Orban, who has reportedly traveled to the United States for the FIFA World Cup, also shared a photo on his Facebook page with Szijjarto.

Szijjarto announced on his Facebook page on Wednesday that he was resigning from his parliamentary seat and will continue to work as the head of external relations and new business development for the BYD Group.

Bertalan Havasi, Fidesz’s communications director, told MTI on Wednesday in response to a question about whether Orban was aware of Szijjarto’s resignation that Szijjarto and Orban had consulted with each other several times in recent weeks.

Magyar: Fidesz 'falling apart scandalously'

Opposition Fidesz is "falling apart scandalously", Prime Minister Peter Magyar said in a video on Facebook on Wednesday, responding to former foreign minister Peter Szijjarto's resignation as an MP and move to Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD.
 

Magyar said it raised not only moral but also serious legal concerns for a former minister of foreign affairs and trade to take a job just months after leaving office with a company he had previously secured hundreds of billions [of forints] in state support for. 

"Signing with the Chinese giant BYD is tantamount to pledging service to the Chinese Communist Party," he insisted.

"The former kingpins of the old regime are fleeing the sinking ship one by one, while the mafia boss watches soccer in the US with his family and oligarchs," Magyar said.

Holding up documents, the prime minister said they were agreements Szijjarto had recently signed on support for the Chinese EV giant, calling it "the most blatant form of corruption by any European standard".

"But what exactly were Orban and Szijjarto lying about for years?" the prime minister asked. "That they were working solely for the Hungarian people and Hungary's sovereignty. Now it's crystal clear to everyone that not a word of it was true."

"With Szijjarto's defection today, a world of lies has shattered into pieces. What everyone suspected is now confirmed," he said, insisting that Szijjarto "never represented Hungary's interests, only foreign ones."

Magyar accused Szijjarto of lobbying for Chinese car and battery factories at the expense of Hungary’s water and public health, calling it "another hypocritical lie from Fidesz". 

"A patriotic Hungarian politician can't and wouldn't do such a thing," he added.

Magyar said key figures within Fidesz were now abandoning the party "and today they even announced the formation of a new one." 

The prime minister insisted that Fidesz was "officially on the path to extinction, following the [now defunct] Alliance of Free Democrats and other post-transition parties".

"Now, an entire country watches in stunned silence as the once 'invincible' Fidesz collapses faster than anyone expected and fades into irrelevance," he said, adding that "there's actually nothing surprising about it, because the only thing that ever held them together was power and the wealth that came with it."

He said that though Fidesz had tried to convince Hungary that it could not exist without the party, "Hungary exists, can breathe again, functions and will get back on its feet." 

He added that it was not Hungary that had depended on Fidesz, but rather "Fidesz that depended on the captured Hungarian state".

"The future is no longer about them, and the once brave and invincible leadership is now scattering in every direction," Magyar said.

He said Gergely Gulyas had resigned as parliamentary group leader without warning his own party, Szijjarto had "signed with China", while former cabinet office chief Antal Rogan was abroad, and Janos Lazar, the former construction and transport minister, "has vanished from public view".

"Fidesz's brave leadership is fleeing, hiding, job-hunting or simply disappearing," Magyar said.

 "Not one of them is left representing the people who once trusted them. They've completely abandoned their remaining voters to save their own futures, wealth and security."

"This is the real end of Fidesz. Not a parliamentary vote or constitutional amendment, but the cowardice, hypocrisy and selfishness of its own leaders," Magyar said. "Fidesz is the past. Hungary's future has begun."

He said the Tisza government was carrying on with its work, including with a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, and making decisions for Hungarians.

These, he said, included securing European Union funds worth trillions of forints for railways, hospitals, schools and energy grids. The government, he added, was building a country where public money served public goals.

"This beautiful country belongs neither to Tisza nor to Fidesz," Magyar said. 

"Hungary is the common home of all Hungarians. The home of those who voted for us and those who do not yet agree with us." 

He vowed that Tisza would represent everyone, listen to everyone and ask that the people believe in each other and believe in Hungary.

"Fellow citizens, behind us lie the ruins of a collapsed system. Before us lies the chance to build a free, strong, European and humane country," the prime minister said. 

"We must and will build this country together. The nation before all else."

Fidesz: Party's natl board to decide on parlt leadership next week

Opposition Fidesz's national board will address personnel decisions regarding its parliamentary group at next week's meeting, the party's communications director said on Wednesday, following Peter Szijjarto's resignation as an MP.

Bertalan Havasi confirmed that the expanded national board will meet on July 21, with a joint consultation with the parliamentary group expected the same day.

He added that personnel decisions related to the group will likely be discussed.

Asked whether Fidesz leader and former Prime Minister Viktor Orban was aware of Szijjarto’s resignation, Havasi said the two had coordinated several times in recent weeks.

Szijjarto, the former foreign minister, announced on Facebook on Wednesday that he was giving back his parliamentary mandate to take a job at BYD, where he will oversee external relations and business development for new divisions.

Szijjarto's departure follows Gergely Gulyas's resignation as Fidesz's parliamentary group leader on Monday, ahead of parliament’s approval of the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law.

MTI Stock Photo

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881.

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