Following the publishing of OLAF's 2022 report, the public prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday said that an investigation follows all judicial recommendations made by the European Union’s anti-corruption body OLAF to Hungary.
Making reference to the report published on Tuesday, the office said in a statement that Hungarian authorities brought charges in 75% of the cases initiated by OLAF between 2018 and 2022, more than twice the EU average of 34%. Although it has no legal obligation to do so, the Hungarian public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation on each judicial recommendation, the office said. Several of the recommended cases were already being investigated at the time of the recommendation, it said. OLAF last year published 8 judicial recommendations on Hungary, three out of which an investigation was ordered by the prosecutor. In the other five cases, the recommendation and the final report containing findings were evaluated over the course of the ongoing investigation. The Hungarian public prosecutor’s office and OLAF signed a cooperation agreement in February 2022, cementing “an already excellent working relationship”, the statement said. The prosecutor’s office and OLAF work in close cooperation with regular meetings held on the level of leaders and experts as well, the statement said. OLAF publishes judicial, disciplinary and financial recommendations as part of its role to review administrative irregularities in member states’ handling of EU monies. OLAF does not define criminal activity and does not collect evidence, the office said.