02/14/2026, 08:3102/14/2026, 08:31
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will deliver his annual State of the Nation Address today (11:00 a.m.). This time the speech to hand-picked dignitaries from the governing party, state and society has a special meaning. A new parliament will be elected in Hungary on April 12th – and for the first time in 16 years, the 63-year-old right-wing populist sees his claim to power seriously challenged.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is in the election campaign.Image: keystone
A renegade from the courtyard of power
The person who disputes this claim is called Peter Magyar, who is 19 years younger than him and himself comes from Orban’s Fidesz (Association of Young Democrats) cadre. Although the qualified lawyer held rather low-level positions in the Fidesz state – for example as head of the office for the administration of university scholarships – he was married to the once powerful former justice minister Judit Varga for 17 years. Through them he learned a lot about the practices of exercising power by the head of government and his assistants.
He broke with the Orban system two years ago. A scandal surrounding the pardon of a pedophile aide ended the political career of Judit Varga, who had co-signed as Justice Minister. The then President Katalin Novak, who had issued the amnesty, also had to leave under pressure from Orban. For Magyar, the red line was crossed. In an interview with the popular Internet TV channel Partizan, he accused the head of government of coldly sacrificing the two top politicians out of opportunism. The YouTube video was viewed by 2.8 million people.
What the whiz kid Magyar does differently
After breaking with Fidesz, Magyar founded his Tisza party. The abbreviation stands for “respect and freedom” and is also the Hungarian name for the river Tisza, which winds through eastern Hungary and flows into the Danube in Serbia. Magyar comes from a middle-class Budapest family and is committed to conservatism and patriotism, but without any claim to exclusivity.
In the European elections in June 2024, the Tisza party won almost 30 percent of the vote. Its MPs joined the European People’s Party (EPP) group, which also includes the CDU and CSU. With an initially tiny group of fellow campaigners, Magyar developed an incredible energy. With his humorous, sarcastic presence on social media, which always points to the sore point, he castigates the excesses of Orban’s rule.
Above all, he seeks to be close to people. In elaborate tours across the country, sometimes on foot or in a kayak on the Tisza, he appeared in the small towns and villages that were previously firmly in the hands of the potentates of the Orban networks. His motto – a quote from the New Testament – is: “Do not be afraid!” When thousands in small towns and hundreds in small communities flock to his performances, it seems as if a spell has been broken. As if Orban could be voted out.
What is at stake in the election
In opinion polls, Magyar’s Tisza party has been ahead of Orban’s Fidesz by eight to ten percentage points for a year and a half. A week ago Magyar published his election program. “In the future, Hungary will once again be a useful, credible, active and constructive member of the EU and NATO,” it says. Under Orban, Hungary blocked or watered down EU sanctions against Russia and support for the beleaguered Ukraine. Orban’s close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin also stands out. Under the Tisza party there will be “no more see-saw politics” between East and West. Hungary’s place is in the Western alliances, it says in the election program.
If Orban were to be voted out of office, it would have serious international consequences. It is no coincidence that in his opening speech at the Munich Security Conference, Chancellor Friedrich Merz indirectly addressed Orban’s unilateral trips to Moscow in a very clear and critical manner. The Hungarian constantly networks with other authoritarian and semi-authoritarian right-wing movements, such as Marine Le Pen’s party in France. The AfD sees him as a role model and his system as the model for the desired “reconstruction” of Germany. US President Donald Trump describes him as a “strong and powerful leader” whose re-election he absolutely supports.
Orban gives his State of the Nation speech in the presence of his court, but has it streamed live. He fights with all his might to maintain his power. Attempts to defame the challenger with false accusations and smear campaigns have so far been rejected by Magyar.
Four years ago, Orban won the election very clearly, a few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, the right-wing populist has presented himself as the only politician in Hungary who can “keep the country out of war”. He claims that Magyar is just a “puppet of the warmongers in Brussels,” without having any evidence for this. Fear of war is a trump card that could still work. On April 12th it will become clear how decisive it will be. (hkl/sda/dpa)