The leader of the Hungarian opposition has announced that people connected to the government are preparing to release an illegal recording of him allegedly in an intimate situation with his ex-girlfriend, in an attempt to discredit him ahead of elections scheduled for April.
Peter Magyar, leader of the center-right opposition party Tisza, which according to most polls is leading Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz, said in a video message on his Facebook page that he believes he is the target of what he calls a "Russian-style" smear campaign by Orban's camp, Reuters reports.
Orban's government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs did not respond to Reuters' emailed questions.
The Hungarian (44), a divorced father of three, released a video statement following media reports that focused attention on a website that hinted at a recent "discovery" of an alleged illegal incident.
The page posted a photo of a room and a double bed, and later included the caption "Coming soon" and the date August 3, 2024, which the Hungarian claims was the day of a party where he had consensual sex with his ex-girlfriend. He had divorced a year earlier.
As of Thursday evening, there was no additional content on the page, and Reuters was unable to verify who posted it or where any footage or other information might have been posted.
Orban's chief of staff, Gergelj Gujas, when asked about the site, told reporters: "I cannot comment on something I know nothing about."
The Hungarian said in a Facebook video that he had not committed any crime.
"It became clear to me that I had fallen into classic Russian-style 'kompromat', but since I had done nothing illegal, my conscience is clear," he said.
"I will not allow Viktor Orban and his people to distract attention from reality for weeks with some deception," the Hungarian said.
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