Hungarian lawmakers voted on Tuesday to establish the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (Nemzeti Vagyonvisszaszerzési és Vagyonvédelmi Hivatal, NVVH). The law was passed by 143 votes in favor to 47 against. Only deputies from the ruling Tisza party supported the initiative.
The new independent body is tasked with identifying and confiscating misappropriated state funds, primarily those from the 16-year rule of Viktor Orbán. This was one of the key campaign promises of current Prime Minister Péter Magyar, whose party won the elections in April 2026.
The agency will have broad power: it will be able to conduct risk assessments and investigations related to the protection of state property, enter premises, archives, warehouses, and server rooms, examine documents, contracts, and electronic data, check bank accounts, and exercise investigative and prosecutorial functions. When necessary, the NVVH will be able to request assistance from the police, the prosecution service, the tax authority, and other bodies. The leadership of the office (the president and deputies) will be elected by parliament within 30 days of the law entering into force and will receive special protection and immunity. The body will report directly to the National Assembly and will not be subordinate to the government.
According to estimates by Magyar’s government, over the past two decades up to 30,000 billion forints (approximately €84 billion by conservative calculations; higher figures have appeared in some statements) may have been transferred from the state budget into private pockets through corrupt schemes and illegal transactions. These funds, in the authorities’ view, could have been used for the development of infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
The creation of the NVVH is part of a broader “cleansing operation” aimed at dismantling the system that developed under Orbán. The new government has already taken a series of steps to regain control over foundations created under the previous administration and to meet EU conditions for the unblocking of frozen European funds.