On 9 November 2026, Hungarian authorities detained Áron Orbán, the younger brother of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as part of an investigation into the illegal smuggling of people across the border.
Current Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced the detention. According to him, Áron Orbán was taken into custody on suspicion of people smuggling. The investigation is being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NNI) and the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH).
On the morning of 9 November, law enforcement carried out a joint operation in Budapest and in two locations in Pest County. Several people were detained, and searches are underway. The police did not officially name all the suspects, but Hungarian media outlets linked the actions to a case involving Áron Orbán.
According to Telex, officers from the Counter-Terrorism Centre (TEK) appeared at a property in Fótliget connected to a company owned by Áron Orbán. NVVH head Anna Unger neither confirmed nor denied the information directly, but stated that additional measures had been carried out in the case concerning Áron Orbán.
The case is linked to an alleged scheme for obtaining Hungarian (and therefore Schengen) visas and residence permits for foreign nationals, particularly Vietnamese citizens. According to media reports, a company connected to Áron Orbán enrolled people in short (two-day) courses at the University of Pécs, which may have made it easier to obtain visas. There were also reports of attempts to speed up procedures through connections in the Prime Minister’s Office. Telex had already investigated this business and Áron Orbán’s connections in detail back in 2025.
Viktor Orbán reacted sharply. On Facebook and X, he described the events as a political “witch hunt” and a “dirty game,” stating that he himself was the real target and that his brother was merely being used as a tool of pressure. The former prime minister also linked the developments to an attempt to divert attention from another scandal (involving agent files) and accused the authorities of “settling scores” rather than ensuring genuine accountability.
In response, Péter Magyar wrote that Orbán had “confirmed” his brother’s detention, immediately cast himself as a victim, and began blaming others. The prime minister added: “As you sow, so shall you reap.”
This is another stage of the anti-corruption and anti-abuse investigations that gained momentum after Péter Magyar’s victory in the April 2026 parliamentary elections and the end of Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule. Other individuals linked to Áron Orbán’s business and the visa schemes had already been detained earlier.
