Hungary's chief prosecutor seeks to suspend legal immunity of Orban's chief rival

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary's chief prosecutor has asked the president of the European Parliament to suspend the parliamentary immunity of Prime Minister Orban's main political rival, MEP Peter Magyar, the prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Chief prosecutor Peter Polt, a supporter of Orban and former member of the ruling Fidesz party, said in a statement that Magyar had allegedly seized the cellphone of a man who had recorded him in a bar on June 21.

"Then the MEP walked down right to the riverbank and dropped it into the Danube. This behaviour can correspond to the offence of theft," the statement said.

The device was later recovered and returned to its owner.

A spokesperson for Magyar referred Reuters to a post on his Facebook page, in which he noted that Polt was a founding member of Fidesz, but did not specifically comment on the case of the alleged phone theft.

The EP Press Service told Reuters in an emailed reply that the European Parliament does not comment on individual cases nor on potential judicial proceedings.

Magyar, who entered the political scene in February, leads a centre-right party that is now supported by 39% of likely voters, compared with 43% for Orban's Fidesz, according to a survey published by pollster Median in early September.

The 43-year-old lawyer, formerly close to the government, swooped into public life as he accused Orban's government of corruption and triggered mass marches against the premier, who has been in power since 2010. The next election is due in early 2026.

Magyar's Tisza party won nearly 30% of the votes and seven seats in June's European Parliament elections, coming second to right-wing nationalist Fidesz. Tisza's MEPs, including Magyar, subsequently joined the European People's Party's group.

(Reporting by Anita Komuves; Editing by Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis)