Antal Rogán, the minister heading Viktor Orbán’s Cabinet Office, was sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under the Global Magnitsky Act, for schemes designed to enrich “himself and his party at the expense of the Hungarian people.”  

The decision to impose Magnitsky measures against a serving senior minister in a NATO ally’s government is unprecedented. The decision could be reversed by the next administration, but that will not be easy. 

The 52-year-old is listed by Hungary’s investigative nonprofit Átlátszó as one of the country’s 100 wealthiest people and as its third-most influential. He has featured in a number of alleged scandals, including the sale of residency permits valid for the EU Schengen zone.  

Rogán had helped build a “kleptocratic ecosystem,” the US said. “It is no accident that when one peruses the list of Hungary’s richest, hovering near the top are the family and friends of the leaders of Hungary’s government,” according to Pressman. “Antal Rogán is a primary architect, implementer, and beneficiary of this system of corruption.” 

He denies any wrongdoing and together with allies described the January 7 US decision as politically motivated. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto responded: “This is the personal revenge of the ambassador who was sent to Hungary by the failed US administration . . . How good it is that in a few days’ time the United States will be led by people who see our country as a friend and not as an enemy.” 

Calling Rogán a key figure in the ruling party is no overstatement. He is not only in charge of Orbán’s Cabinet Office, and hence leads the government’s back office, but his portfolio has grown enormously over the years.  

Currently, he directs governmental communications, including content as well as overseeing related tenders (this is why he is often referred to as the “propaganda minister”), the protocol around the premier’s travels abroad (think about Orbán’s Moscow trip right before the NATO-summit in July), civilian intelligence services (the National Information Center), national security oversight (Office of the Defense Administration), personal data and address registration, the regulation of Hungarian citizens’ travel abroad, the issuance of passports, digital citizenship, and the list goes on.  

Worries about the potential political use of intelligence services have surfaced, especially given their past behavior in using Pegasus spyware to eavesdrop on opposition figures and journalists, a scandal revealed before Rogán became the head of intelligence services. 

Among others, his name was tied to the residency-bond business scandal, with the help of which about 20,000 third-country citizens were able to buy themselves a Hungarian-issued Schengen Zone permit. Beneficiaries included prominent members of Russia’s elite, such as family members of the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR.) After that program was ended, a highly similar golden visa program was relaunched in 2024. His has also been linked to business relations with China. 

The minister will not only have his US assets frozen. Anyone who serves or cooperates with him can also be sanctioned. This is one major reason why US Magnitsky sanctions are so effective; the exact rules of implementation are not public, and potential business partners and counterparties cannot know exactly when they would be in trouble as a result of secondary and tertiary sanctions.  

The Hungarian government and the centralized government-controlled media reacted in unison, framing the incident as a personal, petty political vendetta by the long-demonized Ambassador Pressman, who they argue is trying to harm the Hungarian government before he leaves. The narrative suggests all this will change with the inauguration of President Trump, and that Rogán will be immediately taken off the list.  

This is far from certain. The President can revoke a Magnitsky order but only for clearly defined reasons. Those might well be hard to argue in Rogán’s case. It could be that Trump will lift the designation for “national security reasons”, which is allowed, but equally, that would likely spark a lively debate with members of Congress from both parties opposed to the behavior of the Orbán government. 

Five Republican Senators visited Hungary in October and expressed “increasing concern” about the country’s relationship with the Putin regime. 

“There is no political guarantee that Donald Trump will not decide to remove Antal Rogán from the sanctions list, but as a new president, it could be embarrassing for him to start his term by reaching over the head of the state apparatus on this issue,” said Miklós Ligeti, Legal Director of Transparency International Hungary. 

There are easier ways for Trump to signal warm feelings for the Hungarian government. He has a wide choice because the deterioration of US-Hungarian political relations in recent years has brought tangible disadvantages to Hungarian citizens and the business sector. Examples include the US cancelation of the double taxation treaty and the tightening of entry restrictions for Hungarian citizens.  

Rogán faces another problem. Whatever his relations to Russia, he also has ties to China — Hungary has offered itself as a welcoming home for Chinese capital inside the EU at a time when relations with the bloc have been cooling.  

That may be the bigger question for the Orbán government. Rogán is not simply rich and powerful, he is a symbol of the intimate relationship between the Hungarian administration and a business sector that’s made big bets on Russia and China. 

That means Trump and his aides may require a quid pro quo. If so, the question arises, can Hungary continue to maintain its pro-China strategy? 

Dorka Takácsy is a researcher, focusing on disinformation and propaganda in Central-Eastern Europe and Russia. She is a visiting fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and a research fellow at the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy. She is also pursuing a PhD at the Corvinus University of Budapest, researching Russian domestic disinformation about the West. 

Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.

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