On October 25, 2022, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Riyadh, where he held a private one-on-one meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS. One of the most powerful leaders in the world and the Middle East, MBS had officially become Saudi Arabia’s prime minister just a month earlier, on September 27, 2022. This could have been a major diplomatic win for Hungary, showcasing how quickly MBS granted Orbán an official meeting.

However, neither the Hungarian nor the Saudi government released any information about the meeting.

The secrecy extended within the Hungarian government itself. No internal reports were produced, and even the foreign ministry did not receive a diplomatic briefing. Orbán traveled with a very small delegation.

Direkt36 learned about the secret trip through a freedom of information request and sources familiar with the meeting. Still, no one could confirm the true purpose of the trip, what Orbán and MBS discussed, or why it was all kept under wraps. Sources told us that the Hungarian side explicitly asked the Saudis not to disclose the visit either.

Although Orbán initiated the meeting, it was not organized by government officials but by businessman Balázs Garamvölgyi, who has high-level connections in the Middle East. (Garamvölgyi did not attend the Riyadh meeting itself.)

Originally linked to the left-wing Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), Garamvölgyi has been Hungary’s honorary consul in Bahrain since 2007–2008. In the fall of 2015, he participated in a meeting where Orbán’s daughter Ráhel and son-in-law Tiborcz met with Bahrain’s energy minister to discuss oil, gas, and trade issues. He was also involved in Hungary’s controversial golden visa program.

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Just weeks before Orbán’s trip to Riyadh, Italian media reported that the Hungarian prime minister wanted to move the Supercoppa Italiana final from Riyadh to Hungary. According to la Repubblica, Orbán offered €8 million (around 3.2 billion forints) per match. The paper mentioned Budapest as a possible venue but also hinted—something later echoed by other outlets—that Orbán might want to host the games in his home village, Felcsút, at the Pancho Arena next to his house. Though la Repubblica attributes the €8 million offer to Orbán personally, context suggests it was likely via the Hungarian Football Federation. (Since 2022, the Italian Super Cup finals have consistently been held in Riyadh.)

Neither Orbán’s new spokesman János Máté, nor the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, nor Balázs Garamvölgyi responded to our questions about the purpose of the Riyadh trip, who organized it, or why it was kept secret. They also ignored our inquiry about whether the Italian Super Cup was discussed. In response to our inquiry, the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) stated only that “no official request has been submitted to the MLSZ regarding the organization of the Italian Super Cup final.”
We also contacted the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Hungary about Orbán’s visit, but they did not respond either.

Deepening Ties with the Middle East

Orbán’s visit to Riyadh is yet another example of how his government and Hungary’s pro-government elite are quietly building increasingly close political and economic ties with the Arab world—often with little transparency.

In December 2023, the author reported in VSquare’s newsletter that Mohamed Alabbar—the Emirati businessman behind the Burj Khalifa—is planning to build a luxury district and skyscraper in Budapest. He was already in advanced talks with the Orbán government.

In recent years, several hotels and luxury properties in Budapest—including ones linked to the governing elite—have been acquired by Arab investors. Meanwhile, the Orbán government has actively courted Middle Eastern investment, from Qatar (previously connected to a potential Budapest airport deal) to the United Arab Emirates.

In 2022 and 2023, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó visited Qatar several times to discuss LNG gas imports. In January 2025, Orbán himself traveled to the Emirates to negotiate business deals, including oil and gas deliveries.

Back in 2022, Direkt36 also published an investigation—part of an international collaboration—into Hungary’s honorary consuls. It revealed that several were linked to criminal cases such as perjury, money laundering, and even financing Hezbollah. No such allegations have surfaced in the case of Garamvölgyi.

Official Trip or Private Visit?

As the Orbán government’s ties with the Arab world have clearly intensified in recent years, at the start of 2025 we filed a public information request with the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office. We asked for a list of Viktor Orbán’s foreign trips to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia between 2010 and early 2025. We also requested the names of Orbán’s negotiating partners and the official purpose of each visit.

The government acknowledged the Riyadh trip in this list.

The Cabinet Office only partially fulfilled the request. They provided no information about the purpose of the trips or Orbán’s counterparts. And although we specifically asked about visits to Gulf countries, the list they sent included unrelated trips to Europe, Asia, and South America. “The data you requested can be found in the list below,” they wrote—yet the list was clearly an incomplete list of Orbán’s foreign trips. For instance, several known visits, such as Orbán’s trips to the United States, were missing.

Notably, the list did include a visit to Riyadh on October 25, 2022—but this stood out. All the other trips on the list had been previously reported either on government websites or on Orbán’s social media. This one hadn’t. In fact, the Cabinet Office, by acknowledging the trip, effectively confirmed the existence of a visit that had never before been publicly disclosed.

As part of our request, Direkt36 also asked the Cabinet Office to clarify whether Orbán’s Gulf trips were funded with public money and accompanied by government officials or public servants. We also asked that any privately funded, personal trips—such as vacations—be labeled as such. The Cabinet Office made no indication that the Riyadh visit was a private one.

It is usually Orbán’s vacations and personal travels that go unreported by the government. For instance, in 2019, a reader of Index submitted a photo of him vacationing in St. Petersburg, and in early 2025, news of a family trip to India reached Hungarian media only through the local Indian press.

Apart from confirming the date, the Cabinet Office gave no further details about the Riyadh visit. However, Direkt36 was able to uncover more from sources familiar with details of the trip. According to them, Orbán left Budapest on the morning of October 25, 2022, and returned the same evening. The Saudi hosts were specifically instructed by Orbán’s team not to release any information or take any photos of the visit.

Sources familiar with the details say that Orbán met privately with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The conversation took place one-on-one.

A source familiar with the workings of Orbán’s inner circle said that it is usually János Nagy, a longtime close aide, who informs the Cabinet Office and key officials about the prime minister’s undisclosed trips. However, the source did not reveal what kind of briefing—if any—was given regarding the Riyadh visit. Since Orbán was accompanied by his bodyguards, it is very likely that János Hajdu, the director of Hungary’s Counter Terrorism Center (TEK), and the agency’s top leadership were also informed about the trip.

State Loan for Hungarian–Saudi Projects

According to several sources familiar with Hungarian–Arab relations, Hungary’s ties with Saudi Arabia are not particularly important, and there are no known major projects or investments. Data from Hungary’s Central Statistical Office shows that in recent years, exports to Saudi Arabia ranged between 43 and 79 billion forints (roughly €110–200 million), while imports stood between 12 and 42 billion (about €30–105 million).

The Hungarian–Saudi Intergovernmental Joint Economic Committee is not led by high-ranking officials either—on the Hungarian side, it’s headed by a state secretary, and on the Saudi side, by a deputy minister.

According to the Cabinet Office’s response, prior to the secretive 2022 visit, Viktor Orbán had only traveled to Saudi Arabia three times: in October 2011, March 2014, and January 2015.

In 2020, the Hungarian government opened a €600 million credit line—worth just over 200 billion forints at the time—via Eximbank to promote economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated then that “due to water scarcity, Saudi Arabia faces a unique challenge. Developing water infrastructure presents serious opportunities for Hungarian technology and engineering expertise.”

We asked the Foreign Ministry how much of the credit line has been drawn and what Saudi–Hungarian investments have actually materialized. We received no response.

Illustration by Direkt36, Photo by the Prime Minister’s Office