Magyar ‘is not what he seems,’ ex says in interview

Opposition party leader Tisza Péter Magyar “had no ideas or beliefs; he didn’t want any change in the country,” the politician’s former partner Evelin Vogel told the news portal Index in an interview published on Wednesday. He added that people didn’t see the real Magyar because “he is not what he seems.”

“It was not only thanks to Péter that he got to where he is today; there were very good people behind him… These people I worked with… had confidence, they believed in change for the better,” she told the newspaper, according to news agency MTI, adding that it was not political objectives that motivated them.

Their relationship started well, she said, but later became “stormy” and they broke up last September. He proposed to her a month later, but she said no, Vogel said, adding that she could no longer identify with Magyar, whose words and actions were at odds. Magyar told her that he had voluntarily stepped down from his government positions, she said, insisting that she was no longer sure whether that was true or not.

He “only went out there because he had nothing left to lose,” she added. “He’s not really a brave person… He’s always had a big mouth, but when push comes to shove, he plays it safe,” Vogel said.

She said she had mobilized her network of contacts because Magyar, after he attacked the government system, had no contacts left. Vogel said Magyar had no problem using the audio recordings he had made of his ex-wife, former Justice Minister Judit Varga, and that he had not disclosed their contents to her at the time.

He considered the tapes “a much stronger trump card” than the effect they ultimately had, she said. Meanwhile, Vogel said she had introduced Magyar to a businesswoman who works as the party’s treasurer. Magyar “still listens” to this person, whom she did not identify. The person provides Magyar with information from government circles, she maintained. Magyar, she said, was focused on himself, while his team tried to build the party organization.

“I was the recipient of Peter’s anger and discontent. He wasn’t there, he wasn’t working with the others…” she said, accusing him of negativity and smearing members of his own team.

Vogel said their relationship deteriorated and she did not accompany him on his national tour. She recalled an argument between them while her child was in the car.

“He started yelling at me on the street … and I was scared, I felt threatened … and if I remember correctly, I started crying then or later. Anyway, I saw the child sitting in the car crying,” Vogel said.

Magyar’s secret was that he had a background that gave him an air of authenticity, while he had the rhetorical and communication skills to get people interested. “He brought people out of their apathy…” she said.

When asked who the real Magyar was, Vogel replied: “I don’t think I dare to answer.”

Asked how Magyar would react to her disclosure, she said: “He will be very angry, furious. But he will say that he expected it, and even that Fidesz was behind it… I don’t know what he will do to me, but I hope he won’t hurt my family. I’m not saying he is capable of absolutely everything, but he is capable of all sorts of things.”

Magyar: Bird ‘has been blackmailing me and the Tisza party since May’

According to MTI, Magyar accused Vogel of “blackmailing me and the Tisza Party” in response to the interview.

Responding to critical comments about him that she made in the interview published on the news portal Index, Magyar insisted that since May she had tried to extort HUF 30 million “not only from me, but also from five colleagues…”

Magyar said on social media that Vogel had contacted the deputy chairman of the ruling Fidesz party, Gabor Kubatov, and agreed to spread propaganda in exchange for HUF 5 million a month and other benefits. The Index interview was part of the deal, he added.

He said it had been discovered that Vogel had made “audio and video recordings of her conversations and discussions with me and party leaders”. Part of the “dirty deal” with Fidesz was to hand over these recordings, he added.

Magyar said that despite her threats, he and his staff tried “to protect Evelin Vogel from criminal and political consequences,” and had called on her to withdraw from the deal with Fidesz, “but it seems she has decided otherwise.”

“I have no choice but to report the crime of extortion to the appropriate authorities,” he said.

The politician called what Vogel had done “a huge disappointment” and added that he had loved her very much.

Meanwhile, Magyar “sent a message” to Cabinet Chief Antal Rogán, Kubatov and “their master,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, that “we are not afraid of their Stasi methods, and… whatever mafia methods they use, we will take back our country…”

When asked about their relationship, Magyar said that Vogel was his girlfriend, that he loved her and that he had been supporting her financially since April 2023, even after they were no longer romantically involved.

“(I) wanted to spend my life with her, but when I proposed to her, she suddenly disappeared from my life,” he said.

Magyar said he was under great pressure during the “turbulent period” of the spring and needed someone at his side whom he could trust and who would support him.

“She knew how much stress I was under, but when I really needed her, she wasn’t there for me,” he said.

Magyar noted that it gradually became clear that “she just saw me as an opportunity.”