Government claims 2,000 billion forints in corruption and says Orbán signed the orders

In the video interview Bálint Ruff said that an investigation of Századvég is currently underway — an organisation that received between 20 and 30 billion forints in public funds over the past ten years for writing studies and conducting research — and indicated that a criminal complaint will also be filed in that case.

The minister recalled that complaints have already been filed in connection with Observer, which carries out media monitoring for “horrendous” sums, as well as against the Kommentár Foundation, for which “properties were purchased for twenty billion.” He added that his colleagues are “already tallying up” the money paid to the Nézőpont Institute.

The Hungarian state paid 10 to 20 billion forints for something that ChatGPT can write in 0.1 seconds, he stated, adding that within a few weeks a public procurement tender will be issued for opinion polling tasks, and once that tender has been evaluated, every survey commissioned by the Hungarian state will be made public.

The minister said he hopes that around one hundred so-called “3000-series” decisions will have their classification lifted and be made public still this week.

In response to a question about criminal liability, he indicated that it is up to the investigative authority to decide. He noted that every contract was signed by someone, “the 3000-series ones, for example, by the prime minister of the time.” He added, however, that filing a complaint takes very little time, whereas a police investigation takes considerably longer.

In response to a question about when the legal liability of senior executives arises, he said the government is working to ensure that accelerated proceedings can be conducted in certain public finance matters, so that cases do not drag on for 10 to 15 years.

Speaking about funds linked to corruption, Bálint Ruff said he “almost fell off his chair” when he saw the volume of contracts concluded with various companies at the ministry of former Minister of Public Administration and Regional Development Tibor Navracsics.

Regarding János Lázár’s travels in 2014 — when he was heading the Cabinet Office — he said: “I know where he was, what he was doing, and why he kept it secret; we will make this public as well.” “Non-stop business dealings were taking place” with figures who could be described as foreign, “serving foreign interests, globalist”; and on top of that, these dealings were also classified, he stated.

Speaking about the National Asset Recovery and Asset Protection Office (NVVH), he said it was established to uncover the events of the past 16 years so that nothing similar could happen again. He stressed that he had played no role in the selection of the office’s director, Anna Unger, as he is not a member of parliament and did not vote. He stated that the two directors named so far were selected through a completely transparent process, which had no precedent under the previous system.

Speaking about the commentary surrounding the appointment, the politician said it was gratifying that debate exists in Hungary, but that the kind of verbal warfare and hostility that had taken place was disheartening, because that is precisely what 3.5 million voters said no to.

The oversight of the Defence Administration Office and the National Information Centre represents a “complicated legal situation”: they fall under his ministry, but they are not coordinated by him — rather by the Prime Minister’s national security adviser, Péter Tóth. One is concerned with the operations of the intelligence services, and the other handles preparedness for emergency situations, he said.

He recalled that he had promised the intelligence services would not be under his authority, and that he had kept that promise.

When the intelligence files are made public, 60,000 to 80,000 names may come to light — there will be a large list of who the regime’s informants were, he said.

Bálint Ruff stated that he has no idea whether the list will include people who became important economic and political figures in the ten to twenty years after 1990. “I can see the number — how many there will be,” he said, indicating that professional estimates suggest 60,000 to 80,000 names may be made public.

The intelligence files are a very important part of our shared past; they will contain much that will cause sorrow to many families, he said.

He explained that after 1990, the services were required every five years to review whether the old documents in their possession still merited intelligence protection, and for 35 years they consistently maintained the classification of all preserved documents. He said he stands firmly in favour of full public disclosure.

He also spoke about how the wealth tax — which will concern the taxation of assets exceeding one billion forints — will be a milestone of a fairer tax system, and that in September the relevant minister will also bring measures to make the flat-rate tax for small taxpayers (kata) more equitable.

September will also see the start of debate on the new constitution, which is to be sanctioned by referendum and will involve the broadest possible inclusion of the opposition, he added.

According to Bálint Ruff, the energy sector needs to be addressed. A tender for wind farms has been issued, and they will ensure that small settlements have energy communities.

“I believe in equality before the law,” he said on the subject of same-sex marriage, adding that in his view a child languishing in an orphanage is far better off with a gay couple than in a state institution.

Bálint Ruff said he accepted the ministerial appointment in order to be a driving force of the regime change, but that he has not yet grown accustomed to being a politician rather than an analyst. He viewed it as a “commitment” — not merely to say what should be done differently, but to actually do it. He has no public Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram pages, hates taking selfies, “but I know how to do it.”

He also spoke about how Péter Magyar communicates extensively on social media because, unlike former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the chairman of Fidesz, he does not have his own media empire costing thousands of billions of forints, and this is how he maintains contact with his genuinely very diverse base of followers. In his view, this style of conduct as a party leader does not come at the expense of governing work.

Artificial intelligence was used for the translation of parts of the original Hungarian text.