“Filthy Fidesz”: Nearly 1,000 protestors mock Orbán’s luxurious estate

Nearly a thousand Hungarians organized a “safari tour” protest outside a luxurious estate associated with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s family, satirizing alleged corruption with zebra costumes and placards reading “Filthy Fidesz.” The estate is adjacent to a property owned by Orbán’s close friend, who, among other extravagances, maintains a private zoo.

The European Democrats, a centrist political group in Brussels, mocked Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after images of anti-corruption protesters dressed as zebras outside a luxurious estate linked to his family went viral.

Nearly a thousand people participated in the so-called “safari tour” over the weekend at Hatvanpuszta, a historic manor in central Hungary that has been transformed into a sprawling compound, which critics argue exemplifies corruption and impunity under Orbán’s administration.

The estate is located just a few kilometers from Orbán’s hometown of Felcsút, in an area dominated by properties associated with his wife and his childhood friend Lőrinc Mészáros, a billionaire who reportedly owns a private zoo with zebras and antelopes.

“Zebras in Budapest? With Orbán, anything goes,” the European Democrats wrote on X. While Hungary is experiencing economic stagnation, the group noted, police “waste their time guarding exotic animals instead of protecting people.” It added: “Luxury for the few, humiliation for the many. Time for Orbán to step aside… preferably on a safari far, far away.”

Once a neglected 19th-century Habsburg property, Hatvanpuszta was purchased by Orbán’s father in 2011 and has since been redeveloped into a complex with a library, guesthouse, swimming pool, and rumored underground tunnels, according to local media. Security guards observed Saturday’s protest but did not intervene as demonstrators carried placards reading “Filthy Fidesz” and posed in zebra costumes.

Orbán has dismissed criticism of the estate, describing it as a “half-finished farm” unrelated to him. However, leaked documents, drone footage, and testimony from workers have cast doubt on that claim.

“Hatvanpuszta is not a farm; it is a monument to lies, corruption, and the arrogance of power,” the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, quoted independent MP Ákos Hadházy, a former Fidesz member and one of Orbán’s fiercest critics. Leading the protest, he invited demonstrators to climb ladders and peer over the estate’s high walls, vowing to organize further rallies and release new evidence about the site.

With Hungary under increasing EU scrutiny over rule-of-law concerns, Hatvanpuszta has become both a focal point for anti-corruption activists and a symbol of growing frustration with Orbán’s government.