Less than two months before Hungary's election, opposition leader Peter Magyar has accused his rivals of planning to blackmail him with a secretly recorded sex tape and says he is filing a complaint with authorities.
Magyar, who leads long-time Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the polls, stated he suspected there were plans to release a tape of him from August 2024, during which he engaged in consensual relations with a now ex-girlfriend at a party.
His claims were sparked by a photo recently posted online of a bedroom from that time. Leading figures in Orban's Fidesz party claimed ignorance regarding the allegations. The BBC has reached out to Orban's spokesman for comment.
In his statements, Magyar accused Fidesz of attempting to blackmail him while making three allegations of unlawful conduct. He expressed concern that should any video surface, it would likely have been 'recorded with secret service equipment and possibly faked.'
While he mentioned an accusation of extortion made against the ex-girlfriend 15 months prior, he refrained from elaborating on her involvement in his statement. She has since declared her intention to take legal action, also framing them both as victims in relation to the alleged video.
Magyar suggested that Fidesz was strategically timing these attacks to disrupt his upcoming nation-wide campaign set to start next week and to mar his final week with his children before the elections.
Fidesz’s communications director Tamas Menczer dismissed Magyar’s claims as lies, while Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, stated he could not comment on matters he was unaware of.
Orban, who has been in power for 16 years, faces Magyar's center-right Tisza party, which is reportedly polling over eight points ahead of Fidesz. This election season, Fidesz has concentrated its campaign on criticizing the European Union, accusing it of undermining Orban's government.
The political landscape is set to become increasingly tumultuous as allegations of misconduct emerge. Magyar, who has built support across Hungary over the last two years on a platform promising to repair relations with European partners, is navigating a challenging environment ahead of the crucial April elections.
His past as a former Fidesz supporter and his connection to the political scandals from prior years further complicate his campaign as he prepares to lead the opposition on this pivotal stage.
