Meanwhile, economist Péter Róna, allied to LMP, insisted that if Orbán were to remain in power, Europe would “bid farewell to Hungary”.

Szél said Orbán’s “biggest crime” had been to misuse EU funds. “These will soon run out,” she said. She insisted that Orbán was already trying to replace the EU money by doing deals which bring in investment funds such as those that are financing the project to expand the Paks nuclear power plant.

The country’s economy cannot be based solely on foreign capital, Szél said, arguing that domestic small and medium-sized firms must be strengthened by redeploying EU funds and increasing tax on large corporations to support them.

Róna insisted the Hungarian economy was unsustainable without EU funds.

He said economic growth would have been between 0 and 0.5 percent in the past eight years without the funds and remittances from Hungarian employees working abroad.

MTI photo Kovács Tamás