Bence Tuzson to be Hungary's new Minister of Justice

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accepted the resignation of Justice Minister Judit Varga, Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister's Press Secretary told MTI.

He added that the Prime Minister has nominated Bence Tuzson, State Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, for the post of Justice Minister.
The resignation of Varga and the appointment of Tuzson means that there will be no female ministers in the Hungarian government in the future.

Judit Varga announced on Wednesday morning that she will step down from her post as head of the Justice Ministry at the end of July. Magyar Nemzet already reported on Tuesday that Varga will lead the Fidesz-KDNP list for the European Parliament in 2024. The Justice Minister told the paper on Wednesday: ""This task, much like my ministerial duties, requires a whole person, so I have already informed the Prime Minister of my intention to resign as of July 31. I believe that the right thing to do is to hand over the leadership of the Justice Ministry to someone who can concentrate on it one hundred per cent."

Varga was appointed four years ago, during which time she has been implicated in two major scandals. One has gone all the way to the European Parliament and the other is currently being tried in court. You may read more about them in this article.

We sent questions on Wednesday morning to the Prime Minister's press secretary, the Prime Minister's Office, the Justice Ministry and the Government Information Centre, to find out who her successor would be in leading the ministry, but received no response from any of them.

Bence Tuzson started his political career in MDF (Hungarian Democratic Forum) in 1989. From 1996 he was a member of MDNP, and vice-president of its branches in the 1st and 12th district of the capital, and a member of Fidelitas. From 1998 to 2006, he was a Fidesz-delegated member of Budapest's 12th district Municipal Body.

In 2013 he became President of the Fidesz constituency in the 5th electoral district of Pest County, and since 2014 he has been a Member of Parliament for the region.

In 2014, he was appointed spokesperson for the Fidesz parliamentary group, and a year later he was appointed State Secretary for Government Communications in the Prime Minister's Office. From 2018, he was State Secretary for Public Service at the Prime Minister's Office, and from 3 January 2020, he became State Secretary for Government Matters at the Prime Minister's Office, according to his biography posted on the website of the Prime Minister's Office.

Bence Tuzson will take up the post of Minister of Justice on 1 August.

"I will do my utmost to serve the security and everyday life of the Hungarian people in my new mandate as a member of the government," he said on his official Facebook page.