Key facts
- Hungary's Prosecutor General, Gábor Bálint Nagy, has resigned.
- Nagy stated he was stepping down due to political pressure and to protect the independence of his office.
- Prime Minister Péter Magyar celebrated the resignation as a victory against the previous administration.
- The resignation follows allegations of political bias in a case involving detained Ukrainian cash couriers.
- Nagy had led the Prosecutor's Office since the previous year.
Hungary's Prosecutor General, Gábor Bálint Nagy, has resigned amid significant political pressure, marking a political victory for Prime Minister Péter Magyar. Nagy stated in his resignation that he was stepping down to safeguard the integrity and independence of the prosecutor office, condemning what he described as political pressure. He added that he did not wish to be part of a conflict built on false premises serving political ends.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar welcomed Nagy's resignation, framing it as a liberation from an 'Orbán puppet.' Since his election victory, Magyar has been actively seeking to remove senior officials appointed during Viktor Orbán's tenure. The resignation follows accusations of political bias from lawyers representing Ukrainian cash couriers detained in a cross-border cash seizure case near Budapest in early March. The couriers were questioned and expelled, with cash and gold confiscated.
Lóránt Horváth, the lawyer for the Ukrainian cash couriers and Oschadbank, suggested that those responsible for the operation should have faced prosecution, implying that Nagy, appointed by the previous government, might be providing political support to his former superiors. The Prosecutor's Office has denied any political motive behind the operation. Nagy had been leading the office since the previous year. Separately, President Tamás Sulyok also recently signed a constitutional amendment ending his own mandate.