Orbán assumes Hungarian politicians not involved in Panama Papers scandal
Hungarian politicians are not likely involved in the Panama Papers offshore scandal, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said, according to reports.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at Kossuth radio this morning. (MTI/Zoltán Máthé)
During his regular fortnightly interview with state-owned Kossuth radio this morning, he said that although there are some Hungarians involved in the offshore scandal, he assumes tracks lead to bankers, according to Hungarian online daily origo.hu. “These tracks need to be uncovered,” the prime minister said and asked for the help of Hungarian authorities.
He said that even questioning whether Hungarian ministers could be involved in the Panama Paper leakage is “nonsense”, origo.hu reported. Orbán said he will assign Hungarian authorities “serious tasks” in the coming weeks to assist in an investigation of the names mentioned in the Panama Papers leak, origo.hu reported.
Giving his weekly press conference yesterday, Hungaryʼs Cabinet Chief János Lázár also said that to the best of his knowledge Hungarian governing politicians cannot be included in the offshore scandal.
Refugees pose threat
By allowing masses of refugees to enter Europe in an uncontrolled way Hungarians will not be able to say that they live in safety for much longer, the leader reiterated his standpoint on the Europe-wide issue.
The prime minister again stressed that Schengen borders need to be protected, and he again rejected the European Commission’s quota system, saying it is “unsuitable for handling the situation” and “deeply violates national interests”, origo.hu reported,
Commenting on the referendum that the government initiated against the EU’s quota system, he said that Hungarians can now express their opinions on the quota system. He said that the stakes are high for the referendum, as Hungarians will make a decision whether to allow Brussels to decide on who should live in Hungary and who should not, origo.hu reported.
Corruption investigation
Commenting on a corruption investigation in the United Kingdom involving the delivery of metro carriages to Budapest, the prime minister said Hungary still needs to request evidence in a bribery case from British officials, Hungarian news agency MTI reported. The evidence must be reviewed, and this is expected to be a “big job” for police and the prosecutor involved, he added.
Britainʼs Serious Fraud Office recently charged the U.K. head of French engineering company Alstom with corruption and conspiracy in connection with train contracts for the Budapest metro, MTI noted.
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