{"id":13353,"date":"2026-09-08T14:38:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/?p=13353"},"modified":"2026-09-08T14:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:56:12","slug":"feny-derult-lazar-janos-egyik-regi-utazasanak-titkara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.direkt36.hu\/en\/feny-derult-lazar-janos-egyik-regi-utazasanak-titkara\/","title":{"rendered":"The old secret of a trip of J\u00e1nos L\u00e1z\u00e1r has been revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the best-kept secrets of J\u00e1nos L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s political career was what he was doing in Zurich on March 22 and 23, 2013.<\/p>\n

In early 2014\u2014while it was still an independent news outlet\u2014the Origo news portal contacted the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, which was headed by L\u00e1z\u00e1r at the time, to request information about the politician\u2019s several mysterious and exceptionally expensive trips abroad, including the one to Zurich. L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s ministry refused to respond, and when an Origo staff member\u2014the author of this article\u2014filed a lawsuit to obtain the data, they still shared only a few pieces of less significant information about it.<\/p>\n

L\u00e1z\u00e1r was so determined not to reveal details about his trips that at one point he announced he would rather reimburse the budget for the travel expenses. Origo’s editorial staff also came under political pressure because of the case, which contributed to the highly controversial dismissal of then-editor-in-chief Gerg\u0151 S\u00e1ling. A significant portion of the editorial staff resigned in protest, and the news portal later became part of the propaganda machine close to the Orb\u00e1n government.<\/p>\n

Now, the Tisza government, which took office this spring, has released information about the 2013 trip to Zurich. The government released an internal document to Direkt36 stating that L\u00e1z\u00e1r met with a certain \u201cProf. Mangold\u201d in the Swiss city and discussed potential collaborations with various Western European companies.<\/p>\n

The name \u201cProf. Mangold\u201d refers to Klaus Mangold, an influential German businessman well-connected in both European and Russian business circles. It had previously come to light\u2014in part as a result of Direkt36\u2019s investigations\u2014that Mangold established contact with the Hungarian government in the early 2010s and later worked as an advisor to Orb\u00e1n\u2019s administration for several years. The internal document received from the current government is also a report prepared by Mangold\u2019s company, Mangold Consulting GmbH.<\/p>\n

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The government released the report after we asked them several questions over the summer about L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s trips\u2014questions to which we had not previously received answers. B\u00e1lint Ruff, Minister in Charge of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, also mentioned L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s trips last week in an interview with Telex.<\/p>\n

Banking, Software, Marketing<\/h3>\n

According to the disclosed report, L\u00e1z\u00e1r discussed three topics with Mangold. One was cooperation with a bank named Rothschild, with which the German businessman had connections on multiple fronts. \u201c[\u2026] there was discussion of whether Rothschild could function as an \u2018independent advisor\u2019 to the Hungarian government,\u201d the document states. According to the file, the services to be provided by Rothschild would focus, among other things, on \u201cassessing the structure of the country\u2019s (financial) risks and providing related advice, taking the banking sector into account.\u201d<\/p>\n

L\u00e1z\u00e1r and Mangold agreed to organize a meeting \u201cwith the participation of Mr. Varga and Mr. Matolcsy\u201d (presumably referring to Mih\u00e1ly Varga, then Minister of National Economy, and Gy\u00f6rgy Matolcsy, who had just taken over the leadership of the Hungarian National Bank in March 2013 and had previously served as Minister of National Economy).<\/p>\n

However, the document reveals that Viktor Orb\u00e1n, then Prime Minister, was also interested in meeting with Rothschild. \u201cMr. Orb\u00e1n would also be happy to attend, at least part of the meeting. Taking into account the requirements of confidentiality, it was agreed that only one representative from Rothschild would be present,\u201d the document states.<\/p>\n

