On 15 July, Hungary’s former foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, quit his parliamentary seat to accept a position with the Chinese automaker BYD. This move has prompted scrutiny regarding his previous role in facilitating substantial government subsidies to the company while in office. Szijjártó served as Hungary’s top diplomat for nearly 12 years under the administration of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Following the recent landslide election victory of Péter Magyar‘s pro-European Tisza party in April, he was relieved of his ministerial duties but continued to serve as a member of parliament. PM Magyar has publicly expressed concerns about Szijjártó’s representation of “foreign interests” on social media platforms.
Szijjártó announced on Facebook that he has accepted a prestigious international position with BYD, the top electric car manufacturer. “BYD is one of the greatest success stories in the automotive industry,” he stated, adding that he will oversee external relations and new business development. Since the April election, Szijjártó, a member of parliament since 2002, has missed most votes and made few public appearances.
Former minister helped BYD secure major subsidies
During his tenure in government, Szijjártó played a pivotal role in attracting significant Chinese investments to Hungary, particularly from BYD, which benefited from substantial state subsidies. In 2023, he announced the establishment of BYD’s first European factory in Hungary, enabling the company to circumvent European Union import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Szijjártó indicated that this decision followed an extensive series of 224 negotiations between BYD and the Hungarian government, describing the project as “one of the largest investments in Hungarian economic history,” with government financial incentives that remain undisclosed.
Furthermore, in 2025, Szijjártó communicated that BYD would also be setting up its European headquarters and a research and development centre in Budapest, supported by 20 billion forints (approximately $63.7 million) in government assistance. Throughout his time in office, both Szijjártó and Orbán opposed EU tariffs on Chinese products and actively pursued substantial investments from Beijing, which facilitated the establishment of several Chinese electric-vehicle battery manufacturing plants in Hungary.
Additionally, the Hungarian government collaborated with Beijing to develop a rail corridor between Hungary and Serbia, aligning with China’s “Belt and Road” global trade initiative.
PM slams Szijjártó’s involvement in BYD subsidy controversy
Prime Minister Péter Magyar addressed the issue on social media on Wednesday, stating that Szijjártó has “long represented foreign interests.“ He highlighted that Szijjártó had “previously lobbied to secure substantial Hungarian state subsidies“ for BYD. Magyar emphasised that, in retrospect, it may now be clearer even to Fidesz supporters whose interests the former foreign minister of the Orbán government represented concerning investments in the battery and automotive industries.
Controversy around Szijjártó’s office
During his tenure as Foreign Minister, Szijjártó maintained significant ties with Russia, even in the context of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Unlike nearly all his European Union counterparts, he frequently travelled to Moscow to negotiate the purchase of Russian oil and gas.
He also held regular meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whom he called a “friend.” In recognition of his efforts, Szijjártó was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship by President Vladimir Putin in 2021, an honour ranking among the highest bestowed upon foreign citizens by the Russian state.
Szijjártó faced scrutiny during Hungary’s 2026 election campaign when The Washington Post reported that he had been making regular phone calls to Lavrov during high-level EU discussions, providing “live reports“ on the conversations. While he refuted some aspects of this report, he acknowledged that he engaged with Lavrov both before and after EU foreign minister meetings regarding their agendas and decisions. Additionally, in March, the government led by Orbán filed espionage charges against a prominent Hungarian investigative journalist who had been examining Szijjártó’s communications with Lavrov. These charges were subsequently dropped following the transition to Hungary’s new government.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
