Corruption Couldn’t Shake Orban’s Credibility; a Sex Scandal Just Might

Jozsef Szajer, one of the so-called "dorm guys" - the closest confidants of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the original founders of his Fidesz party - was forced to resign from the European Parliament and quit Fidesz after being busted in Brussels in what seems to have been a gay orgy involving 25 men and drugs.

As Szajer later claimed, he only received an "oral warning" from the police for attending the sex party, which was held in violation of Belgium's COVID-19 restrictions. Although he tried to flee the scene by climbing out of a window and ecstasy pills were found in his backpack (he denies they belonged to him), it doesn't seem likely that he will face any serious legal trouble.

However, no corruption scandal could have dominated the news or inflicted more serious damage on his party's reputation than this latest affair.

Not wishing to sound like I'm complaining, but as a Hungarian investigative journalist it is not always easy to cope with how little consequences there are to our stories. Just recently, Orban became the longest-serving prime minister in Hungary's history. Corruption stories connected to his friends, cabinet or even family members have been around for ages. For example, my colleagues have been constantly digging up new and factual evidence of how Orban's own family is secretly benefiting from EU funds and government contracts - and they have been doing this for years. Neither the police nor the Office of the Prosecutor General - directly controlled by the government - has shown much interest in launching any kind of investigations.

Part of the reason why the effect of such stories is not reflected in, for example, opinion polls is that there is a certain fatigue after so many years and even more scandals. And the...