Video Shows Mayor in Boat Orgy. He's Reelected Anyway

'Borkai-gate' explodes in Hungary
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 15, 2019 10:10 AM CDT
Video Shows Mayor in Boat Orgy. He's Reelected Anyway
Zsolt Borkai is seen at a town hall in Budapest, Hungary, on Feb. 22, 2017.   (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP)

Days before Sunday's local elections in Hungary, a video emerged showing the mayor of Gyor in a drug-fueled orgy on a boat. It quickly went viral—but ultimately, Zsolt Borkai was reelected anyway. Borkai, a former gymnast who won a gold medal in pommel horse at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul before turning to politics, is allegedly seen on the video having sex with a young woman; according to the Mirror, prostitutes and other men were also involved in the cocaine-fueled orgy during a luxury yacht cruise around the Adriatic Sea. Borkai, 54, is a married father of two who has been mayor since 2006. Though he's had to cancel public appearances, Borkai has so far refused to resign over the video, at first calling it "lies" published as part of an "opposition campaign" before ultimately admitting he'd taken part in the orgy.

Borkai, a right-wing populist, is considered a key ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Bloomberg reports Orban—who aligns himself with Christian values and has slammed relaxed morals in Western society—is likely to be quite displeased. Although Borkai was reelected, the sex scandal gave the opposition an in, ultimately resulting in Orban's rivals taking back control of Budapest and four of the country's biggest cities. Though he hasn't stepped down as mayor, Borkai is resigning his membership of the ruling conservative Fidesz party of which Orban is chairman, the Budapest Business Journal reports. Per the Washington Post, "Borkai-gate," as it's been called locally, began with an anonymous blogger accusing Borkai of corruption before ultimately publishing the video, claiming government money had been used to pay for the boat orgy. (More Hungary stories.)

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