Manfred Weber and his European People’s Party (EPP) should declare whether they will protect Hungarian opposition politician Péter Magyar from being prosecuted in Hungary, according to Tamás Deutsch, MEP for the Hungarian ruling conservative Fidesz party.
Péter Magyar, the leader of the centrist Tisza party, the largest opposition party in Hungary, has come under scrutiny for hiding behind his immunity as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) to avoid being prosecuted for theft.
The 43-year-old got into a drunken brawl at a nightclub in Budapest in June with a man who was filming him. Magyar forcibly took the phone away from the man, and, after being escorted out of the club by security guards, threw it into the Danube.
The chief prosecutor’s office last week asked the European Parliament to lift Magyar’s immunity. If he is found guilty of theft, he could face up to two years in prison.
Magyar is not willing to waive his right to immunity, despite promising during the European election campaign that he would get rid of politicians’ immunity if he were elected into government. Reacting to the prosecutor’s statement, he said on Sunday, September 29th, that he would only agree to the suspension of his immunity if Hungary joins the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Tamás Deutsch of the ruling party Fidesz has demanded that the EPP, which the Tisza party belongs to, declare whether they intend to let Magyar off the hook if the European Parliament votes on the suspension of his immunity. The European People’s Party has the largest number of seats—188—within the 720-seat European Parliament and would be well positioned to protect Magyar.
“Manfred Weber and EPP MEPs must make a statement on whether they will defend Péter Magyar in order to hide behind his immunity and avoid prosecution,” Tamás Deutsch posted on Facebook.
Péter Magyar, the ex-husband of former Fidesz Justice Minister Judit Varga, has accused the government of harassing him for attempting to reveal corruption cases surrounding Fidesz, and believes the scenes at the nightclub were a trap and that he was deliberately “provoked.”
Tisza became the second-strongest party in Hungary within a matter of months this year following Magyar’s decision to abandon Fidesz, and the party surprisingly came second in the EP elections in June, with 29.6% of the votes, finishing behind Fidesz who got 44.8%.
The centrist EPP grouping welcomed Tisza into their ranks following the elections, despite serious domestic abuse allegations made against Magyar by his ex-wife Judit Varga. Only recently, Magyar was also accused by his former girlfriend of acting aggressively towards her and threatening her.
In contrast to Magyar, another Hungarian politician, Balázs Győrffy resigned in August as an MEP and as a member of Fidesz after acknowledging that he had hit a woman at a nightclub. As conservative daily Magyar Nemzet pointed out then: “While there are no consequences for anything on the political Left, Fidesz does not associate with people who behave violently towards women.”
