One of them was András Halász, who ran a small convenience store near Lake Balaton, a family business dating back half a century. When the rejection letter arrived, he read it again and again, convinced there had to be a mistake. “My business was ruined,” he recalled. “I never stood a chance against this new system.”
But Halász wasn’t alone. A few months later, investigative reporters uncovered a pattern—many of the winning license holders had direct ties to Fidesz officials, whether through donations or personal relationships. The government, of course, dismissed the accusations, insisting everything had been handled fairly.
For Halász and others, that wasn’t good enough. They took to the streets, gathering outside Parliament in Budapest with signs reading “Stop Legalized Corruption!” Their protests, however, were met with police barriers and near-total media silence—a stark reminder of how deeply the government’s control had spread.
What had once been a small business issue had become something much bigger: a symbol of how Orbán’s Hungary operated—where economic power, like political power, belonged to those in the right circles.
EU Money and the Illiberal Machine
Ironically, Orbán’s vision of an “illiberal democracy” was bankrolled in part by the European Union. Every year, billions of euros in development grants flowed into Hungary, meant to improve roads, schools, and hospitals. But instead of serving the public, a significant portion of this money found its way into the pockets of businesses tied to Fidesz, further cementing Orbán’s power.
One scandal stood out.
A company called Elios Innovatív landed a $40 million contract to modernize streetlights in towns across Hungary. The problem? Elios was linked to Orbán’s own son-in-law. Locals quickly noticed that the new LED streetlights weren’t just bad—they were worse than the old ones, leaving some areas darker than before. Yet, the company was paid in full, with much of the money coming straight from EU funds.
It didn’t take long for bribery suspicions and contract irregularities to surface, triggering an investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud office. And Elios was just one example.
By 2022, after years of mounting corruption claims, the EU had had enough. Certain payments to Hungary were frozen until Orbán’s government implemented real anti-corruption reforms. The response from Budapest? Outrage. Orbán’s officials called the move “politically motivated”, insisting that everything was above board.
But behind closed doors, frustration was growing. One EU official, speaking privately, summed it up bluntly: “We paid millions, maybe billions, into a system that is increasingly hostile to the rule of law.”
The irony was undeniable. The EU’s own money had helped build the very system now defying it.
Exploiting Crisis: Orbán’s COVID-19 Power Grab
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept through Europe in early 2020, governments scrambled to impose lockdowns and emergency measures. Hungary was no different—except that Orbán took it much further.