Hungarian Foreign Ministry reports significant reduction in travel costs

Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán announced a substantial decrease in ministry travel expenditures compared to previous years. According to data shared by the minister, the average cost of a foreign trip has dropped from over 25.9 million forints under former Minister Péter Szijjártó to less than 2.7 million forints.

Between May and October 2025, the ministry spent over 960 million forints on 37 trips. In contrast, during the same period in 2026, 23 trips were completed for less than 63 million forints. To achieve these savings, the ministry is moving away from using private chartered aircraft for ministerial delegations, a move expected to save approximately 1.2 billion forints in domestic operational costs.

As part of the 2027 budget preparations, the ministry is also reducing spending on public diplomacy programs and development portfolios by 30 percent, though the minister stated that no programs will be canceled. The Fidesz party responded to the announcement by noting that ministerial performance should be evaluated not only by expenditure reductions but also by the economic results generated by these international visits.