The same company received a commission following the Center for Fundamental Rights’ purchase of a villa worth billions, and paid a success fee of 50 million forints plus VAT to the company owned by a former Fidesz state secretary.
As the media landscape, political environment, and audience habits have changed, Átlátszó has also evolved — but its core mission has not.
A former tabloid journalist, Ágnes Forgács worked for Ripost, an outlet that combined tabloid methods with intelligence material likely coming from government sources for political goals.
We understand that the Tisza Party intends to offer "Buddha" an important position in the Ministry of the Interior, but they have not responded to our questions regarding his past.
The government has not only stoked anti-refugee sentiment but has also linked existing anti-Roma prejudices to this new enemy stereotype.
Tisza was not their first assignment: for years, they have been working against the political opposition using illegal, secret service methods.
Átlátszó obtained photos of Lajos Kósa behind the wheel of a Ferrari owned by Gábor Szilágyi, and other materials connecting the Fidesz politician to the bankrupt Bászna Gabona Zrt.
"By 2022, nearly all independent outlets were exiled or banned. Overnight, we became criminals." Interview with Taisia Bekbulatova.
The government campaign to introduce the foreign agent law shows how 21st-century authoritarianism works.
The opposition TISZA Party claims that the database did not come from their servers, but volunteers on the lists confirmed to Átlátszó that they signed contracts with the party.
The proceedings are not only about the reputation of our newspaper, but also about all independent media and civil society organizations in Hungary, which are threatened to be blacklisted and made impossible with the so-called “transparency” bill.
