The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee (JURI) on Tuesday, September 23rd recommended that Hungarian opposition leader, MEP Péter Magyar retain his parliamentary immunity, in a move that underscores how Brussels’ establishment parties are more eager to protect their political allies than to let justice run its course.
The closed-door vote rejected Hungarian authorities’ request to allow criminal proceedings against Magyar, who heads the TISZA Party—a member of the centrist-liberal European People’s Party (EPP)—and has emerged as conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief rival ahead of next year’s national elections.
Three requests were under consideration, including one based on a theft charge dating back to a late-night altercation in a Budapest nightclub, and two related to defamation lawsuits. All were dismissed by the committee, which likewise refused to lift the immunity of Klára Dobrev, leader of the opposition neoliberal Democratic Coalition, in a separate case.
Polish EPP MEP Michał Wawrykiewicz defended the decision, claiming the Hungarian prosecutor’s requests were “politically motivated” and designed to “destroy” Magyar and the Tisza Party. He said he was confident that the European Parliament’s plenary will confirm the committee’s stance when the issue is brought to a vote in October.
Yet the outcome fits a pattern long decried by Orbán and his allies, who argue that Brussels applies double standards—swiftly lifting the immunity of right-wing MEPs, while delaying or blocking procedures when liberal or centrist figures are involved.
This bias is also reflected in Brussels withholding tens of billions of euros in EU funds from Hungary under the pretext of “rule of law violations,” while it has unlocked funding for former EPP president Donald Tusk’s liberal government in Poland, despite his government engaging in blatant lawfare targeting its political opponents.
Orbán has repeatedly warned that the European institutions are preparing to replace Hungary’s conservative government with what he calls a “Brusselite puppet regime,” which would be willing to carry out the pro-migration, pro-Ukraine, and pro-LGBT policies.
On Monday, Tamás Deutsch, an MEP of Orbán’s Fidesz party, said Magyar is a “captured man” beholden to his Brussels “mentors and handlers.”
Following the JURI committee’s decision on Tuesday, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán said: “Today in Brussels it became clear that the opposition leader is Brussels’ man. And he wants to be their governor here at home.”
❌ @PM_ViktorOrban: Shame and disgrace. Nothing like this has happened since the 1989 regime change. Today in Brussels it became clear that the opposition leader is Brussels’ man. And he wants to be their governor here at home. He is only fit for that. But we will not allow it!…
Zoltán Kottász is a journalist for europeanconservative.com, based in Budapest. He worked for many years as a journalist and as the editor of the foreign desk at the Hungarian daily, Magyar Nemzet. He focuses primarily on European politics.
