Middlemen raked in billions of forints from Szijjártó’s Covid ventilator deals (Day 170 of the Tisza government)

The Hungary Briefing series continues to cover significant developments post-election, including allegations of corruption and mismanagement during the Covid pandemic. The Orbán government purchased 17,000 ventilators, most of which were unusable, leading to financial losses and accusations of profiteering by intermediaries. Investigations revealed that former minister Miklós Seszták allegedly accepted bribes and hid €25m in cash. The government attempted to present its pandemic response positively despite a high death toll. Recent raids have led to arrests related to the ventilator procurement scandal, but accountability for higher officials remains unclear.