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Politics

Hungarian mayor resigns after yacht orgy video

November 6, 2019

Despite being re-elected, prominent Hungarian mayor Zsolt Borkai said he was stepping down from his post after he was featured in an explicit sex tape. Borkai was also kicked out of Orban's Fidesz party over the scandal.

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Former mayor of Gyor Zsolt Borkai
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot/Nikku

Zsolt Borkai, the mayor of the northwestern Hungarian city of Gyor announced on Wednesday that despite being re-elected last month, he was resigning over a sex scandal.

Shortly before local elections on October 13, a video surfaced online showing Borkai taking part in an orgy on a yacht in the Adriatic Sea.

The video also included conversations that hinted at corruption, although no proof has surfaced to back the allegations.

Borkai, who is married with two children and has served as mayor since 2006, said he made the decision to resign to avoid hampering the city's development.

"I draw the conclusions and accept responsibility," he wrote in a letter to the residents of Gyor.

The former Olympic champion gymnast was a member of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party until he was expelled shortly after the election.

Although he was narrowly re-elected, Borkai's sex scandal is believed to have contributed to Fidesz's surprisingly weak results in municipal elections.

Orban's Fidesz party portrays itself as a champion of Christian and family values. Last month, the ruling party lost ground in big cities, with the opposition winning the mayoral race in Budapest.

A special election to select Borkai's successor is expected to be held within the next four months.

rs/rc (AP, dpa, Reuters)

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