Hungary’s political transition took a sharp and suspicious turn on Monday, just one day after Péter Magyar’s sweeping election win ended Viktor Orbán’s long grip on power, according to Euro News.
At a press conference in Budapest, the incoming prime minister accused outgoing Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó of rushing to destroy confidential files connected to European Union sanctions. Magyar said the claim came from inside the foreign ministry itself, where staff members had reportedly seen documents being shredded.
Holding up a handwritten note during the briefing, Magyar told reporters that Szijjártó had shown up at the ministry at 10 a.m. and begun working with close allies to destroy the materials. He said many officials inside the ministry were already quietly helping the Tisza Party prepare for the handover of power.
“This is what is happening in Hungary right now,” Magyar said, suggesting that document destruction had already spread beyond the foreign ministry and into other institutions tied to Orbán’s political network.
The accusation lands in the middle of a bitter political shift. During the campaign, Szijjártó was heavily criticized for his close ties to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and for alleged efforts to help remove Russian names from an EU sanctions list.
Magyar’s Tisza Party won a landslide victory on Sunday, securing a two-thirds majority in parliament and bringing an end to 16 years of Orbán’s dominance. Magyar has promised a new direction for Hungary, including closer ties with the European Union and a less friendly approach toward Moscow.
As of Monday evening, Hungary’s Foreign Ministry had not responded to the allegations.
For now, the accusations have added a sense of urgency to Hungary’s political handover, raising questions about what may be happening behind closed doors as the old government fades and the new one steps in.
