Conflicting reports on claim of PM assassination plot

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivers speech to commemorate the victims of communism during a ceremony on November 21. (Photo: MTI/Zoltán Máthé)

Two men, reportedly members of the far-right Magyar Nemzeti Hadsereg (MNH/Hungarian National Army), were arrested by Hungaryʼs secret service and counter-terrorism unit (TEK) the day before the ceremony, and remain in custody, according to Blikk.hu.

TEK reportedly discovered two machine guns, several rounds of ammunition and silencers in the trunk of a car belonging to the men, aged 60 and 62, on November 20, Blikk.hu reported. The news portal added that police assumed the weapons would be used the next day in an attack at the District VI school, where Orbán was to give a speech during a ceremony to commemorate the victims of communism.

According to a report by online portal hungarianspectrum.org published November 27, János Hajdu, head of TEK, visited a handful of key Hungarian television stations to announce TEK’s discovery of a terrorist organization with possible international ties.

Hungarianspectrum.org noted that two raids were carried out – one in which two Hungarian men with automatic weapons and alleged “extremist beliefs” were apprehended. The portal went on to connect the two men to the anti-Semetic group MNH, suggesting that it is very unlikely that their intent was to target any government official, including Orbán.