Hungarian court still hesitates on international warrants for Matolcsy and Stofa

The Central Prosecutor's Office filed a request last week for European and international arrest warrants targeting Matolcsy Ádám and Stofa György, two suspects in the MNB corruption probe. The Budapest Court of First Instance must decide whether to grant the warrants, and so far it has only kept the domestic warrant in force. Because the international warrant has not been issued, the suspects can move outside Hungary without immediate risk of arrest, although a national warrant would trigger police alerts at border checks.

A spokesperson said a ruling is anticipated soon; if approved, the order will be sent to the Justice Ministry and the International Criminal Cooperation Centre for inclusion in global databases. The case stems from alleged asset-shuffling involving the PADME Foundation, Optima Befektetési Zrt., and a private equity fund linked to former central-bank officials, which prosecutors say caused hundreds of millions of forints in losses.