Velkey said that during Szijjarto's term nearly 1,500 diplomatic passports were issued at the minister's discretion as opposed to one or two hundred in previous government cycles.

"Sports clubs, friends, a multitude of politicians in the second or third rank and their family members were granted diplomatic passports, and what is more worrying is that in many cases the beneficiaries were foreigners close to the government for business or other reasons," he said.

"This was grave wrongdoing also involving great risk from the point of view of national security... These people were doing their dubious business freely as holders of the Hungarian state's diplomatic passports."

Under the Tisza government, "nobody will be granted a diplomatic passport in unjustified or inexplicable ways," he said, adding that the documents so far granted "undeserved and without any foundation" would be withdrawn.

Velkey said the government would only issue diplomatic passports "in cases justified by the national interest" and "only for a justified period".

Foreign Minister Anita Orban has proposed withdrawing 943 diplomatic passports issued to individuals who are not diplomats.

Earlier Govt spox: Foreign minister proposes revoking over 900 diplomatic passports

Foreign Minister Anita Orban is proposing to revoke 943 diplomatic passports that were not issued to diplomats automatically, based on their status, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The government last week instructed the foreign minister to review diplomatic passports that were not issued to diplomats automatically as a matter of right, Vanda Szondi said. Based on this, 1,131 diplomatic passports and 191 service passports were reviewed, she said.

The foreign minister proposed revoking 776 diplomatic passports and 167 service passports.

Szondi said Justice Minister Marta Gorog is working to determine, while ensuring compliance with privacy rules, to what extent the identities of those who received such passports can be revealed.

MTI Stock Photo

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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