Orban Caught In Scandal Over Zebra Estate

The Hungarian opposition got a big trump card.

A scandal has erupted in Hungary after independent MP Akos Hadhazy published a photo of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's unfinished estate in Hatvanpust with a palm garden and a private zoo.

Hungarian media, particularly the HVG, have reported the story, European Truth noted.

Akosh Hadhazi published photos of the Orban family's estate in Hatvanpust, which according to the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, Gergei Guiaş, is an "estate" and according to the prime minister is his father's farm, which is not even finished yet.

An independent MP published earlier photos of the complex taken four years ago. He said the shots were taken by "a worker who worked there briefly and quickly quit because he became disgusted." Construction workers are now more cautious because "workers have their phones taken away and are threatened when they enter the grounds."

"Well, if it's a farm, it's very strange," Hadhazy wrote in a Facebook post.

According to his description, the photos show, for example, that "a heating cable was installed under the park's pavement so that if it snowed, the prime minister wouldn't have to shovel it (the pavement then became the most expensive paving stone possible)."

Additional photos show an underground brick-lined corridor connecting the buildings.

Hadhazi even organized a tour of Hatvanpusta over the weekend. During the first such visit, those interested could peer into the carefully fenced area from a staircase.

There were several thousand participants, all intent on seeing for themselves whether the independent MP was right: his father's farm or his son's baroque castle was being built here, complete with library, walkway, chapel, palm garden, solar power station, fountains, underground garage, pond and private zoo.

Hungarian journalists likened the atmosphere of the tour to when protesters first entered the country residence of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych to see with their own eyes whether his toilet was really made of gold.

The piece mentions a mother who encouraged her five-year-old son to bypass at least a two-kilometer long line of cars, saying, "Let's go see the zebras!" It is noted that there were so many exotic animals that even a hastily erected earthen berm, police guards, mobile fences, and even ATVs were not enough to keep the zebras, antelopes and buffalos away from prying eyes.

The piece also notes that Orbán's builders demolished classicist architectural monuments to replace them with a rural residence.

Although members of the government and Viktor Orbán himself have repeatedly stated that, contrary to news reports, the Hatvanpusta estate is only the farm of the prime minister's father, energy certificates obtained by the MP indicate that an official energy certificate has been requested for the residence as well.

Peter Madjar, head of the opposition Tisa party and Orban's main rival in the upcoming elections, has already promised that if he comes to power, the State Audit Service will launch a twenty-year asset investigation against all former members and representatives of the government, as well as their close relatives. According to Madiar, the investigation will also cover Viktor Orbán's estate in Hatvanpust.

"The National Office for Asset Tracing and Protection will be able to request all information from the permit-issuing authorities and the Monument Protection Office, as well as hear from investors and workers working at Viktor Orbán's construction site," Madiar said.

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