Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s former foreign minister who is now an executive at the Chinese carmaker BYD, arrived at a closed parliamentary hearing on October 5 saying there had been “serious misunderstandings” over the company’s investment in Hungary.
The National Security Committee questioned him for around three hours over whether his appointment at BYD posed a national security risk. The hearing was closed to the public and media.
Szijjártó had served as foreign minister for 12 years under Viktor Orbán, and led negotiations that secured BYD’s agreement to build its first European factory near Szeged in southern Hungary.
BYD, a Chinese company and the world’s top electric carmaker, received 20 billion forints in government assistance for the factory.
At the hearing, Szijjártó defended the project, saying: “I consider it a great success that this factory came to Hungary.” He said the scale of state support was “absolutely standard in scale” for investments of this magnitude, and rejected claims that BYD had received unusually favourable treatment from the former government.
Orbán’s Fidesz–KDNP government lost the 12 April election after 16 years in power. Péter Magyar became prime minister in May.
On 15 July, Szijjártó resigned his parliamentary mandate to become a senior BYD executive responsible for external relations and the development of new business lines. His move came three months after the election.
That same month, Magyar told lawmakers that Szijjártó had helped BYD “with hundreds of billions (of forints) in public money, diplomatic support and state infrastructure.” Magyar’s government said it would investigate “all the decisions, negotiations and state commitments” made by Szijjártó in relation to the investment.
On September 16, the National Security Committee decided to open its own investigation into Szijjártó’s position at BYD. Members of the Tisza Party said important questions remained after the October hearing, and the committee kept open the possibility of calling Orbán to testify.
After the hearing, Szijjártó said that, as a leader of an international company, he could not comment on domestic political matters. He also said investment promotion had been among the most successful areas of government work in recent years.
In 2025, Szijjártó announced that BYD would place its European headquarters and a research and development center in Budapest. Since taking office, Magyar’s government has also promised greater regulation and tighter oversight of battery production after workplace accidents and contamination findings at several plants.
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