Hungary moves to establish National Asset Recovery Office

The Hungarian government is advancing a law to create the National Asset Recovery and Defence Office (NVVH), which will have broad powers to investigate public‑fund mismanagement, access bank accounts, official documents and cooperate with police, prosecutors and the tax authority. The draft law is open for public comment until 5 July and aims to recover assets misused by former officials, including those linked to EU funding.

Transparency International Hungary legal director Miklós Ligeti welcomed the move to reclaim founder rights of public‑asset foundations, calling it a step in the right direction while warning that the new office cannot instantly rebuild public administration. He emphasized that the legal, not political, significance of founder rights should not be overstated.

Legal scholars compare the NVVH to a similar Philippine body created after the Marcos regime, which recovered about $4 billion of ill‑gotten assets. The comparison raises questions about the applicability of the Filipino model to Hungary’s political context and the broader debate over whether the past 16 years constitute a democracy or an electoral autocracy.