The US imposes sanctions on Antal Rogan, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Orban

The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Antal Rogan, the Hungarian government’s chief of staff, for his involvement in corruption. The Ministry of Finance published the report on its website on January 7, 2025.

The report calls Rogan a high-ranking Hungarian government official who plays a key role in the government of Prime Minister Orban.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Rogan controls many government agencies, including the National Communications Office, the Digital Government Agency, and the Hungarian Tourism Agency.

“Throughout his tenure as a government official, Rogan has directed the Hungarian system of distributing government contracts and resources among friends loyal to him and the Fidesz political party,” the Treasury Department writes.

According to the United States, Rogan used schemes to take control of several strategic sectors of the Hungarian economy and directed the revenues from these sectors to himself or to reward members of the political party loyal to him.

In November 2023, the Hungarian think tank Political Capital, with the support of the American National Endowment for Democracy, published a report on the impact of the Orban regime on discourse in Hungarian communities in Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia.

The document mentions the monopoly of the media space in Hungary, and Antal Rogan, the chief of staff of Prime Minister Orban, controls 80% of the Hungarian media market.

At his behest, the researchers write, “The government-controlled media empire  carpet bombs public discourse through massive and ongoing campaigns.”

“Corruption undermines a country’s governing institutions and limits its economic development, providing short-sighted gain to a select few while depriving future generations of longer-term benefit. The United States will not hesitate to hold accountable individuals, like Rogan, who use the power of their office to illicitly enrich themselves and their cronies at the expense of their country and their fellow citizens,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.

The report says that corruption in Hungary’s public sector has been worsening for more than a decade.

“This has resulted in Hungary receiving the lowest score of any EU member state in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2023 for the second year in a row.”

The United States reminds us that the EU has suspended funding to Hungary due to concerns about violations of the rule of law, in particular in public procurement, anti-corruption, and conflicts of interest.

The US sanctions against Rogan include the blocking of all his property located in the US or controlled by US persons.

Any organizations owned by the sanctioned person at 50 percent or more are also blocked. Financial institutions and other entities that cooperate with Rogan or conduct transactions with his property may also be subject to sanctions.

The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption worldwide. The sanctions freeze all property Rogan holds within U.S. jurisdiction and ban any dealings with him by a U.S. national.