs could stall the process for a long time.
There will be an exchange of views and Magyar will be invited to be heard by the committee, which will be followed by a second exchange of views.
The committee will draft a report with a recommendation and vote on it, followed by a plenary vote on the recommendation. This final result will be forwarded by the EP President to the Hungarian prosecutor.
Granting the waiver of immunity merely allows the prosecutor to begin an investigation; Magyar is still presumed innocent until a judge delivers a guilty verdict.
When the Parliament receives a request by a competent national authority to the European Parliament that the immunity of a Member should be lifted, the procedure provides that the Parliament’s President will announce the request to plenary and refer it to the responsible Committee on Legal Affairs.
Tamás Deutsch, a Fidesz MEP, wrote in a statement that the immunity rules of the European Parliament are “not there to allow a Member of the European Parliament to avoid legal responsibility for his alleged criminal actions.”
To prove his point, Deutsch published a video explaining what led to Magyar being prosecuted in his home country.
Magyar is being charged with theft, an accusation that surrounds an alleged night out in June.
According to the video, Magyar was seen dancing with young women in a nightclub, and later arguing with a man, said to be the partner of a young woman Magyar was dancing with, leading to a scuffle. Security guards stepped in and broke up the altercation.
Magyar was asked to leave, and was allegedly forcefully ejected after refusing voluntarily to exit the premises.
One person had filmed the ordeal with his cell phone, something Magyar did not appreciate, leading him to snag the phone and later chug it in the Danube.
Later, the politician gave his version of the facts on Facebook. He said the man he had the initial scuffle with was “a paid provocateur” from Fidesz, out to lure him into a trap.
“Not a single word of the government’s propaganda about this case is true. There was no harassment or anything of the kind. We have video footage of the entire incident. We are taking legal action against all media outlets that intentionally misrepresent the facts.”
He did add he had an “emotionally draining week”, and said he was “a human who made mistakes”.
At the time, Hungarian media widely spread the story, but it did not get picked up in the rest of Europe.
It did get picked up by the chief prosecutor, who also saw security footage of the incident, and went on to investigate the allegations of theft and vandalism.
András László, a Fidesz MEP told Brussels Signal, that he did not expect any support for the Hungarian prosecutor in the European Parliament.
László said the European People’s Party (EPP) is poised to defend Magyar, but that the Hungarian opposition leader was “in a difficult situation”, surrounded by “scandals”.
“The EPP will refuse to waive his immunity because he has struck a deal with them.” According to László, Magyar will continue to attack Orbán and his government while the EPP protects him.
"Why did the Orbán-Gyurcsány era become two decades of missed opportunities? Prime Minister, you’ve led our country for 14 years with unlimited powers. You had every chance to make it a land of promises kept."
Clear message from Péter Magyar MEP: It's time to leave Mr #Orbán. pic.twitter.com/dal0cCxoNE
— EPP Group (@EPPGroup) October 9, 2024
In an email, sent around to his colleagues and seen by Brussels Signal, Magyar speaks about the email sent out by Deutsch, calling it “a defamatory email repeating allegations against me by the Hungarian State machinery.”
“They have launched many similar cases against me, and requests for lifting my parliamentary immunity will continue as if we were in Russia, not in the European Union.”
Magyar says he is the victim of attacks because his party “is polling head to head with Fidesz” and that “for the first time in 14 years, there is a clear and present danger to Orbán’s power.”
“What they never say is that so far, each and every one of their fabricated cases have failed.”
He even lumps in a deal, stating he is so certain of his innocence, that he offers to give up his parliamentary immunity if Hungary joins the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
László told Brussels Signal this was an empty gesture and that Magyar has a long list of broken promises.
“First he said he would not become a member of the European Parliament, saying it was a ‘fake job’, then he said we should get rid of immunity while he now hides behind it, and now, he is suddenly setting conditions.”
Brussels Signal reached out to the EPP for a comment, but as of publication, did not receive a reply.
To me, as a #Hungarian MEP, it became crystal clear who is standing on which side in Hungarian politics. The Hungarian Government is on the side of the Hungarian people, while Peter Magyar and the TISZA party stand on the side of – and are instructed by – Brussels. pic.twitter.com/VXFZjUpKmI
— Kinga Gál (@kingagalMEP) October 9, 2024
