Advisor to Romanian PM asks Péter Magyar to investigate how Hungarian public funds sent to Romania were spent

Vlad Gheorghe, honorary advisor to Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, sent a letter to Péter Magyar, “Hungary’s new political leader,” asking him to investigate public funds sent from the Hungarian budget to Romania, which were transferred to Hungarian communities for investment purposes. The honorary advisor to the prime minister posted about this himself on his Facebook page.

According to him, there are serious suspicions that “part of these funds did not reach the people, but instead financed networks of political influence and pro-Viktor Orbán propaganda.”

Gheorghe claims he wrote the letter citing Péter Magyar’s promise that those who have plundered Hungary would be held accountable. Now he would like to see the promised investigation extended beyond Hungary’s borders, “with particular regard to the significant sums from the Hungarian state budget that were channeled to Romania as investment in ethnic Hungarian communities.”

In the attached letter, he writes, “There are indications that public funds were used to finance pro-Orbán political propaganda outside Hungary, including in Romanian communities. Such practices, if confirmed, would constitute not only a misuse of public funds but also a serious interference in the democratic sphere of another European Union member state.”

According to his statement, with this in mind, he requested the following from Magyar in his letter:

• investigate how Hungarian public funds intended for communities in Romania were spent;
• identify the networks and the actual beneficiaries;
• investigate the use of public funds for political propaganda;
• and cooperate with Romanian and European authorities to ensure transparency.

According to Vlad Gheorghe, “cleaning up this system is not just a matter for Hungary, but a European issue; it also serves the interests of Romanian and European citizens.” In his view, clearing up the funding mechanisms would send a strong signal that “Hungary is bringing about change even beyond its borders.”

At his press conference on Monday, Péter Magyar pledged to “eradicate industrial-scale corruption” and announced the creation of an anti-corruption agency. According to him, the National Asset Recovery and Protection Agency will be tasked with determining what crimes were committed and by whom, and how these harmed the Hungarian state. Péter Magyar also said on Monday that Hungarians living beyond Hungary's borders “can count on the Tisza government in every way.”

The Tisza Party had already promised in its election programme that it would maintain the subsidies benefiting ethnic Hungarians living in neighbouring countries, but would simply make them more transparent. Magyar reiterated this on Monday:

“They will receive the same benefits as they have so far, they will retain their dual citizenship and the right to vote, but the money they have been receiving as benefits—most of it—will no longer be stolen by criminals linked to Viktor Orbán; instead, it will actually go to the Hungarian people, both in Vojvodina and in Transylvania,” he said at his press conference.

Vlad Gheorghe previously served as an MEP for the Save Romania Union between 2020 and 2024; he is now the president of the right-wing DREPT party and ran for mayor of Bucharest last fall. Since February, he has served as an honorary advisor to Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, primarily assisting him with administrative reform and matters related to Bucharest.