Pressman leaves Budapest next week, after two and a half years spent as an unusually active diplomat, travelling the country and frequently criticising the Orban government. His d

Accusations of corruption and cronyism have dogged Prime Minister Viktor Orban since he came to power in 2010, while Budapest's relations with Washington have become increasingly strained during the presidency of Joe Biden, due in part to Budapest's warm ties with Moscow despite the war in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, a top Hungarian government official and adviser to Prime Minister Viktor Orban was sanctioned for alleged corrupt activity by the United States, according to the U.S. Department of State.

The US has placed Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff under sanctions for alleged corruption, the highest-ranking Hungarian official to be blacklisted since the fall of Communism. Antal Rogán, a longtime ally of the Hungarian prime minister overseeing state-owned media and part of the intelligence services,

The US sanctioned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s influential cabinet chief for his alleged role in corruption, just days before Orban’s ally Donald Trump enters the White House.Most Read from BloombergNYC’s Subway Violence Deters Drive to Bring Workers Back to OfficeDutch Central Bank Restores Amsterdam’s ‘Ugliest Building’Can American Drivers Learn to Love Roundabouts?

The U.S. administration announced on Tuesday that it would sanction Antal Rogan, the head of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's cabinet, for corruption. According to the State Department, the case of the prime minister's close associate exemplifies "state capture by oligarchs and undemocratic actors.