Mészáros companies funnelled billions to pro-government media
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Internal documents show that companies linked to Lőrinc Mészáros, a billionaire frequently cited as a close ally of the former administration, provided at least 4.5 billion forints to the pro-government outlet Megafon. While the funding of political messaging is rarely a mystery in Budapest, the paper trail has prompted Péter Magyar to ask the State Audit Office why it failed to notice the transfers.
Opposition figures have also alleged that a member of the Tisza party profited from an overpriced land deal in Paks, suggesting that the new political guard is already facing the old kind of scrutiny. Separately, it emerged that the detained former deputy head of the National Cultural Fund received a 32 million forint severance payment, proving that in some corners of the state, being under arrest is no barrier to a final bonus.
The cost of diplomacy has also come under the spotlight, with President Tamás Sulyok’s foreign travel bill reaching 387 million forints. Much of that was spent on a 232 million forint accommodation bill in Paris, an inheritance from his predecessor. Elsewhere, Dávid Vitézy announced that the long-delayed Student City project in Budapest will finally restart.