Antal Rogan is a close ally of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, who has been one of President-Elect Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Europe.
The U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions on senior Hungarian government official Antal Rogan—a close ally of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban.
The Treasury said Rogan was involved in public sector corruption, but did not go into detail.
Bradley T. Smith, the Treasury’s acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement, “Corruption undermines a country’s governing institutions and limits its economic development, providing short-sighted gain to a select few while depriving future generations of longer-term benefit.”
Smith further stated, “The United States will not hesitate to hold accountable individuals, like Rogan, who use the power of their office to illicitly enrich themselves and their cronies at the expense of their country and their fellow citizens.”
Orban has been one of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Europe and the sanctions have been imposed just days before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Hungary is a member of the European Union and NATO but Orban has maintained a good relationship with Russia and President Vladimir Putin and has been critical of the West’s support for Ukraine.
Relations between Hungary and the Biden administration have worsened over the past two years.
In May 2023 Orban publicly declared he wanted Trump to win the election, before President Joe Biden stepped aside as a potential presidential candidate.
The Treasury accused Rogan—who has been close to Orban for decades—of using his role to secure financial benefits for himself and his allies.
Rogan, 52, was elected to parliament in 1998 and has played a key role in the ruling Fidesz Party.
He ran the Hungarian government’s media department and Orban’s election campaigns and currently oversees Hungary’s intelligence services.
Rogan has been sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
The United States passed and signed the Magnitsky Act into law in 2012 to penalize Russian human rights abusers. It is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax adviser who was allegedly tortured to death in 2009 while being held by Russian authorities.
In 2017, the U.S. Congress passed a global version of the Magnitsky Act, which enabled the United States to sanction individuals accused of human rights violations, regardless of their nationality.
Similar legislation has since been passed in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
The Treasury claimed Rogan controlled many government entities, including the Digital Government Agency and the Hungarian Tourism Agency, and has used his role to enrich himself and those loyal to the ruling party.
The Treasury said in its statement, “Public sector corruption in Hungary has been worsening for more than a decade, leading to Hungary receiving the lowest score of any European Union member state on Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index for the second consecutive year.”“Whistleblowers in Hungary have criticized the government for operating a kleptocracy with a notable lack of transparency and equity in public and private expenditure deals made between administrators in Budapest, such as Rogan, and loyalist business leaders,” the Treasury stated.
The Treasury said the sanctions meant that “all property and interests in property” of Rogan in the United States or “in the possession or control of U.S. persons” are blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi wrote on social media platform X, “Rogan created Hungary’s corrupt golden visa scheme, granting poorly vetted Schengen visas mostly to Chinese, Russians, Iranians.”
Panyi added: “Hungary’s unique golden visa scheme … funneled profits to offshore intermediaries tied to Rogan’s associates instead of the state. Mostly unvetted Chinese—15,000 in total—were among the clients paying €300,000 each [$309,000].”
Rogan has not commented on the allegations.
But Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs posted the response of Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on social media platform X, “This is a personal act of revenge by the ambassador sent to Hungary by the failed American administration, who is now leaving unsuccessfully and ingloriously, directed against Antal Rogan.
“How fortunate that in just a few days, the United States will be led by people who see our country as a friend rather than an enemy.”
Kovacs further stated, “The sanctioning of minister Rogan by the U.S. Treasury is the last petty act of revenge by the outgoing, unsuccessful U.S. ambassador to Hungary [David Pressman]. After Jan. 20, the United States will have a new government and a new president. Once they take office, we will take the necessary legal steps.”
Reuters contributed to this report.