After Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Janos Lazar is one of the most recognizable politicians in Hungary. In fact, the construction and transpor minister, who regularly makes headlines with racist and belittling attacks on minorities and poor people, is one of the few recognizable politicians within Orban's Fidesz party. He is still remembered for saying years ago that "those who have nothing are worth exactly that"
Lazar, who is said to be keen to replace Orban one day, has now created the biggest scandal yet in Hungary's 2026 election campaign. On January 22, Lazar told residents of the town of Balatonalmadi, just outside the capital, Budapest, that he does not consider immigration to be the solution to Hungary's labor shortage
"If someone has to scrub the toilets on our Intercity trains — because Hungarian voters aren't exactly lining up to to clean the crap out of overflowing toilets — then we have to turn to our domestic reserves," Lazar said, before using an offensive term for Roma. "And our domestic reserves are the Hungarian Gypsies"
Social media exploded with angry and sarcastic posts from Roma. The opposition vehemently denounced Lazar's comments. Political scientist Daniel Rona said Lazar's speech was the "most meaningful communications misstep by the government" in a long time
Officially, about 300,000 Roma live in Hungary, or 3% of the population. Estimates, however, suggest that the actual number of Roma in Hungary may be as high as 800,000
On social media, Roma are asking whether the minister even sees them as Hungarians and voters. Many reject Orban and Lazar's Fidesz party as "dirty crooks." In a now-viral Facebook post, a 12-year-old girl looks into the camera and says: "I'm not studying so that I can scrub toilets." Then, speaking in Romani, she asks Lazar, "Do you understand?!"
