I have been in Budapest for the last three days. It was my tenth trip to Hungary as a Member of the European Parliament. You might think you’ve seen and heard it all at some point when it comes to attacks on democracy, the rule of law and the unbelievable corruption in Hungary. But the Orban government always manages to leave you speechless.

Private luxury, renovated with EU money

I travelled to Hungary together with the Anti-corruption Intergroup in the European Parliament. I chair this group together with the French social democrat Chloé Ridel and the Polish conservative Michał Wawrykiewicz. Among other things, we visited the Sandor-Metternich castle, less than an hour’s drive from Budapest. The estate was recently extensively renovated with more than 5 million euros of EU money in order to boost the local economy and tourism in the area. But this will no longer happen. The castle has just been privatised at a ridiculously low price. This is just one of many examples of how Orban’s people are literally plundering the Hungarian state.

Hospitals are falling into disrepair, the Orbans are buying hotels

In our numerous conversations with entrepreneurs, journalists, civil society and politicians, we repeatedly hear about the desolate state of hospitals. In many cases, there is no air conditioning. During our visit, it was 38 degrees in Budapest. The money earmarked for modernisation, including EU funds, is disappearing into mismanagement, corruption and Orban’s ‘private’ football stadium. Hungarian MPs report that Orban’s son-in-law took over one of the largest hotels in Budapest, the Marriott, just a few days before our visit.

Why the European Commission continues to pay EU billions to Orban despite the rampant corruption is completely incomprehensible to me.

Billions for propaganda

As soon as you arrive in Budapest, you notice posters against Zelensky and Von der Leyen everywhere. The smear campaign is financed by the Hungarian taxpayer. An entrepreneur tells us that Orban’s government spends 6% of its budget on ‘communication’. For comparison: in Germany, 4.5% of the federal budget is spent on education and universities. Orban is using enormous financial resources to distract attention from his corruption, violations of fundamental values and his miserable economic performance. The ban on Budapest Pride must also be understood in this context.

Dreadful prison conditions for German Maja T.

Together with German Green MP Katrin Göring-Eckardt, I visited Maja T. in prison yesterday. She is accused of attacking participants in a Nazi march in Budapest. Maja has been in solitary confinement for a year, almost completely deprived of human contact. In Hungary, she has no chance of a fair trial under the rule of law. The judge in charge has refused to transfer her to house arrest (usual for the offences she is accused of) on the grounds that there are demonstrations of solidarity with Maja. 

Largest demonstration since 1989

Finally, the good news: The Pride I was at yesterday was by far the biggest Budapest has ever seen. It is estimated that at least 200,000 people demonstrated in favour of freedom, democracy and self-determination, but also against Orban’s regime. Despite Orban’s ban and the threat of €500 fines, it was not just the queer community that took to the streets, but the broad centre of the population. We Greens were there with numerous MPs, the Green mayor of Budapest and also a group from my home region North-Rhine Westphalia that I co-organised.

Feel free to spread the word to your circle of friends and anyone else interested.