Orbán's challenger

Scandal: Top Politician Takes Drug Test in Vienna

Orbán’s challenger Péter Magyar is having his hair tested for drugs by a Vienna-based doctor. Shortly before the election, he wants to put an end to drug rumors surrounding a sex video featuring his then-girlfriend.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Magyar Peter/X/Screenshot, Attila Kisbenedek, Krone KREATIV)

Sex, drugs, video—in the scandal surrounding racy footage from an apartment in Budapest, Orbán’s challenger Péter Magyar is going on the offensive. The Hungarian opposition leader and potential new prime minister of our neighboring country submitted a hair sample for a drug test at a medical center in Vienna.

On April 12, around 8.3 million Hungarians will decide the future course of the country in Europe and toward Russia in the parliamentary election. Viktor Orbán has governed our neighboring country continuously since 2010, making him the longest-serving prime minister there. For the first time, however, things could now get tight for the power-hungry politician. Opposition leader Péter Magyar is considered a promising challenger and is actually leading in all polls.

He wants to dethrone his former idol
The 45-year-old broke with Orbán’s Fidesz party two years ago and could dethrone his former idol after 16 years. In the final stretch, the campaign is certainly getting dirtier. In February, Magyar went public with the fact that he was being blackmailed with a (not yet released) sex tape—and filed a police report.  “I will not allow myself to be blackmailed or threatened!”

The racy footage, shot in a Budapest apartment, involves not only physical intimacy with his then-girlfriend but also suspected drug use. Cocaine was reportedly found on the living room table, which later allegedly made its way to the nightstand in the bedroom.

Drug abuse six months ago can be proven
Now the top politician is going on the offensive. On Sunday, he had himself filmed for a nearly four-minute promotional video in and around a medical center on Vienna’s famous gourmet street at the Naschmarkt. He also posted it on his social media.

The controversial visit involved a medically supervised drug test. By submitting a hair sample, Péter Magyar aims to prove he has not consumed any drugs or other intoxicating substances and to clear up—as he puts it—"Russian methods." The evidence, by the way, goes back six months. The Hungarian top politician plans to publish the results before the election this coming Sunday in two weeks.