Magyar launches anti-Orban election campaign

Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar launched his party’s election campaign in Budapest on Sunday, vowing to end the 16-year rule of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, tackle corruption and reorientate Hungary back towards western Europe.

Magyar, a former influential member of Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party, took over leadership of the center-right Tisza party in 2024 and quickly established himself as the biggest challenge to Orban in over a decade.

In June 2024, Tisza – which is an abbreviation of the Hungarian words for “respect” (tisztelet) and “freedom” (szabadsag) – won around 30% of the vote in European Parliament elections and most independent polls show it with a significant lead ahead of election day on April 12.

“We’re standing on the threshold of victory with 56 days left to go,” Magyar told supporters in Budapest on Sunday. “Tisza stands ready to govern.”

Hungary: who is Peter Magyar?

A 44-year-old former lawyer, Magyar has accused Orban’s right-wing populist government of mismanaging Hungary’s economy and social services, and of allowing corruption to run riot, leaving Hungary one of the poorest countries in the European Union.

“Not only has the Hungarian economy not taken off; it has hit a dead end,” he said.

He has also criticized Orban’s antagonism towards the EU and continuing proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

After holding meetings with several European leaders at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) over the weekend, he said he would put an end to Hungary’s “drift out of the European Union” under Orban.

“Hungary’s place is in Europe,” he said. “Not only because Hungary needs Europe, but also because Europe needs Hungary.”

However, he also reiterated that a Tisza government would continue to oppose any accelerated Ukrainian accession to the EU and retain a border fence erected by Orban in 2015 as part of a continuation of anti-immigration policies.

Hungary: Magyar pledges to combat corruption

Nevertheless, despite some EU-scepticism, Magyar has vowed to combat corruption and strengthen Hungary’s democratic institutions and independent judiciary in order to regain access to billions of euros’ worth of suspended EU funding.

“It is time to call corruption what it is: theft,” he said, promising “total transparency in contracts involving public funds” and the “recovery” of all the money Hungary “has been deprived of over 16 years.”

During the campaign so far, Magyar has specifically targeted Orban’s traditional strongholds: small, conservative-leaning towns and villages across the country but far away from major cities like Budapest, focusing on bread and butter issues such as low wages and rapidly rising living costs.

He has challenged Orban to a TV debate – thus far without response – saying the “outgoing prime minister” is only capable of “agitation” and “threats,” accusing him of spying on opponents.

“If they can search through my private life, then they can rummage through everyone’s,” said Magyar.

Orban: work only ‘half done’

Opposition and rights groups regularly accuse Orban of silencing critical voices in the judiciary, academia and media, as well as cutting the rights of minority groups.

Just this weekend, local authorities in Budapest once again permitted the staging of the annual neo-Nazi “Day of Honor” gathering while clamping down on small anti-fascist counter-demonstrations instead.

The ruling Fidesz party hasn’t published an official election manifesto, arguing that, after governing for 16 years, voters know what policies to expect.

Orban on Saturday vowed to press on with a crackdown on what he called “pseudo-civil organizations, bought journalists, judges, politicians,” saying his work was only “half done.”

Edited by: Louis Oelofse