Hungary prosecutor general to resign after pressure from prime minister

Hungary's prosecutor general Gabor Balint Nagy said Wednesday that he would step down after pressure from Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who had called him a "puppet" of former nationalist leader Viktor Orban.

Nagy, who was appointed last year under Orban, said in a statement that he was resigning only to protect the interests of the prosecutorial service. He said the work and independence of the prosecutor's office must not be damaged by what he described as politically motivated disputes around the prosecutor general.

Nagy also said attacks against him had gone beyond acceptable professional and public debate. He said it sent an extremely negative message that some public figures had called for his removal because criminal proceedings were not developing as they wanted.

Magyar welcomed the resignation, which will take effect in late August. In a Facebook post, he said the country had removed another Orban-linked official who he said had obstructed a transition to democracy. He also asked who would be next.

Since defeating Orban in April elections, Magyar has sought to remove several senior officials. Former president Tamas Sulyok was removed by a constitutional amendment on Sunday. Orban's Fidesz party has accused Magyar of acting autocratically, a charge that had also been made against Orban during his time in office.

The prosecutor general's announcement came a day after a data centre hosting Fidesz servers was raided over corruption allegations.

Nagy was appointed last year for a nine-year term. He had earlier served as chief of staff to his predecessor, Peter Polt, an ally of Orban. Polt has left the prosecution service to head the constitutional court, but his term there will end early because of the same constitutional amendment that removed Sulyok.

Nagy has faced criticism over a slow corruption investigation into foundations linked to Hungary's central bank that were set up under former governor Gyorgy Matolcsy, another Orban ally. Last year, the State Audit Office found irregularities and financial losses at the bank amounting to hundreds of millions of euros, but no charges have been brought.

Nagy has also been criticised over his alleged role in the detention of Ukrainian bank employees who were transporting large amounts of cash and gold through Hungary, a case that led to a diplomatic dispute between Hungary and Ukraine. In June, a senior prosecutor resigned because of professional differences with Nagy's office over the handling of that investigation.