The European Anti-Fraud Office investigates the left-wing fake video

It is unequivocally illegal for a European Parliament (EP) employee to use EP funds for domestic or party-related political purposes – warned István Hollik. Mr. Hollik, the Fidesz communications director, was referring to the left-wing, fake video that was produced by MSZP (The Hungarian Socialist Party) and István Ujhelyi’s assistant, a former journalist for the Népszabadság newspaper.

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The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is investigating the left-wing hoax video for abuse of European Union fund – said István Hollik, the Fidesz communications director, during Saturday’s press conference. The politician elaborated: the outrageous video sparked OLAF’s interest because, according to the accusations, the left abused EU money in the making of the video.

- One of the creators of the video was employed by the EP, paid with EU funds. He was a former Népszabadság (a left-leaning daily newspaper closed in 2016) journalist and the current assistant of MSZP and István Ujhelyi (MSZP member of the EP) – pointed out Mr. Hollik. He emphasized that from here on, this constitutes a serious case of financial abuse: an assistant paid by the EP is solely allowed to work on matters related to the EP.

- And it is unequivocally illegal – he continued – for a European Parliament employee to use European Parliament funds for domestic or party-related purposes.

- And this is exactly what happened here: Mr. Ujhelyi’s EP assistant created a video commissioned by MSZP for political, party-related reasons. Moreover, it was a fake video, specifically made to spread fake news, said Mr. Hollik. Furthermore, he suggests that Mr. Ujhelyi’s responsibility in this case is the real question, given that an assistant works to fulfill the demands of his boss.

- In other words, Mr. Ujhelyi should have known, as an EP representative, that he cannot order tasks related to party politics, noted Mr. Hollik.

Mr. Hollik outlined the incident: MSZP created the outrageous video with the notorious woman who falsely claimed to be a paramedic. Subsequently, the entire left-wing and left-leaning media realm – even from abroad – referred to that video in attacking the state of affairs in Hungary. The left clearly intended the video for campaigning and as a political attack; the aim was to rally against the government and discredit the professionals who were fighting against the epidemic-emphasized Mr. Hollik. He added that the video was quickly duped here in Hungary, and it caught the attention of investigatory authorities who initiated inquiries due to the scaremongering. In the video which has since been removed, Lajos Korózs, socialist MP and president of the National welfare committee, spoke with a woman claiming to be a paramedic about the apparent deaths of those infected with the virus in the wake of the hospital epidemic preparations. It was soon discovered that this woman, Athina Németh, does not work for either the state ambulance service or a private one-in fact, her name does not appear in any public register of health professionals. It was later discovered that Ms. Németh’s twin brother, Károly Németh, stated that the coronavirus test-machines he sold were praised by both the government and experts in the news portal, Hírklikk.

Hírklikk, closely aligned with DK (Democratic Coalition), raised the bar for producing fake news in mid-July.

They portrayed a photo of the Prime Minister alongside quote that he never even uttered. The article related to this image was a fake interview with Viktor Orbán.