Year XXXIX, Number 1, July 2026

Eszter Nagy

Economist teacher with MA degree in International relations from CEU. Local councillor in the Budapest 2nd district Council. President of UEF Hungary and member of the UEF Executive Bureau. Former diplomat.

After our failed revolutions, the 15th of March in 1848, the 23rd of October in 1956, the day, April 12th, 2026, will enter Hungarian history as an electoral revolution. It happened despite the state capture, the Media hegemony of the government party, and Hungary not being considered a democracy since 2019 by Freedom House. Many Hungarians didn't even believe it beforehand that the Orbán-regime could be defeated at a parliamentary election. Luckily, they proved to be wrong.

Viktor Orbán installed in power in 2010 had one wish, a promise to himself that he made after his defeat in 2002, that if he got elected again, he would stay in power for good. He wanted to build a system in which he could never be defeated again. Immediately after his major victory in 2010 earning him a constitutional majority in Parliament, he started to build up the Hungarian "Death star", a new political system shaped for cementing his power and securing his future victories. He turned the Parliament into a "law factory" starting with a brand-new constitution written by Fidesz politicians that was adopted without any consultation with other parties, civil organizations or citizens. The same happened with the new Media law and the Electoral law, as well. There were mass protests and demonstrations against these laws, but the political leadership didn't seem to bother. They instead chose the back entrance of the Opera house to escape the angry crowds, where the official ceremony of the new Constitution took place.

This strategy had worked to perfection. In combination with the regular fake news and hate spreading billboard campaigns, it secured the constitutional majority throughout three more (!) general elections; in 2014, in 2018, and in 2022. So, what happened in these past years? How could this electoral revolution happen in an informational autocracy type of regime?

In the 2010s, there was economic prosperity on one hand getting out of the financial crisis, and on the other hand the EU funds coming to Hungary had already reached their peak amount, so Orbán could take the political advantage of the positive circumstances. The EU was also a bit too patient with Hungary, and it took too long to react to the democratic backsliding in Hungary and finally introduce the rule of law mechanism. The freezing of the funds, the end of the ERASMUS and HORIZON programs for most Hungarian universities – the ones turned into public trust foundations under political control – were belated, but strong hits for the Orbán regime. State corruption, a type of crony capitalism with a system of oligarchs, doesn't favor a merit-based market economy. In the long run, it is not even sustainable. That's why Hungary has slipped to the bottom of the ranks in almost every field within the EU. The population also started to feel the consequences; high inflation, low wages, failing public services in health care and education, etc.

The political hit came unexpectedly, in February 2024 with the "pardon scandal". A lawyer accidentally discovered that a pedophile aide was pardoned by the president the previous year on the occasion of the Pope's visit to Hungary. It caused such an outrage, that within a week, Katalin Novák, the president of the Republic had to resign, as well as Judit Varga, the former justice minister who countersigned this decision. This was the turning point, where Fidesz lost control of the narrative; Orbán whose leading slogan was "Family friendly Hungary" and child protection – despite saving himself with these two resignations – got the strongest ever political blow, and his system started cracking. This moment brought the appearance of Péter Magyar, the former husband of Judit Varga. He walked into the studio of an independent News outlet and gave his first interview viewed by millions within a couple of days. A charismatic guy from Fidesz circles criticizing the party was unheard of before. People were eager to find a politician whom they could finally believe in after the failures and incompetence of the former opposition figures. Péter Magyar soon found an existing small party, the TISZA party, "Tisztelet és Szabadság" (Respect and Freedom) and the rest is history.

During the last days before the elections there was already a revolutionary feeling in the streets of Budapest, a very heated atmosphere on one hand due to the government billboard campaign, on the other hand people angry about them, "correcting" the billboards expressing opposition to the government propaganda. Documentaries came out from whistleblowers on the social Media sites; the story of police captain Bence Szabo, of the military officer Szilveszter Pálinkás, the documentary The Price of the Vote, all showed how rotten the Orbán-regime was. Parallel to this, Péter Magyar did his final rally over the country visiting 6-7 places daily in the last weeks, where cheering crowds gathered every time even in former Fidesz strongholds to listen to him, letting themselves carried away by the system-changing emotion and the ray of hope that finally Hungarians can get rid of this suppressing illiberal regime.

Most of us could hardly believe that it really happened. We were expecting some dirty trick from Orbán until the last moment, there was anxiety whether Orbán would give over the power peacefully if defeated. That's why relief and euphoria were so big on election day. On Sunday evening the crowd erupted in ovation and clapping when we saw on the screen that Orbán congratulated Péter Magyar, the cheering became even louder, when they announced the 2/3 majority of the Tisza party. It was a euphoric moment. People were hugging each other, smiling, laughing, dancing in the streets of Budapest and all over the country. It was a moment of realization that democracy works indeed, that our vote really counts, no matter how rigged the system under the Orbán-regime got. It was hard to believe after the 16 years of Orbán-rule that it is really over. And it took a while to digest this pivotal moment that a new era has finally begun in Hungary.

On Monday afternoon, the day after the elections, watching the first international Press Conference of Péter Magyar was a new experience; a press conference where independent news outlets could participate, ask questions and they got real answers. We have already forgotten this type of normalcy; we have to get used to it again.

In the meantime, Fidesz politicians were ghosting away, some lower rank people started to blame Viktor Orbán for the defeat, some left public life immediately, but all puzzled. Orbán himself didn't resign, he said he wanted to continue to rebuild his party now that the pressure of governing is not pushing them and then disappeared for a few days. He ghosted the European allies, as well, as neither him nor Szíjjártó, the outgoing foreign minister, participated at the informal European Council meeting in Cyprus. Probably it was also better this way for everyone. Later on, he even ghosted his own party members, as he announced that he wouldn't even sit in Parliament.

On April 18th, the final results were announced; 141 seats for the Tisza party and altogether 52 for Fidesz, 6 for the Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) extreme right party. Fidesz won only 10 out of 106 individual election districts. Tisza has 70% of the seats in Parliament, a landslide victory.

What do we inherit from the Orbán-regime? The deficit until April reached over 80% of the yearly forecast. Orbán-close oligarchs owe the most prestigious hotels, historical buildings in Budapest, a big proportion of land all over the country, castles, hotel chains, the biggest construction companies and others, including the biggest bank. Orbán built up a luxurious estate for himself in Hatvanpuszta, his son-in-law has become one of the richest persons in Hungary. Democratic checks and balances are emptied; Fidesz-close functionaries are sitting on the top of would-be autonomous institutions including the national prosecutor and the members of the Constitutional Council. The state is indebted, polluting battery factories are mushrooming in the country, there is high dependence on Russian fossil energy. Society is divided to the extent that families and couples have been broken because of differences in political convictions.

Some people fear that there is no "leftist" party now in the Parliament, but in the electoral system designed by Fidesz, Tisza's main task was to break down the regime, the electoral law was not designed to allow democratic diversity and pluralism. Now, we are at the beginning of a long and bumpy road; to dismantle the Fidesz crony structure, to hold the guilty accountable, to deliver justice, and to restore liberal democracy, to build up a more resilient system of checks and balances not to allow an authoritarian turn again. But Péter Magyar's Tisza party received the highest ever democratic authorization from the people to do it.

Hungarians understood the stakes of this election, and made an unequivocal decision on April 12th, 2026: Hungary's place is in the European Union.