Page 38 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine May 2024

38 I Central Europe bne May 2024
Arise Hungarians (Talpra Magyarok) and said that everyone must move to bring about change. "We must take back our villages and towns," he said.
Many had expected Magyar to name his proxy party, but that may be announced at the next rally convened for May 5.
Speaking to reporters after the rally, Magyar said that it would be a great setback for Fidesz if it had only 40-45% of the vote in the EP election, where the party had done over 50% in the past two elections. He said the slide of Fidesz has begun and associating with the ruling party "has become cringe".
He told independent media that he had been approached by Fidesz officials. He expects defections to pick up from the ruling party after the election.
Magyar has identified himself as
a proud conservative hailing from
a lineage of two generations of lawyers. His grandfather was a renowned professor and a television personality and counted Ferenc Madl, President
of Hungary between 2000 and 2005, as his godfather.
Since entering public life, Magyar has been leveling accusations against the government, touching on issues from corruption to the machinations of its propaganda machine.
In late March, he presented an audio recording of a conversation with his wife, where Varga makes some serious comments about the operation of the prosecution in a high-profile corruption case and admitted that government officials tampered with evidence.
In the conversation taped secretly in their home just before they filed for divorce, Varga said that Antal Rogan (head of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, head of propaganda, and Hungary’s intelligence services) and his people suggested to the prosecutors what should be removed from the evidence
in the corruption case involving former Justice Ministry deputy Pal Volner and Gyorgy Schadl, the former head of the bailiffs' association.
Varga was unhappy with the work of Hungary’s chief prosecutor, Peter Polt, for allowing the investigation to move forward in the case and she is heard telling his husband that Volner allegedly continued to accept bribes even as he was warned of the secret surveillance in the case, which again raises questions of serious breaches of the law.
A day before Magyar testified to the prosecutor's office, presenting the evidence, he told local media that before he started the recording with his former wife, she was saying "This is
a mafia government that you can't get
out of". In early February, pro-Orban media attempted to downplay Magyar’s role and his allegations of corruption and nepotism but after he presented the secret audio and announced the launch of a party, he became the target of an unprecedented smear campaign.
His former wife broke silence in mid-March, accusing Magyar of verbal and physical abuse. Orban-loyal media ran hundreds of stories in just the last few days to discredit the emerging star of the opposition. In an earlier interview, Magyar confirmed reports that the Karmelita (Orban’s office) forbade them to divorce before the 2022 elections.
Magyar's success can be attributed partly to the wide disillusionment with the political establishment, political scientists said, which has been unprecedented since the reign of Fidesz began.
"He is a former insider who can say things that could be damaging to the regime as he knows how the power machine operates," said one analyst. This was
an unprecedented experience for most people in the crowd and participants felt a profound sense of freedom in openly voicing their dissatisfaction with the government, commented political scientist Laszlo Keri, a former teacher of most of today’s leaders in Fidesz during their university years in the 1980s.
Czech spy agency says pro-Kremlin media ring targets European Parliament elections in several states
Albin Sybera in Prague
Anumber of mostly far-right politicians across the EU member states have been promoted on the pro-Kremlin Voice of Europe media platform ahead of the European Parliament elections, according to documents from the
www.bne.eu
Czech security service BIS seen by DennikN and other Czech publications.
Last week, the Czech authorities added Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally and Ukrainian-Russian oligarch, Viktor Medvedchuk, and his associate, Artyom
Marchevskiy, to its national sanctions list for their activities linked to the Prague-based Voice of Europe.
“As per the instructions of Viktor Volodymyrovich Medvedchuk, [Artyom Marchevskiy] is practically running