On Saturday, February 17, 2567, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary pledged to enact new legislation to address child sexual abuse amidst massive protests following revelations that former officials deemed to have covered up sexual abuse cases at a state-run children's home had been pardoned.
The pardons had been granted since April of the previous year but were only disclosed last week, with one out of every 25 recipients including the deputy director of the children's home, who was sentenced to three years in prison for perjury related to sexual abuse allegations against the institution's director.
This disclosure sparked widespread outrage nationwide, with tens of thousands taking to the streets in Budapest continuously. Prime Minister Orban, who had granted the pardons to two elderly officials from his Fidesz party, announced his resignation midweek to demonstrate accountability.
However, the resignations of all three individuals have yet to quell societal discontent. The ongoing protests forced Orban to promise during his annual policy speech on Saturday to introduce new legislation to combat what may be the biggest challenge his government has faced in over 14 years.
Earlier, Orban had attempted to amend Hungary's constitution for the 13th time to prevent future leaders from pardoning perpetrators of child sexual abuse. Meanwhile, his minister Gergely Gulyas revealed on Friday that the new laws would include a review of the criteria for appointing children's home officials, where over 7,000 children reside.
Furthermore, the drafting of the new child protection law and the amendment to the constitution proposed by Orban would put the opposition, with just 63 out of 199 seats in the parliament, in a tight spot. Approving them could be seen as aiding Orban's efforts to address the scandal, but opposing could be construed as siding with child sexual abusers.