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Daniel Obajtek hiding in lavish apartment in Hungary
Daniel Obajtek, the former CEO of oil company Orlen, is hiding in a luxury apartment in Budapest, VSquare reports. Obajtek is currently under investigation in several corruption cases in Poland. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has hailed the investigations against Orlen as the most important step so far in holding the previous government and the right-wing Law and Justice Party accountable.
Obajtek, a PiS candidate in the EP elections, has repeatedly denied in recent weeks that he is hiding abroad from the Polish media. But VSquare's investigation proves otherwise. Obajtek is currently living in a 147-square-meter penthouse on Andrassy Avenue, estimated at around 2 million euros. The apartment is owned by a real estate development company linked to the Orban government.
Governing party spends the most on Google ads in the EU
Hungarian pro-government message has become the most funded advertisement in the European Union, Lakmusz reports. Fidesz has spent more than 105 million Hungarian forints on Google advertising since mid-April. Lakmusz looked at advertising spending data published on the platform between 16 April and 27 May.
This makes Hungary's governing party the largest advertiser in the political advertising category in the European Union during this period, outperforming advertisers such as the European People's Party and Renew Europe.
Mediaworks Hungary Zrt., which mainly publishes pro-government content, was ranked 9th among the top ten advertisers in the European Union in the same timeframe. Mediaworks spends less on advertising than Fidesz, however, their most common themes are the same as the government's narratives.
Fidesz sends Chinese language letter on how to vote during municipal elections
A few days ago, a Chinese language letter was posted on Reddit, including a photo of Fidesz's candidate for mayor, Alexandra Szentkirályi, and a ballot paper filled out as a guide, on which the votes for Fidesz were circled in advance, Telex reports.
The letter was addressed to a Chinese citizen living in the 8th district, and the envelope had no return address on it, just a QR code to a WeChat group. In the first half of the letter, Szentkirályi, after a brief introduction, says that Xi Jinping recently "paid a historic visit" to the country and that the friendship with the Chinese people has always been significant to Hungarians.
According to the letter, since Fidesz has been the ruling party in Hungary, relations between the two countries have improved. It also states that the governing party has always extended a warm welcome to Chinese friends and businessmen who come here. The mayoral candidate expresses regrets that Budapest is "run by the opposition and that the city's development is heading in the wrong direction".
President of Finnish ECR member party says Fidesz's attitude toward Ukraine is 'disgusting'
Hungary's far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán announced that Fidesz wants to join the Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) party family in the European Parliament. He said it is crucial for right-wing parties to cooperate, as well as for Italian Giorgia Meloni, the party family's president, and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen to reach an agreement.
Meloni and Le Pen are on good terms with the Hungarian government, however, not everyone in the ECR approves of Fidesz. According to the Finnish Helsingin Sanomat, Finance Minister Riikka Purra, chairwoman of ECR member and far-right Finns Party, mentioned Fidesz in a debate on Tuesday: "The attitude of Fidesz towards Ukraine and its support for Russia is simply disgusting"- Rikka said.
This was not the first time the Finnish party had been critical of Fidesz. In February, one of their MEPs tweeted that he supported Fidesz joining ECR, but took down the post half an hour later.