At the Zurich meeting, discussions also took place regarding cooperation with SAP, a business software company, with whose senior management, according to the report, \u201cProf. Mangold has excellent connections.\u201d The document states that \u201cMr. L\u00e1z\u00e1r showed particular interest in cooperation in the areas of financial administration and healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third topic of the meeting between L\u00e1z\u00e1r and Mangold in Zurich was \u201chow to better organize the Hungarian government\u2019s marketing strategy.\u201d They also discussed bringing in a specialized firm, and according to the report, Mangold had suggestions regarding this as well. \u201cProf. Mangold has excellent connections with Schuppner and CNC, companies based in Germany that possess outstanding expertise in responding appropriately to critical media coverage,\u201d the document states, adding that an agreement was reached to hold a \u201cjoint brainstorming session in the near future with the participation of both companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rothschild did, in fact, end up assisting the Orb\u00e1n government. This occurred, for example, in the fall of 2015, when the European Commission launched a detailed investigation into illegal state aid for the Paks project. The Commission examined whether the investment was being carried out under market conditions or with state aid, and this investigation also covered the extent to which state aid would distort the Hungarian and European electricity markets. Since several studies, in addition to the Commission\u2019s own findings, had challenged the government\u2019s arguments, the government welcomed the report by the internationally renowned Rothschild Group, which concluded that the investment could be expected to pay for itself under market conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven independent international consultants agree that the Paks II investment will pay for itself,\u201d the government wrote in a December 2015 press release when it made the nearly 90-page English-language document public. The report states that Rothschild made the document available specifically to the Hungarian Prime Minister\u2019s Office, but neither the government nor the investment bank answered questions about who commissioned and who paid for the study.<\/p>\n

Later, Rothschild also participated in the establishment of the partially state-owned MBH Bank, according to government statements at the time.<\/p>\n

We sent several questions to J\u00e1nos L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2014who resigned from his parliamentary seat last month\u2014through an intermediary, but he replied that he did not wish to comment. Dr. Christoph Mangold, head of Mangold\u2019s consulting firm, stated that it is part of their company\u2019s business policy not to respond to media inquiries.<\/p>\n

We received the following response from SAP\u2019s Hungarian subsidiary: \u201cSAP has had a long-standing presence in Hungary and has collaborated with numerous government and private-sector entities over the years,\u201d but they added that \u201cwe are not aware of any collaboration or agreement that could be linked to the meeting mentioned in your inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rothschild and CNC\u2014or its successor\u2014did not respond to our questions. We found a German consulting firm named Schuppner, but its director replied that there must have been a misunderstanding, as the company had not even been launched at the time of the Zurich meeting. (444, which also published an article on the subject, pointed out that there was likely a typo in the document, and it is possible that the reference was to a company named Hering Schuppener.)<\/p>\n

L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s Hotel Bills<\/h3>\n

Back in late 2013, Origo submitted questions to the Prime Minister\u2019s Office regarding three trips taken by J\u00e1nos L\u00e1z\u00e1r on which the accommodation costs were significantly higher than those incurred by other officials on business trips.<\/p>\n

On a trip to England in late November 2012, L\u00e1z\u00e1r and his companion\u2019s lodging costs totaled 920,000 forints (2555 euros at current rate) for two nights. In July 2013, one night in Milan cost 596,000 forints (1655 euros), while one night in Zurich in March 2013 cost the politician and his traveling companion 189,000 forints. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office originally reported significantly higher lodging costs for the trip to Switzerland but later revised the figure downward, citing that other expenses had been accidentally added to the hotel bill.<\/p>\n

In the lawsuit filed against it, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office ultimately disclosed some information about the trips\u2014such as the names of the hotels\u2014but continued to keep secret what L\u00e1z\u00e1r did on these business trips.<\/p>\n

L\u00e1z\u00e1r and his team initially refused to respond, arguing that disclosing the details of the trips would compromise national security, since L\u00e1z\u00e1r had participated in the business trips in his capacity as head of the Information Office, which is responsible for foreign intelligence. Later in the trial, however, they did disclose details about the trips. It turned out, for example, that only two people\u2014L\u00e1z\u00e1r and an associate\u2014took part in each trip, meaning the high hotel bills were not the result of large delegations.<\/p>\n

A representative of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office also stated during the first-instance trial that in Switzerland, he \u201cheld talks with a German citizen regarding Hungarian-German and Hungarian-Russian relations,\u201d and in Italy, \u201cheld talks regarding Hungarian funds illegally transferred to Switzerland, at a hotel designated by the negotiating partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding the trip to Milan, the current government has revealed only that L\u00e1z\u00e1r held \u201cprofessional talks.\u201d Regarding the 2012 trip to London, they stated that the purpose of L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s trip was to meet with \u201cthe Minister in charge of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office of the United Kingdom, as well as several members of the government, in order to strengthen bilateral relations.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Direkt36’s has obtained a document with details of the former government official’s controversial trip to Zurich. According to the file he met with an influential German businessman to discuss cooperation between the Hungarian government and various multinational companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":13354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-telex.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[937],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t