Hankó Balázs labelled NKA arrests as political action
According to former minister Hankó Balázs, the detention of six employees in the NKA affair is excessive and without valid legal grounds. According to Telex, they made irregular decisions over 17 billion forints.
Hankó: "politically determined action" behind NKA detentions
According to Telex's reporting, Hankó Balázs, former minister of culture and innovation, described the detentions linked to the National Cultural Foundation (NKA) as a politically motivated action in an interview given to Demokrata. His primary aim is to see his six former colleagues released on bail to prepare their defence, as he is convinced they were taken into custody without valid legal grounds.
"My colleagues and I had exclusively the aim of supporting culture that connects people in mind, not our own enrichment or anyone's enrichment without performance," Hankó stated. He compared the detentions to a precedent in Poland, where proceedings were initiated against the former culture minister after Donald Tusk's election.
The protection of 1087 organisations
According to Hankó, the 1087 cultural programmes supported by the NKA received funding through open tender in accordance with the law. For this reason, he considers it insulting to claim that the money was stolen or that the grants did not serve cultural purposes – in his view, this also offends the organisations involved.
The former minister also emphasised that he largely agreed with the decisions of the NKA's committees, since "the tenders that underwent scrutiny supported Hungarian culture". He added that no culture minister can be expected to understand every detail of the tender process. He accused the independent press of one-sidedness because its reporting omitted the fact that, for example, the Danubia Orchestra and the Budapest Festival Orchestra also received support.
Hankó also stated that after 12 April he himself initiated a periodic accounting of NKA grants, but the organisation's new leadership and staff did not see this through, citing various reasons.
The background to the NKA scandal
Actor and activist Molnár Áron publicised on 23 April that billions were transferred from a state payment centre to economic and cultural figures linked to Fidesz. The list published on the NKA website revealed that numerous creators close to Fidesz received strikingly large sums from the priority cultural framework – including the official photographer of Zoltán Mága, who withdrew 500 million forints.
Tarr Zoltán, minister responsible for social relations and culture, suspended NKA payments on 18 May, signalling: "I want to stop what can be stopped". With reference to those affected, he wrote that those featured in the scandal called a portion of the public funds allocated for ministerial individual decisions an "uszoda" [slang term from Cosa Nostra thieves' argot], and this precisely describes "how the institution's funds were distributed for many years, bypassing staff and in a narrow circle".
Six people taken into custody
The National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV) announced on 23 June that six people had been taken into custody in connection with the NKA affair. Among the suspects is Balázs Bús, the recently resigned deputy chairman of the NKA. According to the authorities, the NKA's decision-making body made decisions on 1079 grants in violation of the law from December 2024 onwards, totalling over 17 billion forints.
"I have never taken part in any criminal act, and I have never made any decision that would have been illegal," Bús responded, arguing that his detention is based on a political judicial decision. Upon hearing the news of the coercive measure, Hankó expressed solidarity with those detained and publicly called for solidarity to be shown towards them.
Source: Telex