{"id":8587,"date":"2026-04-12T10:48:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T10:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/12\/how-hungarian-prime-minister-viktor-orbans-hometown-became-a-symbol-of-excesses-90-5-wesa\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T10:48:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T10:48:18","slug":"how-hungarian-prime-minister-viktor-orbans-hometown-became-a-symbol-of-excesses-90-5-wesa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/12\/how-hungarian-prime-minister-viktor-orbans-hometown-became-a-symbol-of-excesses-90-5-wesa\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n's hometown became a symbol of excesses – 90.5 WESA"},"content":{"rendered":"

To the outsider, the Pancho Arena, a massive soccer stadium built to seat 4,000 fans, seems out of place in the tiny Hungarian village of Felcs\u00fat.
The village, nearly an hour drive from Budapest, Hungary’s capital, has a population that would only fill half the stadium. But the open-air architectural gem, made of curved wooden beams that jut dramatically upwards and resemble a cathedral, wasn’t built in just any village. Felcs\u00fat is the hometown of Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a>, and his family’s weekend home sits across the street from the stadium, which carries the nickname of Ferenc Pusk\u00e1s, Hungary’s most famous soccer player from the 1950s.
As Hungarians head into a national election on Sunday, Orb\u00e1n is facing a double-digit deficit in the polls, despite a last-minute rally in Budapest on Tuesday with U.S. Vice President JD Vance<\/a>. The vote might bring an end to Orb\u00e1n’s 16-year hold on power and could reshape the country’s role in Europe.
The leader of the opposition, P\u00e9ter Magyar, a former insider from Orb\u00e1n’s Fidesz Party, has shone a light on the Orb\u00e1n government’s corruption and the country’s poverty in his speeches. Hungary is the most corrupt state in the European Union, according to Transparency International, an organization that aims to combat corruption. The EU has blocked billions in funding to Orb\u00e1n’s government for its alleged assault on the bloc’s principles of democracy and equality.
NPR reached out to Orb\u00e1n’s spokesman for comment about the corruption allegations, but he did not respond. In the past, Orban has denied accusations of corruption.
At a rally this week, Magyar told supporters the country is, “destined for much more than for those in power to ruin, steal, and turn it into the poorest and most corrupt country in Europe.”
The stadium in Felcs\u00fat, alongside an adjoining soccer academy, cost more than an estimated $200 million to build, and for political observers like S\u00e1ndor L\u00e9derer, it is a prime example of that corruption.
L\u00e9derer runs a group called K-Monitor, an anti-corruption watchdog that maintains public databases of government spending. His work has been used by the European Union and has earned him a fellowship from the Obama Foundation.
He regularly takes people to see the stadium as a demonstration of how Orb\u00e1n’s leadership has drained the country of critical investment.
“The taxpayers’ money was money that didn’t go into the national budget because it’s a tax break,” L\u00e9derer told journalists at the site, explaining that money for these projects often goes to Orb\u00e1n’s family and friends, who have become very wealthy.
“They were all getting tax breaks on this, and that’s money that would have ended up in the national budget and could have gone to hospitals, schools and things that have a little more benefit to Hungarian society.”
“You can clearly see where money is missing,” L\u00e9derer said.
A short walk from the stadium is a train station for a 3-mile narrow-gauge railway that connects Felcs\u00fat to a nearby village where Orb\u00e1n has built his family’s estate: Pusk\u00e1s Akad\u00e9mia stop on the The V\u00e1l Valley Light Railway.
It cost $3 million to build and included $2 million in funding from the EU. The proposed ridership for the line was 2,000 people per day, but the annual use has barely reached that level. Now trains only run on the weekends.
In Alcs\u00fat, a nearby village, \u00c1kos Hadh\u00e1zy led another tour.
Hadh\u00e1zy, a member of parliament, rented a bus and brought more than 60 residents from Budapest here to see what he calls “Orb\u00e1n-land.”
Hatvanpuszta Castle, once the property of Archduke Joseph of Habsburg 150 years ago, is a manor owned by Orb\u00e1n’s family in Alcs\u00fat. It was a protected monument, but then Orb\u00e1n’s father purchased and demolished the structure. He later built a multi-story mansion and complex in its place.
There is also a golf course, which is owned and run by the richest man in Hungary, L\u0151rinc M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, who grew up with Orb\u00e1n in Felcs\u00fat.
Some of those who were with Hadh\u00e1zy climbed up a ladder to see above the wall that encircles the Orb\u00e1n family palace.
One by one, they peered into the landscaped and pool-filled grounds and beyond that \u2014 the Neoclassical mansion of their prime minister.
J\u00falia Moln\u00e1r, 27 years old, stepped down from the ladder and shook her head. Her voice trembled with anger as she spoke about what she saw.
“It’s infuriating, and I’m very glad that people are finally brave enough and conscious enough to come here and actually put in the effort to show up and see for themselves and not let the media give them the perspective that they should have on this,” Moln\u00e1r said.
She lamented the opulence of her prime minister’s residence when so many in her country are so poor.
Hadh\u00e1zy explained that the Orb\u00e1n family mansion, the rail line, and the soccer stadium have now become part of Hungarian discourse and public opinion. He calls it a gift for those who want to unseat Orb\u00e1n.
Copyright 2026 NPR<\/p>\n

Have a tip for the WESA newsroom? Email news@wesa.fm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To the outsider, the Pancho Arena, a massive soccer stadium built to seat 4,000 fans, seems out of place in the tiny Hungarian village of Felcs\u00fat. The village, nearly an hour drive from Budapest, Hungary’s capital, has a population that would only fill half the stadium. But the open-air architectural gem, made of curved wooden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}