Orbán talks about political reckoning, appoints former head of CTC as Fidesz's director of security

Viktor Orbán took to Facebook to react to the news that János Hajdu, the former director-general of the Counterterrorism Centre (TEK-CTC) had been questioned as a suspect in the case of the detained Ukrainian cash transporters. According to the chairman of Fidesz, the Tisza Party has initiated a political reckoning, and the legal proceedings have been launched against General János Hajdu, the former head of TEK on the Prime Minister’s orders. According to Orbán, since the outbreak of the war, currency and gold worth several thousand billion forints have passed through Hungary towards and from Ukraine with the cooperation of the Ukrainian secret service and Ukrainian soldiers.

“The Hungarian authorities put an end to this and, with the cooperation of TEK, seized a Ukrainian shipment. In any decent country, this would be rewarded with honors and commendations, but in Hungary, it has led to harassment by the authorities,” he wrote, adding:

“The current Hungarian government is acting in the interests of the Ukrainians. János Hajdu is a role model for everyone who loves their country. We stand with you, General!”

The next day, Bertalan Havasi, Fidesz’s communications director announced that “Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán has appointed János Hajdu, the former director-general of the Counter-Terrorism Center as Fidesz’s director of security. He will assume his duties effective today,” the statement reads. Havasi noted that Hajdu has decades of professional experience, and that the former police general had previously, prior to 2010 already served as Fidesz’s director of security for several years.

A few minutes before 8 a.m., Viktor Orbán also posted his thoughts on Hajdu’s appointment on social media, writing: “As of today, János Hajdu is Fidesz’s director of security. Anyone who wants to intimidate us should get up earlier. Welcome back on board, General!”

The Budapest Investigative Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday that former police Lieutenant General János Hajdu—who was dismissed from his post as head of the Counterterrorism Center in late May— had been questioned as a suspect in the investigation into the unlawful detention of the Ukrainian cash transporters. The Prosecutor's Office said that Hajdu is suspected of seven counts of unlawful detention and mistreatment; according to the Office, he filed a complaint against the charges, denied committing the crime, and made a statement. The suspect remains free.

Members of the Hungarian Counterterrorism Center detained seven Ukrainian citizens on March 5 and seized gold and foreign currency worth more than 27 billion forints from their CIT vans. The valuables were en route from Austria's Raiffeisen Bank to Ukraine's Oschadbank and, according to the two institutions, all the legally required documentation was available and in order. You may read the full story in our previous article.