Story perspectives

Hungary lifts immunity for Hankó and Seszták, detains them

By Drooid · Sep 29, 2026, 12:12 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Hungary’s parliament suspended the immunity of former ministers Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták, leading to their detention.
The National Assembly voted 139-0 to lift Hankó’s immunity on September 28, hours before his arrest.
Prosecutors allege 17.3 billion forints from the National Cultural Fund were granted outside statutory purposes.
Prosecutors claim Seszták accepted bribes totaling HUF 12.6 billion linked to transport contracts and construction projects.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar asked parliament to suspend his own immunity on the same day over a 2024 bar incident.

History

Historical Context

In the 2010 parliamentary election Fidesz won a two-thirds supermajority of the 386 seats, enabling it to adopt a new constitution and amend parliamentary rules, including changes to parliamentary immunity for legislators. That reform now underlies the suspension of ministers Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták, accused of corruption, and has revived EU scrutiny of Hungary’s anti-corruption framework.

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Story summary

Hungary’s parliament suspended the immunity of former ministers Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták, leading to their detention.
The National Assembly voted 139-0 to lift Hankó’s immunity on September 28, hours before his arrest.
Prosecutors allege 17.3 billion forints from the National Cultural Fund were granted outside statutory purposes.
Prosecutors claim Seszták accepted bribes totaling HUF 12.6 billion linked to transport contracts and construction projects.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar asked parliament to suspend his own immunity on the same day over a 2024 bar incident.

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