Hungary's new Prime Minister has filed a criminal complaint after officials discovered shredded documents and campaign materials inside former ministry buildings, raising questions about what Viktor Orbán's outgoing government sought to conceal during its final days in power.
The discovery, first reported by TVP World, occurred during handover inspections at multiple government ministries following the historic defeat of Orbán's Fidesz party after 14 years of increasingly authoritarian rule. Transition teams documented piles of shredded paper, destroyed hard drives, and missing files that had been listed in official inventories as recently as two weeks prior.
"What we have found suggests a systematic attempt to destroy records and hide evidence of government activities," Prime Minister Péter Magyar told reporters Sunday, announcing his intention to request a criminal investigation by Hungary's chief prosecutor. "This is not normal democratic practice. This is the behavior of those with something to hide."
Among the discoveries were remnants of what appeared to be internal Fidesz campaign materials stored in government offices—a potential violation of Hungarian laws prohibiting use of state resources for partisan political purposes. Investigators also found evidence that document destruction accelerated dramatically in the final 48 hours before the official transition.
To understand today's headlines, we must look at yesterday's decisions. Orbán's 14-year tenure transformed Hungary from a relatively stable Central European democracy into what many scholars classify as a "hybrid regime" or "illiberal democracy." His government systematically weakened judicial independence, captured state media, redirected EU funds to politically connected oligarchs, and undermined civil society organizations critical of Fidesz policies.
The document destruction raises urgent questions about potential evidence of corruption, misuse of European Union funds, or politically motivated surveillance that Orbán's government may have conducted. received approximately in EU structural funds during the Fidesz era, with significant portions allocated to infrastructure projects awarded to companies owned by Orbán associates.
