Hungary seeks to strip leading opposition MEP Péter Magyar's immunity again
Hungarian authorities have asked the European Parliament to lift the immunity of MEP Péter Magyar, a key political opponent of Viktor Orbán, Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced on Monday evening.
It's the third such request from Budapest related to Magyar, who was elected as an MEP last year, after founding his opposition Tisza party. If Magyar were to lose his immunity, Hungarian authorities could investigate and charge him for different suspected offences, all viewed as politically motivated by the opposition. The European Parliament did not comment further on the matter.
Legal war against the opposition leader intensifies
It's not clear what alleged offences underlie the latest request, as Metsola's office cited the request as made by "relevant Hungarian authorities" in her announcement, without elaborating. It's also unclear which Hungarian authorities sent the request to Brussels. Hungarian media has connected the issue to accusations of insider trading against Magyar, but this was denied by a spokesperson of the Central Investigative Prosecutor's (CIP) office.
The spokesperson that CIP prosecutors usually take the lead in processes related to MEPS.
CIP made an earlier request to the European Parliament to waive Magyar's immunity, the spokesperson said, in a case related to allegations that Magyar threw a man's phone into the Danube river after an incident at a Budapest night club. Two later requests - including that tabled this week - may result from private prosecutions such as defamation cases.
In February, CIP started an investigation into an alleged stock market transaction by Péter Magyar in 2023. At the time, Magyar was a close ally of Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party. Hungarian media has reported that Magyar profited to the tune of several million Hungarian Forints from sale of a stake in Opus, a company related to Hungary's richest man, Lőrinc Mészáros, just hours before Mészáros announced a share buyback campaign, pushing up prices significantly. Magyar has categorically denied the allegations, describing them as totally fake. In this case, Hungarian prosecutors have not made a prosecution yet and therefore did not send any requests to Brussels to waive the immunity of Péter Magyar.
In March this year, the Hungarian Parliament adopted
a new transparency law
which, as reported, has been viewed as targeting Magyar. According to the provisions, if an MEP fails to comply with the provisions, their European mandate can be withdrawn.
Magyar thinks Orbán is trying to block him from running in the elections
The aim of the Hungarian proceedings is to prevent him from running at elections, Tisza leader Péter Magyar told Euronews.
"All the attacks against me so far have failed in civil court. I am still preparing to defeat Orbán in the elections, and he is still trying to prevent me from doing so by official means," Magyar said, adding that he stands ready to waive his immunity "as soon as Hungary joins the European Public Prosecutor's Office".
Parliamentary elections are slated to take place in Hungary next year. According to a Republicon Institute poll published today, Tisza is leading Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party by 4% points. The poll found Tisza would get 32% of the votes of the whole population, with the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition on 28%.
A lengthy procedure is expected at the European Parliament
The Hungarian authorities cannot charge Péter Magyar while he continues to be covered by his MEP immunity.
Following President Metsola's communication of the request to lift immunity, the issue will be discussed in the Parliament's legal affairs (or JURI) committee, which must appoint a rapporteur and arrange for two rounds of discussion on the issue, inviting the MEP in question to a hearing. Later, the members of the committee will vote on its recommendation, followed by a vote in the plenary of the Parliament. Earlier requests connected to Magyar have already been discussed at the committee, without publishing details. As a general rule, the European Parliament does not comply with any requests viewed as overtly political.
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