Hungary opposition leader flags possible illicit video release ahead of election
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FILE PHOTO: Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, waves a Hungarian flag at a rally near the venue of ruling Fidesz party closed doors meeting where Prime Minister Viktor Orban discusses campaign issues with party officials in Kotcse, Hungar
BUDAPEST, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Hungary's opposition leader said on Thursday that individuals linked to the government were preparing to release an illicit video of him in an intimate situation with his former girlfriend in an attempt to discredit him ahead of elections due in April.
Peter Magyar, leader of the centre-right opposition Tisza party which leads Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz in most polls, said in a video on his Facebook page he believed he was targeted by Orban's camp with a Russian-style smear campaign.
Orban's government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs did not respond to emailed Reuters questions on Thursday.
Magyar, 44, a divorced father of three, released the video statement after media reports drew attention to a website that hinted at an impending revelation about an illicit incident.
The site carried a camera shot of a room and a double bed, and later posted "Coming soon" and the date August 3, 2024, which Magyar said was the date of a party where he had consensual sex with his former girlfriend. He had divorced the year before.
No further content had been posted on the website as of Thursday evening and Reuters could not verify who set it up or where any video or other information may be released.
Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas, asked about the website on Thursday, told reporters: "I cannot comment on something that I know nothing about."
Magyar said in the Facebook video he had committed no wrongdoing.
"It became clear to me that I had walked into a classic Russian-style kompromat but as I have not done anything illegal, my conscience is clear," he said.
"I will not allow Viktor Orban and his people to divert attention from reality for weeks with a hoax."
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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