Varga Judit, the former justice minister who resigned after the pardon controversy, attended the AI Summit held at the Magyar Zene Háza in Városliget on Monday, according to photographs posted by the Budapest Eye Instagram account. The post shows Varga arriving smiling and notes she appeared comfortable among technology and business representatives.
Link to Tigra Zrt.
In the images from the event, Varga’s entry badge displayed Tigra Zrt. She has served as an international adviser to Tigra Zrt. since September 2024. Reports indicate that Tigra Zrt. has repeatedly won procurement contracts from the Digital Government Agency during the Orbán government.
The pardon controversy and political fallout
Varga Judit’s political career was affected by the scandal that began when former President Novák Katalin granted a pardon to K. Endre, the director of the Bicske children’s home. Varga countersigned the pardon. The affair had major consequences: President Novák Katalin resigned over the matter, and Varga Judit subsequently stepped down from her political positions. After Varga’s departure, her former husband Magyar Péter reappeared in politics.
Why this matters
Varga’s attendance at a high-profile AI conference while identified with a private firm that has been an active contractor for the state raises questions about the intersections between former government officials’ business ties and public procurement. The Instagram photos and the Tigra Zrt. connection are likely to prompt further public scrutiny of relationships between political actors and companies involved in government contracts.
