The head of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs attacks the opposition leader. “I won't tolerate this”
On Tuesday, Peter Szijjarto accused Peter Magyar of public defamation and blatant lies in connection with the case of poisoning of employees of the Samsung factory in God, which was publicized the day before by Telex.
The head of Hungarian diplomacy said in the Truth Hour podcast that Peter Magyar “crossed a certain line.” – I won't tolerate this. I am filing a report and we will see whether Magyar will take responsibility like a man or hide behind the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the chairman of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber, invoking the immunity of Brussels to avoid responsibility, he said.
The Hungarian minister also announced legal action against the Telex service for conducting a “mass disinformation campaign”.
What happened to the Samsung factory workers?
What accusations did Peter Magyar make?
What did Peter Szijjarto accuse the opposition leader?
What actions did Minister Szijjarto take against the Telex service?
The leader of the Hungarian opposition calls for his resignation. Serious accusations
On Monday night, Peter Magyar called in a video posted on Facebook for the resignation of Peter Szijjarto and all members of the government who knew about the poisoning and pollution case at the Samsung factory. — He personally lobbied for the plant not to be closed, even though the pollution level was hundreds of times higher than permissible standards, said the leader of the opposition TISHA party.
—Peter Szijjarto held monthly meetings with Yi Hyun Chang, then president of Samsung SDI. How big do you think the bags of money they received were for keeping the factory from closing or for securing environmental permits for Samsung in a matter of minutes? he asked.
Irregularities at the Samsung factory near Budapest. “The company knew”
A Telex investigation revealed that Samsung's factory in God, near Budapest, failed to take appropriate measures to protect its workers from airborne carcinogenic cathode materials. According to Telex, the company was helped by contacts with the government, thanks to which the matter was swept under the carpet.
In 2001, during the first government of Viktor Orban, a South Korean company began producing CRT screens, plasma TV panels and mobile phone displays in God. Problems began to be reported only when production was switched to batteries and its scale was increased – described Telex journalists, who refer to conversations with factory employees and documents collected during the investigation.
“Safety checks showed that the company knew since at least 2021 that its air purification system was insufficient and took no action. Sources claim that this was due to the fact that the investment was supported by influential members of the government, including Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. As a result, although the plant could have been closed in spring 2023 due to repeated and serious violations of safety regulations and misleading the Hungarian authorities, it did not happen to any action other than a fine of 10 million forints [ok. 110 tys. zł] – we read in the article.
