Hungarian prosecutors have searched the data centre holding the servers of the opposition Fidesz party and carried out seizures reaching into its internal communications network. The chief prosecutor’s office of Bács-Kiskun county, in southern Hungary, confirmed the July 21 operation, saying it formed part of a criminal investigation into grants awarded through the National Cultural Fund.
Prosecution spokeswoman Marianna Bodó said the case concerned suspected embezzlement and other offences, and declined to give further detail. A regional criminal directorate of the National Tax and Customs Administration took part in the search.
Fidesz communications director Bertalan Havasi said investigators had appeared unannounced with the intention of seizing the party’s entire communications system and databases. The party said there had been “no precedent for this in Hungary since 1990”, when communist rule ended.
Fidesz MP János Lázár, who served as building and transport minister under Viktor Orbán, said what was under way in Hungary was not accountability but a settling of scores. He described the prosecution service’s interest in the personal data of Fidesz voters as extremely dangerous and at odds with democratic political culture.
Blikk reported that the search took place at a Telekom data centre in Budapest and that the party’s internal email infrastructure was among the systems affected. The fidesz.hu website and party email addresses were unavailable for much of the day.
The investigation centres on a temporary panel within the National Cultural Fund which, prosecutors allege, approved 1,079 grants worth more than 17 billion forints (€47 million) in breach of the rules from late 2024 onwards. Much of the money went to performers, companies and associations close to Fidesz, several of which took part in the party’s election campaign.
Six people were detained in June, among them former Fidesz MP Attila Ughy, who chaired the body that distributed the money, and Balázs Bús, a former vice-president of the fund. The court in Kecskemét remanded all six in custody for 30 days and they have denied wrongdoing.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar said he had learned of the raid from Fidesz itself and was awaiting an official statement from prosecutors. Since taking office in May with a two-thirds majority, his Tisza party has amended the constitution to end the term of President Tamás Sulyok and introduced retroactive eligibility rules that bar Orbán from returning to office.
Fidesz MEPs have accused the Hungarian Government of putting political vendetta before governance, a charge the European Parliament declined to debate this month.
