Anna Unger nominated to lead National Asset Recovery and Protection Office

National Assembly’s Committee nominates political analyst as head of asset recovery office

The National Assembly’s Committee on Justice and Constitutional Affairs has nominated political analyst Anna Unger to become president of the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office. The 12-member committee voted six in favor, one against and one abstention on Thursday, after Unger was questioned by MPs and civil society representatives following her speech as a presidential candidate on Tuesday. Dr Katalin Tasnádi has also been nominated as deputy chair of the investigative committee, while a new round of nominations will be held for the deputy chair of the public finance committee after applications received so far were declared invalid.

Unger, whose academic research mainly focuses on democracy, said the new office should investigate already known corruption cases but that its greater value would be in uncovering the institutional system behind them. Unger argued that those responsible must be named. Officials, she said, had been paid to protect public assets but had failed to do so. Members of the National Assembly will vote on the president and the proposed vice president on Friday.If the candidates can secure the votes of two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly, they will serve a six-year term.

Hungary files criminal complaint over $965m ventilator purchases

Hungary’s foreign ministry has filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors over suspected fraud linked to the Orban government’s purchase of about 17,000 ventilators from China for $965m during the Covid-19 pandemic. The purchases, made in March and April 2020 drew criticism at the time because Hungary bought far more ventilators than could realistically be deployed and paid more per unit than other European countries. Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said a ministry investigation had raised suspicions of breach of fiduciary duty causing particularly substantial financial loss.

Orbán did not detail the specific allegations, but said the investigation had examined tens of thousands of documents, some of which were recovered using digital tools after unsuccessful attempts to delete them. She said the findings also raised questions about the responsibility of the ministry’s former senior leadership. A statement on the Hungarian government’s website cited other suspected irregularities, including the fact that most of the ventilators were bought through intermediary companies whose revenues rose exponentially as a result of the transaction.

Hungary's new foreign policy direction: Russia poses a threat to the country

A recently published government resolution, set out the positions the foreign minister and Hungarian delegation will represent at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. The guidelines condemn Russia’s military aggression and support Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and right to self-defense, saying Russia’s actions threaten Hungary, Europe and the global order. They also call for negotiations towards sustainable peace and long-term security guarantees.

The statement also calls for support for the International Court of Justice and other international dispute-resolution bodies, while opposing the politicization of international legal forums. On the Middle East, Hungary says civilian populations must be protected, Israel’s right to self-defense respected and Hamas disarmed, while the humanitarian situation in Gaza should be improved. It also supports direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and calls for Lebanon’s sovereignty to be restored and Hezbollah disarmed, while praising the US's efforts to end the conflicts.