"Smear campaign"

Magyar spied on? Orbán camp advises psychiatrist

Magyar in front of the Foreign Ministry in Budapest

(Bild: APA/AFP/Attila KISBENEDEK)

The leader of Hungary's largest opposition party "Respect and Freedom" (TISZA), Péter Magyar, protested against a "smear campaign" against his person and party at a press conference in Budapest on Sunday. Magyar accused the right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his governing party FIDESZ of spying and spoke of the biggest political scandal of the past 30 years. For the Orbán camp, however, Magyar is a "case for the psychiatrist".

The communications director of FIDESZ, Tamás Menczer, questioned on Facebook what Magyar was so afraid of. Government spokeswoman Eszter Vitályos said: Magyar had probably seen too many spy movies. The terse response from the government information center to an inquiry from the online portal "Telex.hu" regarding the creation of defamatory videos about Magyar with the help of AI was: "In the event of a mental disorder, a doctor must be consulted."

Magyar locates Hungarian "Watergate"
 At the extraordinary press conference, Magyar spoke of the biggest political scandal of the past 30 years. For months, secret service agents had been used to slander him. His home, the party's offices and vehicles had been bugged, which he had learned from former and current responsible leaders of the secret service. Magyar equated the events with "Watergate", which led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon in 1974.

In the event of a mental disorder, a doctor must be consulted.

Informationszentrum der ungarischen Regierung

Magyar called on the Minister of the Interior, Sándor Pintér, to send a team of experts to remove the wiretapping equipment and to clarify the authorization of the illegal spying. In this context, Magyar also referred to his mandate as an MEP and the immunity to which he is entitled. Finally, the TISZA leader sharply criticized Antal Rógan, the head of Orbán's cabinet. He said the latter was running a private secret service that he was using against him.

Orbán government in panic?
The online portal "ATV.hu" wrote on Monday about "panic" in the Carmelite Monastery, the seat of the Orbán government, and referred to the results of a recent survey by the Medián opinion research institute. According to the survey, Magyar is more popular with 51 percent than Orbán with 40 percent.