BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A senior Hungarian government official close to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was hit Tuesday with U.S. sanctions for his alleged involvement in corruption in Hungary, a rare step against a sitting official in an allied country.
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Antal Rogán for corruption while in office. A key figure in Orbán’s government, Rogán is accused of using his position to broker favorable business deals with government-aligned businesspeople, a key part of European Union penalties against Hungary that have withheld billions in funding over official corruption concerns.
Speaking at a news conference in Budapest on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said Rogán was “a primary architect, implementer and beneficiary” of systemic corruption in Hungary which he described as a “kleptocratic ecosystem.”
“For too long, senior government officials in Hungary have used positions of power to enrich themselves and their families, moving significant funds from the public purse into private pockets,” Pressman said, adding that there were “many others involved” in such corruption within Hungary's government.
The head of Orbán's cabinet office, Rogán oversees the engineering of wide-reaching government communication campaigns that are credited with being instrumental in maintaining Orbán’s power since 2010. Known among critics in Hungary as the “propaganda minister,” Rogán rarely appears in public or gives interviews, but is a veteran advisor to Orbán and also oversees Hungary’s secret services.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement Tuesday that Rogan’s activity “is emblematic of the broader climate of impunity in Hungary where key elements of the state have been captured by oligarchs and undemocratic actors.”
The authority used to designate Rogán is a Trump-era executive order that implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets human rights abusers and corruption around the world.
The sanctions brought by the outgoing Biden administration reflect U.S. efforts in the last four years to address concerns in Washington that Orbán has led Hungary, a member of the EU and a NATO member, to abandon democratic principles while pursuing closer ties with Russia and China.
Orbán, who backs Donald Trump, has expressed certainty that U.S.-Hungarian relations would improve once the president-elect takes office. Orbán made three visits to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in 2024, while Trump has spoken positively about him.
Ambassador Pressman, whose tenure in Hungary will end this month, has been the subject of intense criticism by Orbán’s government, which accuses him of attempting to interfere in Hungary’s internal affairs.
Responding to the sanctions, Hungary's foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, wrote on social media: “This is personal revenge against Antal Rogán by the ambassador sent by the failed U.S. administration to Hungary, but who is now leaving ingloriously and without success."
"How nice that in a few days’ time the United States will be led by people who see our country as a friend and not an enemy,” Szijjártó wrote.
The Treasury Department in 2023 placed sanctions on the International Investment Bank, which relocated its headquarters to Hungary’s capital from Moscow in 2019, arguing it served as a conduit for Russian espionage within the EU and NATO.
Hungary soon after withdrew its stakes in the bank.
Hussein reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed reporting.
FILE - Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
