Orbán’s minister: Rogán banned from USA because of George Soros, PM Orbán will soon meet Trump

The opposition is in its deepest moral crisis 18 months before the election, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás said on Thursday.

Head of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office Antal Rogán will not be on the US sanctions list by the end of this year, Gulyás said in an interview with news channel ATV. He added that even the US administration could not deny that a purely political decision had been made in the case of Rogán. HERE is what you need to know about the scandal.

“The Americans have also admitted that there had been no secret services information behind the decision, only [US businessman] George Soros and the corrupt reports of various civil organisations that could not be considered a legal source or even evidence in the case,” he said. “It is political witch hunt, the petty revenge of the outgoing US ambassador,” he added.

American ambassador Pressman hated the government and the country

He said that during the US presidential campaign, President-elect Donald Trump had referred to the Hungarian prime minister more than a hundred times. “Unfortunately, the Democrats had sent here a US ambassador who hates the government and the country. “As a result, when talking about sanctions against Hungarians in his own Democrats milieu, he could achieve easy success,” Gulyás added.

He said Hungary had no “democracy deficit” and it was a false claim that the Hungarian government maintained too close links with Moscow or China.

“The new US administration is organising a Trump-Putin meeting. Yet, I would not accuse the US of drawing close to Moscow. The German chancellor recently had a long telephone conversation with Russian President Putin, but this does not make him an ally of Russia. It is best to be careful with such remarks. Hungary pursues politics and diplomacy along Hungarian national interests, we are not trying to please anyone either in the previous or the new US administration,” he said.

Gulyás said the banning of Rogán would be a short-lived measure that would remain a perfect symbol of the “petty Hungary-hatred” of the outgoing Democrats administration.

Removing Rogán from the ‘global Magnitsky list’ will be difficult

He added that removal from the list would not be a presidential decision but a decision by the US Department of the Treasury. He said the procedure was regulated by law and in order to be removed from the list, it was the banned person who must prove that the decision lacked any basis.

“Despite this I think that considering the obvious motivation behind the decision and the complete lack of evidence, a relatively quick decision could be made,” he said.

In response to another question, Gulyás said there would be no early election or government reshuffle before the 2026 election, and President Tamás Sulyok would fulfil his mandate. “The only question is whether his mandate will be five or ten years long, considering that the president can be re-elected once,” he added.

Hungarian opposition in deep moral crisis, says minister

Commenting on polls showing the popularity of the opposition Tisza Party, he said “it is the best situation for us that 18 months before the election, the opposition is in its deepest moral crisis and the leader of the strongest party is insane”.