This is the super-scandal that should bring down Viktor Orbán – and it’s far from over | Katalin Cseh

Hungary's president quit over the fallout of a child abuse case, but the pro-family' prime minister still has questions to answer

After nearly 14 years running Hungary, Viktor Orban's regime is crumbling under the weight of its own hypocrisies. The country's president, Katalin Novak, a close Orban ally, was forced to resign in disgrace earlier this month for issuing a pardon to a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse case at a children's home. The former justice minister, Judit Varga, who approved the decision, also quit. This followed a tumultuous week of public outcry and protests in Budapest.

The scandal has not only rocked Orban's autocratic government to its core, it has laid bare the phoney nature of his self-declared Christian, family-values agenda. It has also exposed what little power even high-ranking political figures wield under Orban's de facto one-person rule: at the drop of a hat, he appears ready to dispose of close allies, even the supposedly independent president of the republic, to avoid accountability himself.

Katalin Cseh is a Hungarian member of the European parliament for the Renew Europe Group

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.