Monday 14 September 2026 – Sunday 20 September 2026 · 2026, week 38

The week in one sentence

This week the government simultaneously unwound the largest state contract of the past decade, launched a wealth investigation of the former political elite and changed the composition of the Constitutional Court — three steps whose credibility will be decided not by the force of the announcement but by the rule of the procedure that follows.

MIAK’s weekly reflection

This was the week of unwinding. A concession sentenced to termination, suspects brought in and arrested, a series of criminal complaints, the abolition of the compulsory chamber contribution, the renegotiation of monopolies. The common element in each is the same: the removal of a privilege built up earlier. The signal of the week, however, is that in almost every case the unwinding lacks its counterpart — the rule that says what takes its place and how much the transition costs.

MIAK’s yardstick here is independent of political side. Removing a privilege is a reform if no new privilege arises in its place, and if the cost of closing it is calculated in advance, not after the fact. Terminating the 23,000-billion motorway contract may be justified, but this week not a single public estimate was given of the order of magnitude of the compensation risk. The wealth investigation may be legitimate, but only if the same yardstick applies to the members of the current government as well. The constitutional judges were elected by a two-thirds majority, but with an opposition group walking out, the acceptance of the body remains an open question for many years.

The other lesson of the week is about sequence. The transformation of institutions is progressing faster than their strengthening. The conflict inside the prosecution service, the planned abolition of online access to court hearings and the mass of accountability cases all point in the same direction: the load on the system is growing, but its capacity is not. And the experience of major accountability waves is that their credibility depends not on the opening of investigations but on the ratio of final judgments.

The main threads of the week

1. Accountability: the first arrests and the wealth investigation

The thread was in the top ten on all six days, twice in first place. On Tuesday the prosecution brought in Dániel Jellinek and Norbert Szivek in the case of overpriced bus procurements by Volánbusz Zrt., and three people were taken into custody. By Thursday the judicial decision was made: the Central District Court of Buda — not yet final — ordered the arrest of the two main suspects for one month, but released the third suspect. The same day the government announced that the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) will examine the asset growth of former MPs, ministers and state secretaries, and of their relatives, going back five years. By Friday the thread was supplemented by the residency bond case: the police opened an investigation on suspicion of breach of trust causing particularly significant financial loss. At that point the National Asset Recovery and Asset Protection Office (NVVH) also announced that it will name its first four cases on 28 September. A suspicion and an arrest are investigative and judicial acts respectively, not a judgment — guilt is decided by the court.

Detailed analyses: The Volánbusz case: taking people into custody does not yet fix the system (MIAK blog, 16 September 2026) · The Volánbusz case: public judicial reasoning and discipline in statements — two rule-of-law benchmarks (MIAK blog, 18 September 2026) · Wealth investigations of politicians: one yardstick for everyone, without retroactive effect (MIAK blog, 18 September 2026)

2. Unwinding the concession system — and the bill we cannot yet see

The thread was continuously at the top of the top ten from Wednesday to Sunday, and received the highest score of the week. On Wednesday, after the cabinet meeting, the abolition of the tobacco wholesale monopoly, the renegotiation of casino concessions and a legal and financial review of the 35-year motorway concessions were announced. The same day the Hungarian Concession Infrastructure Development Zrt. (MKIF) asked in a letter for the operating data underlying the decision to be made public. On Friday the government decision was published, stating that the contract concluded in 2022 raises serious concerns under Hungarian and EU law, and instructing the minister of transport to initiate negotiations on its closure; a criminal complaint against persons unknown was also filed. On Saturday MKIF responded through legal channels, and a counter-response came from the government. At the end of the week the open question remained the same: how large is the compensation risk, and what is the plan for taking over motorway operation?

Detailed analyses: Closing the motorway concession: a settlement cap, a complete budget, an orderly takeover (MIAK blog, 19 September 2026) · Tobacco and casinos: dismantling the monopoly is only a reform if no new privilege is created in its place (MIAK blog, 17 September 2026)

3. Institutional reallocation: constitutional judges, agent files, prosecution service

The third thread was present in both halves of the week. On Monday Parliament’s justice committee heard the five constitutional judge candidates, and on Tuesday they were elected by secret ballot — the decision was made with 137 votes in favour, with one parliamentary group walking out. The same day the law on the publicity of the agent files was adopted and was promulgated on Friday: most of the files will become open to research this year, but the publicity of the most sensitive dossiers remains postponed until February 2027. In the middle of the week tension inside the prosecution service also became public: in a resignation letter the former head of the Central Chief Prosecutor’s Office for Investigations alleged informal pressure, which the Office of the Prosecutor General called untrue. Meanwhile, a proposal is also before Parliament that would abolish online access to court hearings — so in the same week the transparency of the justice system both increased and decreased.

