Speculation is abuzz in Hungary after Prime Minister Victor Orban was spotted taking a cheap flight from Milan to Budapest. Some call it an obvious publicity stunt meant to show the PM’s humble habits.
Orban was photographed while returning from Italy on Monday evening. According to Heti Világgazdaság weekly, he was traveling with two of his daughters on a Wizz Air flight, a Hungarian low-cost airline. He read from a tablet device while waiting for boarding and reportedly paid for food in-flight.
The prime minister didn’t have his security detail with him on the trip, the report says, although plainclothes Italian police officers may have been present at the Milan airport. In Budapest Orban boarded a minivan and left instead of using public transportation.
The newspaper, however, voiced skepticism over Orban’s travel arrangements, saying it looked like a publicity stunt. The Hungarian leader has been criticized for his regular use of private jets owned by wealthy businessmen as well as Hungarian military aircraft to travel around.
Heti Világgazdaság cited a photo posted on Orban’s Facebook account last week – in which he is shown eating a plain sausage and bun for breakfast in Hungarian parliament – as more “evidence” of a media spin in action.
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