By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News reporting from Budapest, Hungary
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – This week, it was “Alice in Orbánland” as the leader of Germany’s far-right AfD party, Alice Weidel, visited Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán, the prime minister who critics say turned his nation into a thiefdom.
Opponents claim that the increasingly authoritarian but conservative Orbán, the darling of the political right and one of U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s favored European politicians, took over several previously independent institutions, ranging from the media to the judiciary.
Additionally, multiple investigations have revealed that family and friends were awarded billions in dubious tenders, often paid for by European Union funding and Hungarian taxpayers.
A documentary film about the issue by investigative journalism outlet Direkt36, 35 “A Dinasztia” (”The Dynasty”), was just released and viewed at least 2.6 million times on video sharing site YouTube alone.
Yet, Alice Weidel hailed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as a “great role model” during her first official meeting with a European leader this week in Budapest, Hungary’s capital and political center.
Her party, Alternative for Germany or AfD, “Will follow the path of Hungary, our great role model, if we are part of the government,” said Weidel ahead of the German election on February 23.
AFD FUTURE?
“It’s completely clear that the AfD is the future,” Orbán argued, adding that all of the far-right party’s platform, from immigration to the economy, would be “beneficial for Hungary” if it were implemented in Germany.
Orbán’s decision to meet with Weidel broke the right-wing nationalist’s earlier policy of keeping the AfD at arm’s length.
There had been concern about the AfD’s links to neo-Nazi voices within its ranks, and Hungary’s government has close ties with Israel’s current leadership.
However, Weidel has denied being an antisemite and says that only her AfD party is capable of protecting the country’s Jews.
She told the podcast of Elon Musk, President Trump’s efficiency csar who endorsed the AfD, that “To be very frank, the AfD is the only protector … of the Jewish people in Germany. “Jewish people were “not safe here anymore,” she told Musk from her Berlin office last month.
“Hitler was a Socialist, Communist guy,” who wanted to nationalize and control industry, whereas the AfD is a “Conservative, Libertarian” party that wants to empower citizens, Weidel claimed. “We are the opposite.”
EU POLICIES
That was music to the ears of Orbán. Both leaders condemned the European Union’s immigration and climate policies, arguing they destroyed the European economy. Orbán stressed that both should be “thrown out.”
Inviting Weidel was also a way to distract attention from ongoing reports about corruption and dubious business by Orbán’s inner circle.
The Dynasty released this month highlights the enrichment of István Tiborcz, Orbán’s son-in-law, and the role that government contracts—considered seriously irregular by EU inspectors—allegedly played in his financial success.
The documentary also reveals the state support Tiborcz received for his empire, which includes luxury real estate, financial, and logistics companies, now partly managed by his wife, the prime minister’s eldest daughter, Ráhel Orbán.
It traces the origins of this economic structure back to the 1990s and explores the long-standing alliance between Viktor Orbán and Lajos Simicska, a former political ally.
Building on years of investigative work by journalists, the film provides an unprecedented insight into the luxurious world that István Tiborcz and Ráhel Orbán have built.
ELITE CLUB
It uses hidden camera footage to show the elite Botaniq Budai Klub in Budapest, opened by Tiborcz in 2023. In one recording, seen by Worthy News, a club employee discusses alleged illegal gambling taking place at the venue
Tiborcz’s company, BDPST Group, which operates the club, vehemently denied the allegations, stating that “no illegal gambling has taken place at the BOTANIQ Buda Club.”
They claimed the club’s themed evenings involved “no real stakes, only chips and play money, purely for recreational purposes.”
István Tiborcz and Ráhel Orbán declined to be interviewed for the documentary. However, in a written response, Tiborcz claimed his success is due to working with a “good team and excellent managers who make smart business decisions.”
Tiborcz acknowledged that his companies had received loans from state-backed banks but argued that “few other market players have carried out developments of this scale without state support.”
Regarding tax benefits, he disputed reports that his businesses received tax advantages worth tens of billions of forints, claiming that the total was 2.6 billion forints ($6.9 million), a figure doubted by International investigators.
BUSINESS WORLD
He added, “I sincerely hope I would be in the same position in the business world even if the prime minister weren’t my father-in-law, though my name would probably be much less well-known.” He added that he does not discuss business matters with Orbán.
The prime minister, who has ruled uninterrupted since 2010, told reporters that he does “not deal with business” but focuses on governing the nation. And Magyar Nemzet, a government-aligned newspaper, accused Direkt36 of making the documentary as part of a “Ukrainian secret service operation” aimed at discrediting the prime minister. Direkt36 responded by calling the claim “a lie,” adding that the project—launched nearly a year ago—was “not influenced by any domestic or foreign entity and was not funded by Ukraine.”
With questions mounting, the center-right Respect and Freedom Party (Tisza), led by Orbán’s former ally-turned-adversary Péter Magyar, is leading in the polls ahead of next year’s parliamentary election.
It doesn’t help that the country suffers from inflation, the government’s promised economic growth doesn’t materialize for millions of Hungarians, and childbirth is the lowest in years despite a pledged pro-family policy.
Orbán hopes that showing his strength in a broader right-wing movement that includes the AfD will encourage voters to see him as the strongman who can make Hungary and Europe “great again.”
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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