Responding to allegations in pro-government media that he bought up opposition parties, oligarch-in-exile Lajos Simicska released a statement in Magyar Nemzet Tuesday.

The statements reads: “I am worried about the health of employees working in my homeland’s propaganda media, I hope they will not come down with pneumonia in this cold weather… For this reason, I will answer the question they have yet to ask me, thereby sparing them further delay.  To be clear: I do not deal in the buying up of political parties. Over the course of my life there has been only one party with which I had a close relationship. That party is called Fidesz, but I ended my relationship with them four years ago when it became clear to me that they are simply traitors and crooks.”

Simicska’s statement comes after the start of yet another pro-government media campaign accusing the oligarch-in-exile of buying up political parties. This time, the propaganda outlets are accusing Simicska of taking over Politics Can Be Different (LMP).

Simicska’s continued presence in Hungarian public life is a deep source of frustration for Fidesz. The ruling party is finding it difficult to distance itself from its long history with one of Hungary’s most notorious oligarchs.