This afternoon Viktor Orbán was in the uncomfortable position of having to answer questions from members of the opposition parties on the floor of the parliament. The first question, “Let’s show the cards! What is the source of the enrichment of the prime minister’s entourage?” was posed by Gábor Vona, chairman of Jobbik. He complained that he twice suggested setting up a parliamentary committee to investigate the enrichment of certain Fidesz politicians, including the prime minister. He claimed that Fidesz is “full of criminals.” First and foremost, Hungarians must find out who Lőrinc Mészáros really is. Another Jobbik MP, Előd Novák, complained about the enrichment of Andrew G. Vajna, the former Hollywood producer who has built a media empire on public money.
Viktor Orbán’s answer is always the same when he has to field such questions: members of the opposition parties have no right to accuse him of anything. Instead of this kind of provocation they should give an account of their own party’s finances. In the case of Jobbik, Vona should explain, for instance, who “the mysterious man” is who has contributed 520 million forints to Jobbik. As far as his own affairs are concerned, his “life is an open book.” At that point I almost choked on my morning coffee.
Ever since Viktor Orbán foolishly paraded Nárcisz the kuvasz on his Facebook page, interest in Viktor Orbán’s financial affairs has intensified. Particular attention was paid to the Habsburg estate in Alcsút where apparently Viktor Orbán actually lives, especially after it became known that both Lőrinc Mészáros and István Tiborcz, Orbán’s son-in-law, purchased large tracts of land in the vicinity of the Habsburg estate. The extent of the holdings of the Orbán-Tiborcz-Mészáros-Flier families is enormous, as the red area on the map inset below shows. The map was originally published in Népszabadság. This vast piece of real estate will most likely be worth a great deal more when the so-called Talentis program becomes a reality. This particular part of the country is designated to become Hungary’s Silicon Valley.
There are many people, not just members of the media, who are trying to uncover the secrets of Viktor Orbán. Ákos Hadházy of LMP has been diligently working on corruption cases that can be connected to European Union subsidies and the disappearance of billions originally intended for the betterment of the downtrodden Roma population. But Nárcisz the kuvasz aroused his interest in the most likely “fictitious contract” between Lőrinc Mészáros and the real estate company owned by Győző Orbán, father of the prime minister. Aerial photos show no sign of the agricultural equipment Mészáros allegedly stores at the estate for 15.5 million forints a month.
The other person with an insatiable appetite to learn the truth about corruption cases–in this case in District V, especially during Antal Rogán’s tenure as mayor–is Péter Juhász, co-chair of the opposition party Együtt. Within a few years about 800 valuable pieces of property were sold to loyal Fidesz supporters for a fraction of their real worth. Juhász has been working on this case for years without getting anywhere. The latest is that the CD that allegedly contained the financial information pertaining to these sales “got damaged” in the hands of the police and is now unreadable.
Juhász also became curious about the real owner of the former Habsburg estate in Alcsút and vowed to take steps toward an official investigation of Viktor Orbán’s finances. But he didn’t get very far with his project before he himself became the subject of a concerted attack, led by members of the news department of TV2, the commercial television channel recently acquired by Andy Vajna. Everybody knew that with the new ownership TV2 news would become a pro-government mouthpiece, but what followed shocked responsible members of the media.
Vivien Szalai, the former editor-in-chief of Story magazine and author of such masterpieces as “False pleasures: Confessions of a luxury prostitute” and “The most famous Hungarian madam: A real story” became news director at TV2. She gained notoriety as a result of a book she wrote about János Zuschlag, a young MSZP politician who embezzled about 40 million forints and who consequently received a stiff jail term. The book was full of wild accusations about his former colleagues in the party.
Nóra Kunfalvi
Several members of the team resigned right after Szalai’s appointment and others were immediately hired to replace them, including Nóra Kunfalvi (pictured here). Kunfalvi began her career at HírTV’s “Célpont” (Target), where reporters acted more like KGB interrogators than investigative journalists. After the Orbán-Simicska falling out, she left HírTV with all the Orbán loyalists and moved on to 888.hu, part of the so-called Habony media empire created after the government lost the support of Simicska-financed media outlets. You may recall that the editor-in-chief of 888.hu, Gábor G. Fodor, approved the publication of a highly controversial article about the wife and daughter of the socialist party chairman, József Tóbiás. It was from this rag that Kunfalvi moved over to TV2. By now she is called the “Petra László” of the Hungarian media. Petra László was the Hungarian camera woman who was photographed tripping a Syrian refugee.
Nóra Kunfalvi’s interview with Péter Juhász was an incredible example of unethical journalism. Kunfalvi’s task was to prove somehow that Péter Juhász lives beyond his means, that the rent on his apartment is more than half his income. She wanted to know where the rest of his money is coming from. The questions were posed in such a way that they already contained the accusations: she wondered whether his extra money derived from profits made from selling marijuana. A few years back Juhász was one of the people who argued for the legalization of marijuana, but as far we know he was never involved in selling the stuff.
The larger part of the interview, lasting about 14 minutes, was about the corruption of Fidesz politicians, but what eventually appeared on TV was about 20 seconds of the interview flanked by accusatory commentaries. The whole thing was a disgrace. The uncut interview and TV2’s coverage can be seen here. TV2 naturally sees nothing wrong with Kunfalvi’s line of questioning. According to the station, “the reporter only did her job when asking questions of a public figure.” Péter Juhász is not impressed and is suing Kunfalvi.
Meanwhile one reporter after another is leaving TV2’s news team and moving on to less risky and exposed programs. Several of them told Népszabadság that they don’t want to become Nóra Kunfalvis. Apparently since the arrival of “the blonde cyclone,” as the staff calls Vivien Szalai, about a third of the 30-member team has left TV2.
To keep pressure on the Fidesz critic, Vivien Szalai assigned another reporter the task of further discrediting Juhász, but it seems that he was not game. This morning he also resigned.
Naturally, the government parties also joined the fray. First, KDNP activists showed up at Juhász’s apartment building, holding up signs that read: “From what?” István Hollik, a KDNP member of parliament, held a press conference about Juhász’s “shady financial affairs.” Fidesz was not far behind. Fidesz’s official site demands to know how Juhász can afford a “luxury apartment” in an expensive district of Buda.
Finally, it turns out that Nóra Kunfalvi teaches an “investigative journalism” course at Corvinus. For years the course had been taught by the well-respected veteran journalist István Wisinger, recipient of all the highest prizes a journalist can get in Hungary. About a year ago he was told that unfortunately there is no money to continue the course. It turned out that Wisinger was lied to. He was sacked in order to make room for Nóra Kunfalvi, who even took over Wisinger’s description of the course and his syllabus, including his compulsory and suggested readings.