Detailed analyses: 137 yes, 6 no and one walkout: weighing up the procedure of the constitutional-judge election (MIAK blog, 16 September 2026) · Not a change of personnel but a procedure: the prosecution service needs public case allocation and a conflict-of-interest register (MIAK blog, 20 September 2026) · Online access to court hearings is ending: the question is not the risk, but whether anyone measured it (MIAK blog, 14 September 2026)

What we did not publish separately

MIAK does not write a separate post on every top topic, but it sees them and keeps track of them. This week the following were left without a separate analysis, typically because of the daily quota limit or the recent coverage of the topic:

  • A full review of the chamber system (MIAK policy area: Economy) — the government would abolish the compulsory chamber contribution of 5,000 forints burdening businesses, appoints a chamber commissioner to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK), and withdraws nearly 3 billion forints of unused support. The question is what tasks and what funding the chamber system receives once the compulsory contribution ends.
  • Phasing out price-regulation instruments (MIAK policy area: Economy) — in the absence of an agreement, the interest-rate cap limiting the interest on household mortgage loans stays in place after 30 September. Trade associations, however, are urging the immediate phase-out of the margin cap limiting the margins on basic foodstuffs. Without a phase-out timetable and an impact assessment, both instruments become open-ended.
  • Public-sector wage catch-up (MIAK policy area: Social policy) — social workers demonstrated in front of the Prime Minister’s Office for a pay rise of at least 25 per cent; the Prime Minister accepted the demands and referred to the 2027 budget. The same week a 20–25 per cent rise was announced in child protection, and the trade union of academic researchers called its own pay situation unacceptable.
  • Conflicts of interest after office (MIAK policy area: Public administration and e-government) — the National Security Committee opened an inquiry into the former foreign minister’s new corporate position, and it became public how some people obtained diplomatic passports or foreign-service posts without a language exam. Meanwhile, the government would introduce a four-year cooling-off period for politicians taking executive positions in sports organisations. The principle is good, but instead of a uniform rule, it is currently made case by case.
  • The capacity constraint of healthcare (MIAK policy area: Healthcare) — this week three mutually independent signals came about the care system: the average ambulance response time of 26–27 minutes, a shortage of healthcare professionals severe enough to hamper daily operation, and open competitions for all hospital director posts. The announced additional 500 billion a year only arrives from 2027.
  • The two ends of Russian energy dependence (MIAK policy area: Foreign policy) — the US president signed the sanctions law that can hit buyers of Russian energy with tariffs of up to 100 per cent, Hungary joined the regional cooperation called the Carpathian Eight, and a decision on Paks II has to be made by the end of the year. The three threads lead to the same question: how long it takes, and at what price, to replace the current procurement structure.
  • The labour-market impact of artificial intelligence (MIAK policy area: Digitalisation and AI regulation) — according to a survey covering 37 countries, half of Hungarians expect artificial intelligence to eliminate jobs, and recruitment agencies see a 10 per cent lower demand for entry-level staff. This is the first data point that is not about a vision of the future but about a measured barrier to entry.
  • The Eurostat income data (MIAK policy area: Territorial inequality and rural policy) — the median income of Hungarian households at purchasing power parity is the lowest in the European Union, 52.8 per cent of the EU average. The data point is the benchmark behind the week’s economic debates, yet it received the least attention.

Policy area focus — what the press covered most

The policy area distribution of the week’s 60 top topics (by occurrence):

Policy area Weekly top-10 occurrences
Economy 34
Transparency and anti-corruption policy 30
Justice 18
Public administration and e-government 17
Social policy 14
Transport and infrastructure 11
Foreign policy 11

This week the press monitor was completed on six days; no separate monitor was prepared on Tuesday 15 September, and that day’s parliamentary decisions were processed by Wednesday’s monitor. Of the 60 top topics, 38 had a date-linked decision, court order or official data release behind them.

This is a weekly summary. The in-depth analyses of individual topics can be found in the daily posts.

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