{"id":11998,"date":"2025-04-10T12:06:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T10:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/?p=11998"},"modified":"2025-04-11T08:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T06:47:13","slug":"bar-mashova-foglaltak-vegul-tiborcz-szallodajaba-iranyitottak-a-budapesti-eu-csucsra-erkezo-finn-delegaciot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/bar-mashova-foglaltak-vegul-tiborcz-szallodajaba-iranyitottak-a-budapesti-eu-csucsra-erkezo-finn-delegaciot\/","title":{"rendered":"The Finnish prime minister\u2019s delegation was directed by the Hungarian government to the hotel of Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s son-in-law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has long been a harsh critic of the Hungarian government’s policies, he unknowingly did a small favor for Viktor Orb\u00e1n’s family during the EU leaders\u2019 summit in Budapest last November.<\/p>\n

The Finnish delegation stayed at Hotel Dorothea, owned by Istv\u00e1n Tiborcz, the son-in-law of the Hungarian Prime Minister, where they paid \u20ac2,800 for a single night. The Finns ended up at this hotel despite having originally booked rooms at another hotel but were eventually redirected to Dorothea by the Hungarian organizers.<\/p>\n

Last year’s EU summit in Budapest on 7-8 November was the most important event of the Hungarian EU Presidency, with delegations from more than 40 countries arriving in the Hungarian capital. Direkt36 previously reported<\/a> that the Hungarian EU Presidency had recommended a total of five hotels to guests arriving for the summit, including Hotel Dorothea in downtown Budapest, owned by Istv\u00e1n Tiborcz. The Hungarian EU Presidency particularly promoted this hotel to the delegations, telling them that the hotel offered very attractive deals.<\/p>\n

It is not known how many of the delegations that arrived for the summit ended up staying at Dorothea, but the Finnish Prime Minister and his entourage were certainly among them. Direkt36 found out about this by asking the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat to submit a public information request about where the Finnish delegation stayed during the summit and how much they paid. In response, the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office provided several details about the booking of the Finnish delegation.<\/p>\n

Join the Direkt36 supporters\u2019 group and get insight into investigative journalism! Details \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

Their response revealed that the Finnish accommodation was booked with the help of the Hungarian EU Presidency. The Finns had initially booked accommodation in one of the five hotels proposed by the EU Presidency, the cost of which had been paid in advance.<\/p>\n

The Finnish government did not name the hotel concerned, but Direkt36 has learned from a Finnish source who asked not to be named that the hotel was the Ritz-Carlton Budapest, which is linked to one of the world’s richest men, Khalaf al-Habtoor of Dubai. (Since January, the Ritz-Carlton has been called Al Habtoor Palace Budapest.)<\/p>\n

According to the Finnish government’s reply, the Hungarian side later informed them that the hotel they had originally chosen was full due to \u2018overbooking\u2019. The Finnish delegation was then offered accommodation at the Dorothea. \u2018Hotel Dorothea was also among the hotels recommended by the Secretariat, and the reservation was made based on availability,\u2019 the Finns wrote about what the Hungarian organizers had communicated to them.<\/p>\n

This is how Prime Minister Orpo and his seven advisers ended up at Tiborcz’s hotel, where a single night for the delegation cost \u20ac2,800.<\/p>\n

The Finns have said that this amount included the cost of security for the Prime Minister, the details of which are confidential. It is therefore not possible to say exactly how many people in total were covered by this amount. (According to booking.com, the cheapest room at Dorothea currently costs more than \u20ac234. For this price, guests get a double room with a view of the street, and breakfast costs an additional \u20ac37.)<\/p>\n

Services of an intermediary<\/h2>\n

The Finnish government not only disclosed the amount of the reservations, they also sent the invoices. These were not issued by the hotels concerned but by a Hungarian company named Jet Travel Ltd. According to the Finnish reply, this travel agency handled the bookings on the basis of instructions from the Hungarian EU Presidency.<\/p>\n

In response to Direkt36’s inquiry, Jet Travel wrote that the company was “involved as a subcontractor in the management of the event’s accommodation contingents”. In response to our questions about the accommodation of Finns, they said they could not provide any substantive answers.<\/p>\n

The majority owner and one of the managing directors of Jet Travel is Zolt\u00e1n G\u00e1l P\u00e1l, the brother of Levente Andr\u00e1s G\u00e1l, former state secretary of the Orb\u00e1n government. Zolt\u00e1n G\u00e1l P\u00e1l bought into Jet Travel before his brother’s government career took off.<\/p>\n

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