At the same time, Orbán's media empire is collapsing, and investigators have detained six people on suspicion of embezzlement at the National Cultural Fund. Three separate fronts — the prosecutor's office, the media, and investigations into public money — show how quickly the new government is attempting to dismantle the system that secured Fidesz's power.
Key actors — tap for context
Péter Magyar
Hungarian prime minister since May 2026 and leader of the Tisza party, which defeated Fidesz.
Why here: He has ordered investigations and is pushing to dismantle Orbán's power apparatus.
More info →
Viktor Orbán
Hungarian prime minister from 2010 to 2026 and leader of Fidesz.
Why here: His media and power system is collapsing after the election defeat.
More info →
Fidesz
Viktor Orbán's national-conservative party, which governed for sixteen years.
Why here: Its former officials face investigations and detention motions.
More info →Mediaworks
The largest pro-Orbán publishing holding within the KESMA media foundation.
Why here: This week it laid off hundreds of journalists and is shutting down titles.
Megafon
A pro-Orbán influencer network from the election campaign.
Why here: It spread AI-generated videos against Magyar and the Tisza party.
More info →Balázs Hankó
Former Hungarian minister of culture for Fidesz.
Why here: He is alleged to have distributed billion-forint grants from the National Cultural Fund without expert committees.
🔴 Latest developments (July 21–22)
- Unannounced raid on Fidesz servers. On Tuesday, July 21, prosecution investigators arrived unannounced at the center managing Fidesz's servers and seized the party's entire communication system as well as the databases of all its members — the fidesz.hu website and the party's email addresses stopped working. The Bács-Kiskun County Prosecutor's Office confirmed that this is an investigation into suspected embezzlement in the distribution of grants by the National Cultural Fund (NKA) — the same case that led to the detentions described below in June. Telex ↗
- Orbán: "This only happens in harsh dictatorships." At a press conference, the former prime minister described the NKA case as a "concocted trial" and a "pretext to disable Fidesz": "Evidently on political orders, the prosecutor's office removed Fidesz's entire membership records, correspondence system, and confidential personal data. This only happens in harsh dictatorships." Fidesz's new parliamentary group leader, Bóka János, announced that the party is considering filing a criminal complaint against the prosecutor's office for abuse of power. Index ↗
- The prosecutor general resigned a day later. Nagy Gábor Bálint announced his resignation on Wednesday — if accepted, his mandate will end on August 25. In an extensive statement, he stressed that he wants to achieve independence for the prosecutor's office, which "must not become a tool of political actors' struggles or power games." The statement did not directly mention the raid on Fidesz, but Fidesz politicians (Rétvári Bence, Takács Péter) immediately linked it to the seizure of the servers as evidence of "political dictate." Péter Magyar reacted to the resignation by saying the country had "rid itself of another of Orbán's puppets who was blocking systemic change" — adding: "Gentlemen, who's next?" Index ↗
The "gold convoy" and pressure on the prosecutor's office
In early March, the Hungarian tax authority (NAV), together with the Counter-Terrorism Centre, detained two bank vehicles heading from Austria to Ukraine. They were transporting cash and gold worth approximately 82 million dollars — according to the Ukrainian state bank Oschadbank, this consisted of 40 million dollars, 35 million euros, and nine kilograms of bank gold, transported under an international agreement with Raiffeisen Bank Austria. Hungarian authorities justified the seizure at the time as part of a money-laundering investigation, but Kyiv rejected this as a pretext. Kyiv Post ↗The case poisoned relations between Budapest and Kyiv in the final months of Orbán's government. After Fidesz's election defeat, Hungary returned the valuables to Ukraine on May 6. Magyar's government is examining whether the seizure was an abuse of power, and on June 17 ordered an internal investigation of the tax authority, the counter-terrorism center, and other agencies. According to Hungarian media, the head of the Central Investigative Prosecutor's Office had resigned shortly before, having pointed to unlawful procedures in this matter. Kyiv Independent ↗
Orbán's media colossus is falling
Two months after the defeat, the media network that kept Orbán in power for sixteen years is collapsing. The publishing house Mediaworks, a holding within the pro-Orbán KESMA foundation, laid off hundreds of journalists this week — an estimated 400 positions — and several titles are shutting down. Bloomberg ↗The model relied on state advertising, which dried up after the change of government. Mediaworks closed 2025 with a loss of 14 billion forints, and without public money, the pro-Orbán business has proven unsustainable. The KESMA conglomerate, which operates hundreds of national and regional newspapers, has thus reportedly found itself on the verge of collapse, according to journalists. The Megafon influencer network, which spread AI-generated videos against Magyar and his Tisza party during the campaign, is also losing ground. EUobserver ↗
Raids, arrests, and cultural billions
Meanwhile, the prosecutor's office and tax authority are targeting several institutions linked to the former government. Investigators detained six people on June 23 on suspicion of misusing more than 17 billion forints (approximately 44 million euros) from the National Cultural Fund (NKA). According to Hungarian media, grants from the fund were allegedly distributed by former culture minister Balázs Hankó himself, without assessment by expert committees. This remains a suspicion for now, not a legally proven guilt. Daily News Hungary ↗The tax authority also carried out an operation at Semmelweis University as part of asset recovery efforts. Rector Béla Merkely stated that the university is cooperating, and that according to him, the matter concerns a clinical study and the use of medications. Portfolio ↗
The prosecutor's office also proposed pretrial detention for the former Fidesz mayor of Fonyód. The charges have not yet been confirmed by a court, and the accused retain the right to defend themselves. 444 ↗
What this means — and where the limits are
Political scientists speak of the dismantling of Orbán's "patronage system." On June 15, parliament approved the 16th constitutional amendment, which introduced an eight-year retroactive limit on the office of prime minister, transferred the media foundation's assets to the state, and abolished the Sovereignty Protection Office. EUobserver ↗Read also: Hungarian parliament closes the door on Orbán's return. It approved an 8-year limit for the prime minister
For the Slovak reader, the contrast with Robert Fico's course is stark — while Bratislava keeps close to Budapest of the Orbán era, the new Hungarian government has also withdrawn its veto on Ukraine's accession to the European Union. The catch lies in the speed and scope of the reckoning. Tisza holds a two-thirds majority, and its pressure on the prosecutor's office is described by Fidesz as an attempt to subordinate law enforcement bodies, making the line between accountability and "victor's justice" a thin one. The pro-Orbán press already labels the cases political revenge. We will be watching whether the prosecutor general meets the ultimatum, whether the suspicions surrounding the cultural fund are confirmed in court, and whether the president signs the constitutional amendment.
