After Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Janos Lazar is one of the most recognizable politicians in Hungary. In fact, the construction and transpor minister, who regularly makes headlines with racist and belittling attacks on minorities and poor people, is one of the few recognizable politicians within Orban's Fidesz party. He is still remembered for saying years ago that "those who have nothing are worth exactly that."
Lazar, who is said to be keen to replace Orban one day, has now created the biggest scandal yet in Hungary's 2026 election campaign. On January 22, Lazar told residents of the town of Balatonalmadi, just outside the capital, Budapest, that he does not consider immigration to be the solution to Hungary's labor shortage.
"If someone has to scrub the toilets on our Intercity trains — because Hungarian voters aren't exactly lining up to to clean the crap out of overflowing toilets — then we have to turn to our domestic reserves," Lazar said, before using an offensive term for Roma. "And our domestic reserves are the Hungarian Gypsies."
Social media exploded with angry and sarcastic posts from Roma. The opposition vehemently denounced Lazar's comments. Political scientist Daniel Rona said Lazar's speech was the "most meaningful communications misstep by the government" in a long time.
Officially, about 300,000 Roma live in Hungary, or 3% of the population. Estimates, however, suggest that the actual number of Roma in Hungary may be as high as 800,000.
On social media, Roma are asking whether the minister even sees them as Hungarians and voters. Many reject Orban and Lazar's Fidesz party as "dirty crooks." In a now-viral Facebook post, a 12-year-old girl looks into the camera and says: "I'm not studying so that I can scrub toilets." Then, speaking in Romani, she asks Lazar, "Do you understand?!"
The internationally known Hungarian teacher Janos Orsos told Lazar to "hop on a train with a toilet brush and look at the crap that you've been giving us, and, after you've seen it, you can get rid of it and yourself" — a reference to the chronic delays and technical problems that plague the passenger rail system, which is under the transportation minister's purview.
Hungary's most prominent opposition politician and public figure hammered Lazar's comments. Peter Magyar, the head of the Tisza party, which is favored to win the most votes the country's parliamentary elections on April 12, said: "Janos Lazar transcends all boundaries. He says the only thing Roma are good for is cleaning toilets, while he steals the country blind from the comfort of his millionaire's castle" — a reference to the transportation minister's luxury villa.
Jeno Kaltenbach, Hungary's former ombudsman for minorities, said it would seem "incompatible with civilized democracy" that someone making "such vulgar comments could remain in politics."
Romani politicians with close ties to Fidesz were cautiously critical of Lazar's statement. The leadership of the National Self-Government of Hungarian Roma (MROO) called on Lazar to "correct his statement" and clarify that Roma are "partners with the government" and not some "stigmatized group." Initially silent on the matter, Hungary's government commissioner for Roma affairs, Attila Sztoyka, eventually said that, rather than refer questions to him, reporters should seek out the person who "made a mistake and uttered such injurious words."
At first, Lazar rejected criticism from opposition politicians and Roma, calling it "typical liberal virtue signaling." By Saturday, however, he was forced to walk back his comments while speaking at a Fidesz campaign event. "I want to apologize to my Hungarian compatriots in the Roma community who felt injured by these words," he said. "I am really sorry," he added.
Hungary child abuse scandal brings calls for Orban to resign
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Racist Fidesz statements
TL;DR: Lazar has previously used the topic of migration to make racist comments about Roma.
Lazar has previously used the topic of migration to make racist comments about Roma. "We've been living with Gypsies for 600 years," Lazar said at a March 2018 campaign event, "and we still haven't been able to integrate them."
Orban has also repeatedly been criticized for racism toward Roma. In 2012, while speaking at a Roma conference, he announced his government's "new Roma policy" in which everyone would have to work, adding: "You cannot live from crime."
In 2020, he criticized a court decision that awarded Roma from the village of Gyongyospata damages because for years they had been forced to sit and study separately from other schoolchildren. "How can it be," Orban said, "that an ethnically defined minority can get such a substantial amount of money for doing nothing?" Orban said Hungarians would never accept the idea of "money for nothing."
Hungary's Roma policies
TL;DR: They have little opportunity for education and frequently depend on community employment programs — because only people who work can receive welfare assistance.
There is a long legacy of racism against Roma in Hungary. Many Hungarian Roma live in precarious circumstances. They have little opportunity for education and frequently depend on community employment programs — because only people who work can receive welfare assistance. Public assistance is controlled by local mayors and Roma councils, most of which have ties to Fidesz.
A significant number of Roma voted for Orban's Fidesz party in the 2022 elections. Lazar's words could trigger a backlash among Roma voters. In a recent commentary published via the newsportal Telex, the political scientist Rona wrote that Fidesz could not win the April 12 election without support from a large majority of Roma.
On Saturday, at the very campaign event at which Lazar had just apologized, Orban took the opportunity to tell a joke about a "Gypsy" who tricks a Hungarian into buying a blind horse. The Roma Press Center in Budapest called Orban's "joke" a perpetuation of the "most-popular stereotypes about Roma."
"First one person takes the stage at a Fidesz event to apologize for making degrading anti-Roma comments," the Roma Press Center wrote, "and then another tries to lighten the mood by telling a joke about Gypsies."
This article was translated from German by Jon Shelton.
Curated by Sofia Andersson
