Corruption in Hungary

 
 
 

Vocabulary

proud	meteor	shovel (2)
soccer	grateful	carry out
regard	meteoric	primarily
access	expand	press (2)
fund	precisely	share (3)
murky	request	to advance
deny	donate	enormous
profit	transfer	infrastructure
strict	subsidy	conspicuous
case	head (2)	coincidence
tender	oligarch	advanced
grant	chance	conflict of interest
media	breech	investigation
trial	recourse	cooperate
court	control	distribute
proper	resident

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Everyone in Hungary knows the village of Felcsút. With all of 2,000 residents, it’s the birthplace of prime minister Viktor Orban.

For a long time, the church was the biggest building here.

But not so long ago, a football stadium seating 3,500 was built in Felcsút.

The local soccer team plays here. It recently advanced into Hungary’s first division.

Felcsút resident: “I’m so proud that this beautiful stadium was built here in our village. We are very grateful to our mayor, Mr. Mesorosh, who worked very hard to see the project carried out.”

Other Hungarians regard the stadium as corruption made visible.

For years, Babett Oroszi of Budapest has been watching the meteoric rise of mayor Lorenz Mesarosh, a close friend of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

During Orban’s time in office, Mesarosh has become one of Hungary’s richest men, primarily through government contracts.

The Hungarian press hardly reports on this.

Babett Oroszi works for an organization funded by the American billionaire, George Soros, who was born in Hungary.

Without his money, she couldn’t research such cases, and the network in Felcsút wouldn’t be made public.

Babett Oroszi, Atlatszo.hu anti-corruption NGO: “About 13 million euros were put in this construction — much of it tax moneys. And what we see is only the best friends of the head of government, Orban, profit from it.

In particular, Mayor Mesorosh who received the contract for the stadium.”

Babett Oroszi has no legal recourse against the murky deal surrounding the construction of the stadium.

Her many requests for access to the files have all been denied.

Babett Oroszi: “Many companies donated money to construct this stadium, precisely those that have receive lots of public contracts from the government for the last four years.

It looks like they’re thanking Orban for those contracts.”

Another case of possible corruption. For years, the European Union has transferred billions of euros to Hungary, to expand the infrastructure.

The Kersget Construction Company is awarded a conspicuously large share of contracts.

Is it just coincidence?

The company is owned by Viktor Orban’s childhood friend, Layon Shimishka.

Sandor Lederer is looking into this case.

He writes reports for the European Commission, and says that the Hungarian prime minister has created a network of companies that profit from EU subsidies.

The situation is hard to correct through the courts because oligarch Shimichka is too close to the center of power.

Sandor Lederer, K-Monitor anti-corruption NGO: “The close friend of the prime minister and also financial leader of the government party starts to win enormous amount of money and public tenders.

This is a clear breach of conflict of interest. Here is wasn’t really a big problem. I think, of course, the media reported on that. But there were no trials. He did not have to go to court, there was no investigations.”

Sandor Lederer’s agency also receives grants from George Soros.

It’s work has alerted the EU Commission, which now takes a closer look when it sends EU money to Hungary.

But cases from the past can hardly be investigated.

The EU has no chance to act, except where the Hungarian justice system cooperates.

Sandor Lederer: “And we hope the EU will be stricter in controlling these funds.

That doesn’t mean we want the EU to stop giving funds to Hungary because it would cause a lot of trouble for the country.

But we want them to be really strict and control whether these funds are distributed in a proper way.”

It seems a few, rich Hungarians, many of them friends of Prime Minister Viktor Orban are shoveling money from European taxpayers into their own pockets.

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Questions

Sports Stadium. “Everyone in Hungary knows about Felcsút.” Why do they know about the village of Felcsút? What happened there? Was this normal?

Highway. How do many Felcsút villagers feel about this? Do all Hungarians share the woman’s view?

Freeway, Motorway, Autobahn. Did Lorenz Mesarosh become a rich man through technology enterprises?

Bridge, Overpass, Underpass. The corruption watchdogs are supported by the Hungarian government. Is this correct or incorrect? Does the Hungarian media and courts fight against corruption?

Railway, Rail Line. According to observers, do the most qualified and lowest priced construction companies win government contracts?

Port, Harbor. Where does the infrastructure money come from?

Tunnel. The corruption monitors want the EU to stop providing funds to Hungary. Is this right or wrong?

 
 
Bribery. Is corruption a problem in your city? Can you give examples of corruption?

Embezzlement. Does corruption affect on the economy and society? How does it affect the economy and society?

Favoritism, Nepotism, Cronyism. Do corruption levels differ in different countries or regions?

Red Tape, Paperwork. What will happen in the future? Will corruption increase, decrease or remain the same?

Bureaucracy, Bloated Government. What are the causes of corruption?

Waste, Mismanagement. How can corruption be eliminated or reduced?