Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Marine Le Pen received loan from Hungarian bank with ties to Viktor Orban

Marine Le Pen received loan from Hungarian bank with ties to Viktor Orban

French lenders have been reluctant to finance far-right candidate’s campaigns
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen received a €10.7mn personal loan for her campaign from Hungary’s state-backed MKB Bank, whose largest shareholder is a close associate of premier Viktor Orban

The loan was declared on a disclosure form that French candidates must file with the elections regulator about their personal assets and debts, which was published online on Tuesday.

Unlike other French political parties, Le Pen’s National Rally has long had difficulty financing campaigns because French banks will not lend to it out of concerns over reputational risk. The party worked with the government mediator on credit last year to try to remedy the situation, but failed to secure a loan in France.

“It’s scandalous that French banks will not lend to us,” Thierry Mariani, a member of the European parliament for the National Rally party, said last month. “We had to go abroad to find funds.”

According to two sources familiar with the matter, the decision to ask MKB to extend the loan to Le Pen came from Orban’s inner circle — signalling a high level of direct political influence at the bank. MKB has been about one-third state owned since a complex merger announced last year.

Asked about political influence over the decision, Orban’s spokesman Bertalan Havasi said: “That is fake news.” A bank spokesman declined to comment on the lending rationale.

The loan is listed on the disclosure form as having a term length of 16 months. Le Pen would likely be able to pay it back once her campaign costs are reimbursed by the state, which will occur as long as she clears 5 per cent of votes in the first round and files accounts with the regulator.

Gergely Gulyas, Orban’s chief of staff, was asked about the loan in February when French media reported that Le Pen had secured financing from a Hungarian bank.

“It is probably a good deal for any bank of the EU to issue credit which it is guaranteed to recover soon,” Gulyas said. “The freedom of services is a fundamental right in the EU.”

The National Bank of Hungary, which acts as the market regulator in Budapest, said a loan to a foreign political party or candidate would not contravene any local regulations. But several bankers said they saw the loan as problematic because of the political exposure.

Le Pen has long courted Orban and other populist or far-right leaders in Europe as they push their ideas about cutting immigration, protecting national identity, and opposing what they call power grabs by Brussels.

Le Pen has made multiple trips to Hungary in recent years, and met Orban in Madrid in January at a summit of far-right and populist parties. At her first big campaign rally in Reims last month, Orban appeared in a video message of support along others like Italy’s Matteo Salvini and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders.

“Marine Le Pen is a battle-hardened warrior,” said Orban in the video. “I wish her good luck in this combat for France!”

In 2014, Le Pen’s party turned to banks in Russia ahead of regional elections for a €9.4mn loan, some of which is still outstanding. In 2017 it used crowdfunding from supporters after banks closed its accounts in what Le Pen called a “banking fatwa”.

Orban, a nationalist who like Le Pen also faces elections in April, has helped strengthen Hungary’s banking sector, with a key role played by MKB owner Lorinc Meszaros, his childhood friend and the country’s richest tycoon.

Meszaros — a former pipe fitter who has openly attributed his rise to “God, good fortune and Viktor Orban” — controls a business empire that includes several banks, construction, tourism, energy and media companies in Hungary and central-eastern Europe.

He has relied heavily on state procurement. But fears over inadequate safeguards for EU-funded contracts has prompted Brussels to threaten Budapest with the suspension of funds.

While President Emmanuel Macron is favoured to win re-election in France’s two-round vote that begins April 10, Le Pen is well positioned to make the run-off against him, setting up a repeat of the 2017 election.

She is running second in the polls, with 16.6 per cent of first round voting intentions, according to the Financial Times poll tracker, while her far-right rival Eric Zemmour is on 12.9 per cent, leftwing Jean-Luc Mélenchon on 12 per cent, and conservative Valérie Pécresse on 11.8 per cent.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
×