Hungarian Citizenship Sold to Canadians under Previous Gov't

Hungarian citizenship was sold to Canadians for tens of thousands of dollars with the knowledge and support of leading Hungarian politicians during the previous government, György László Velkey, state secretary at the foreign ministry, said on Facebook on Tuesday, outlining the findings of an investigation conducted by his office.

Velkey announced last Friday that an internal investigation would be launched into citizenship applications, as many people had been granted Hungarian citizenship in recent years without valid grounds or eligibility.

György László Velkey said in his later post that Hungarian citizenship had been granted for tens of thousands of dollars to Canadians who did not meet the necessary criteria. He added that former Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén had indicated on several occasions to the leaders of diaspora organizations that he expressly supported such naturalisation procedures "carried out in the national interest".

"It was on the basis of his letters of support that diplomatic missions accepted the applications, and with his backing, an entire institutional network was established to pave the way to Hungarian citizenship for people who have no genuine ties to Hungary … but have tens of thousands of Canadian dollars at their disposal to facilitate their European travels and business dealings with a Hungarian passport," György László Velkey said.

A Canadian private company managed the applicants for a fee, he said, adding that the fees charged by intermediaries for naturalisations based on national interest could be as high as CAD 30,000 to 40,000, or even 50,000 for Canadians.

He added that it was likely that the Canadian case was not unique, and similar business models had presumably been established in numerous other countries as well, with the involvement of government employees and with the knowledge of the highest political leadership.

Velkey promised to investigate these matters, saying that they would review the possibility of revoking the citizenships in question. In addition, he announced that immediate measures would be taken to eliminate and investigate such practices.