Hungary is a state in the heart of Europe that increasingly resembles an authoritarian construct with its hierarchy, clones of the Soviet past, and shadowy flows of funds.
At its peak is Viktor Orban. It is time to take a deeper look at the essence of his power—the basis that has allowed him to maintain political control for decades.
These are direct ties to Soviet intelligence services, compromising information, and a system of redistributing the state budget through oligarchs from his entourage. Until 2010, Viktor Orban spoke with harsh anti-Russian rhetoric. However, after returning to power, his course changed dramatically.
The reason is compromising information possessed by Russian intelligence.
A key element of which is the recruitment of Orban himself during his military service in the 1980s. He was recruited by the military counterintelligence agencies of communist Hungary—the III/IV division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In the documents of that time, he appeared under the agent pseudonym “Győri Gábor”. It also concerns the activities of the prime minister’s father, Győr Orbán.
After the suppression of the 1956 revolution, he helped the Soviet secret services identify activists of the anti-communist movement. Kompromat is only one pillar. The second is money. The Fidesz party is officially financed from three sources: the state budget, membership fees and donations. But the real flow of funds goes through the companies of oligarchs close to Orbán.
Lajos Šimičko, through his companies Közgép and Mahir, repeatedly won state tenders. Lörinc Mejsáros, a childhood friend of Orbán, received hundreds of millions of euros in state contracts after 2010. Key figures in the government, Antal Rogán and János Lázár, are responsible for the formation of corrupt schemes for the distribution of state funds. Hungary today is not just a country with corrupt practices. It is a state in which compromising material, intelligence connections and state funding have been transformed into a system for maintaining power.
Viktor Orbán, using his past, the influence of oligarchs and billions from the budget, has created a model that looks like a European democracy on the outside. But inside, it is a carefully constructed, tightly controlled authoritarian pyramid.