Antal Rogan subject to US sanctions “The main architect of the corruption system”, one of Orban's closest people

According to the Americans, he plays a key role in building the oligarchic system in Hungary and, as it happens, also a key role in the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

– People closely associated with the ruling political party have acquired huge holding company empires. Antal Rogan is the main architect, executor and beneficiary of this system of corruption, says David Pressman, US ambassador to Hungary.

Antal Rogan has been subject to US sanctions. This is a rare situation because the politician is the serving minister of a country that is an ally for the United States. The decision was not easy, but – as the US Department of Treasury explains – it had to be made.

“Corruption in the public sector in Hungary has been worsening for over a decade, as a result of which Hungary achieved the lowest score of all European Union member states in the Corruption Perceptions Index in 2023 for the second year in a row,” the department said in a statement.

This result, which places Hungary in the 1st place among the most corrupt countries in the Community, is the result of very specific and deliberate actions. And they are neither favorable to democracy nor to citizens – of course those who have no political connections.

– Minister Rogan enriched himself and the people loyal to his political party. He used his official position and power for personal purposes, depriving his country and its citizens of necessary financial resources, while weakening the institutions necessary for a strong democracy, argues the US ambassador to Hungary.

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Rogan has a strong position in the power structure, which – in line with the accusations of his Western partner – he takes full advantage of. Moreover, there are suspicions that he is responsible for a brutal smear campaign against the Hungarian opposition, all with the use of the secret services.

– It combines the coordination of communication policy and, interestingly, but not surprisingly, matters related to secret services – points out Professor Maciej Kisilowski from the Central European University in Vienna.

Rogan is currently the minister responsible for the Hungarian Prime Minister's office, and also controls the National Communications Office, the Digital Government Agency and the Hungarian Tourism Agency. Additionally, he has been a member of parliament since the late 1990s, where until recently he was the head of the ruling Fidesz party.

The sanctions for him mean the blocking of the assets he has accumulated and any interests in assets he has accumulated in the United States. American citizens are also prohibited from engaging in any transactions with a politician.

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– This puts Antal Rogan in company that also includes the Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov. The American Congress created this option specifically to punish people who particularly threaten America's international interests, notes Botond Feledy, a foreign policy expert.

We are talking about a law named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in a Moscow prison. The law adopted in 2016 under Barack Obama has become a global whip for regimes and the oligarchs representing them.

– This clearly shows that on the liberal-democratic side, Viktor Orban and his apparatus are simply in line with regimes such as Vladimir Putin's at the moment – points out Professor Maciej Kisilowski.

Sanctions may be reversed. In less than two weeks, Donald Trump, whose greatest European ally is Viktor Orban, will take over the reins of the American administration.