A convicted hitman has confessed to carrying out a series of bombings during Hungary's 1998 election campaign specifically designed to benefit the then-opposition Fidesz party, according to an investigative report by Átlátszó, raising questions that could fundamentally reshape understanding of Hungarian political history and the origins of Viktor Orbán's first government.
The confession, obtained by the Budapest-based investigative journalism outlet and published Wednesday, details how György Győri—currently serving a life sentence for multiple contract killings—orchestrated bombings targeting businesses linked to the then-ruling Socialist Party in the months before the pivotal 1998 election that brought Orbán to power for the first time.
"I was told that creating an atmosphere of chaos and insecurity would help Fidesz present themselves as the party of law and order," Győri stated in a sworn deposition to prosecutors, according to the Átlátszó report. The confession includes specific dates, locations, and details about who commissioned the attacks—information that investigators say corresponds to unsolved cases from that period.
To understand today's headlines, we must look at yesterday's decisions. The 1998 Hungarian election marked a watershed moment, with the young Viktor Orbán leading Fidesz—then a liberal party—to victory against the Socialist-Liberal coalition that had governed since 1994. The campaign was marked by several high-profile bombings and violent incidents that dominated news coverage and shifted public attention toward crime and security issues—precisely the terrain where Fidesz positioned itself most aggressively.
The Átlátszó investigation, which has been ongoing for three years, includes documentary evidence, witness testimony, and forensic analysis that appears to corroborate key elements of Győri's account. The outlet is known for rigorous, legally defensible investigative work, having won multiple European press freedom awards for its reporting on corruption.
