As the TISZA government’s punitive crusade against the Hungarian conservative and independent public sector escalates, even groups from the radical left of the political spectrum that have actively helped undermining Péter Magyar’s main rivals, the Orbán government, seem to be exhibiting symptoms of buyer’s remorse. This time the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) has expressed concern over Péter Magyar’s plans for the National Office for the Recovery and Protection of State Assets (NVVH). Within weeks, this is the fourth international human rights lobby NGO that flags up the new left-wing Hungarian government’s decisions as strongly problematic.
In a report published on their website, The Hungarian Helsinki Committee initially goes on to shower praise at the government led by Péter Magyar for what they describe as “finally breaking with the Orbán government’s 16-year-long practice of violating the law”. However, their bill establishing the so called National Office for the Recovery and Protection of State Assets (NVVH), has several shortcomings, they note.
For instance, the government intends to exempt the office from judicial review, a solution the HHC labelled as “unacceptable”. “The Hungarian government’s draft stipulates that an investigation into the protection of public assets does not constitute an administrative proceeding. However, this is not the case. This is because, during the Office’s investigation, measures may be taken that significantly affect the rights and legitimate interests of those involved, which strongly justify ensuring independent judicial review”, the report points out.
They continue to say that
the Office would have “unusually broad powers. It could investigate any use of or management of public assets and, without specifying a monetary threshold, could place private companies under state supervision if there is a well-founded risk of further harm to public assets.”
Ursula von der Leyen with Péter Magyar. Photo: Facebook Péter Magyar
Furthermore, the HHC thinks that it would be essential to ensure that public asset protection investigations are subject to full review by administrative courts. However, the Helsinki Committees’ proposed solution, namely, to “appoint an independent human rights officer within the office”, would not only be ineffective in safeguarding the public from the excesses of Péter Magyar’s crusade against the Hungarian national-conservative sphere, but would not possess much credibility either.
The Hungarian human rights lobby has next to no trustworthiness in the eyes of those most likely to be targeted by the new Asset Recovery Office. Indeed, the above proposal itself sounds conspicuously rather like an attempt to extend the competences and influence of the human rights industry into the workings of the new TISZA government. The HHC itself has been funded by radical leftist organizations, such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USAID, Sigrid Rausing Trust or the European Commission, and the strongly pro-migration UNHCR.
A spot-on response from Gergely Gulyás, Leader of the Fidesz Parliamentary Group, to Prime Minister Péter Magyar:
“Since 1990, neither the Hungarian state nor the Prime Minister has ever ordered criminal proceedings against anyone. The fact that you stand in Parliament calling… pic.twitter.com/ZRVFhxvaYg
— Kinga Gál (@_KingaGal) June 30, 2026
Regardless of the merits of the above proposal though, the alarm raised by the human rights industry over Péter Magyar’s controversial governance can put some pressure on his foreign mentors, such as Germany’s Manfred Weber, head of the European People’s Party, or Poland’s heavy-handed ruler, Donald Tusk. Magyar evidently has not yet learned the EU left’s subtle methods for suppressing domestic opposition from the right, and signs are that he is not willing to adopt them either. This will no doubt cause complications as the EU’s methodology of suppressing dissent and political pluralism follows a strict adherence to their shared rule book, administered and guarded by the Brussels bureaucracy. Magyar going solo could clash with their sphere of interests sooner than expected.
Featured Image: Facebook Péter Magyar
