Former government minister Tibor Navracsics and former space research commissioner Orsolya Ferencz have launched a new civic initiative calling for dialogue about Hungary’s future and an assessment of the lessons of the past 36 years.
Announced on 20 August, the Civic Democrats (Polgári Demokraták) initiative aims to bring together people regardless of their party affiliation or political worldview. The announcement comes after a period of political upheaval in Hungary and growing criticism within the former governing camp over its response to defeat at the April election.
Navracsics: Hungary needs a way beyond the two sides
In a video published on the national holiday, Navracsics said Hungary had reached a point where the “extreme and destructive confrontation between two sides” was damaging the country’s unity and ability to act. He argued that a new dialogue was needed to move beyond the entrenched political divide.
“Instead of two sides, we need a straight path,”
Navracsics said, describing himself and Ferencz as “civic democrats”, he invited people from across the political spectrum to take part in meetings and discussions about Hungary’s future.
The initiative is intended to examine the lessons of the past 100 days, the past 16 years and the past 36 years, Navracsics said, with the aim of finding solutions that could help create a Hungary that is “homely, liveable and happy”.
He also argued that political revenge and excluding opponents from the political community lead nowhere. Even when people disagree peacefully, he said, they should remain members of the same democratic political community.
Ferencz calls for a calmer political culture
Ferencz, who served as Hungary’s space research commissioner and was previously a Fidesz MP, also shared the announcement on Facebook. She said Hungarian public life needed honesty, value-based institution-building, calm and civilised conversations, constructive debate and a level-headed assessment without taboos.
Ferencz called for an end to what she described as the “camp mentality” that has come to dominate Hungarian politics, arguing that genuine social dialogue requires moving beyond rigid political camps.
Her comments follow earlier criticism of the former governing side after the April election, in which Fidesz-KDNP suffered defeat and the Tisza Party secured a two-thirds majority. Both Navracsics and Ferencz have previously discussed the need for renewal on the right and for a political community representing the ideal of a civic Hungary.
The initiative creates tension with the Fidesz leadership, with fierce-sounding reactions
The announcement has already prompted a response from Fidesz’s communications director Bertalan Havasi. Speaking to the Hungarian state news agency MTI, Havasi said Fidesz itself currently had no official position on Navracsics’s initiative, but added that he personally did.
“As a civic democrat, the straight path for me is Fidesz,” Havasi said, while arguing that confrontation with the Tisza Party was necessary and should be strengthened. He also said that dialogue with Péter Magyar, the leader of the Tisza Party, was impossible. Havasi added that the “resistance declaration” adopted by Fidesz’s national leadership and parliamentary group in July remained in force.
The declaration described Hungary’s new political system as illegitimate and accused the government of establishing it through a serious violation of the constitution with the aim of obtaining exclusive control of power. Fidesz said it rejected what it called the new “authoritarian system” and would not participate in the appointment of people replacing removed office-holders.
Navracsics has increasingly questioned Fidesz’s direction
The new initiative comes after months in which Navracsics has taken a more critical position towards his former political camp. In July, he questioned whether the Fidesz brand could still be saved and shared Ferencz’s call for a new political community based on the ideal of a civic Hungary.
In an earlier interview, Navracsics said efforts were initially focused on mobilising energy within the party, but suggested that a new political force could become necessary if Fidesz were to break apart. Ferencz has likewise criticised the former governing side for failing to adequately confront the reasons for its electoral defeat and renew itself.
Navracsics remains involved in Fidesz-related political work and became head of the party’s municipal affairs cabinet. He also addressed Fidesz’s June leadership congress, where Viktor Orbán was re-elected as party chairman for another year.
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A new political force or a forum for dialogue?
For now, it remains unclear whether the Civic Democrats initiative will develop into a formal political organisation or remain a broader civic platform.
Navracsics has presented it primarily as a space for dialogue rather than conventional party politics. Its immediate focus appears to be bringing together people who may disagree politically but are willing to discuss Hungary’s future outside the increasingly polarised framework of the country’s two main political camps.
The response from Fidesz, however, suggests that even an initiative explicitly designed to move beyond political confrontation may struggle to escape Hungary’s deeply divided political landscape.
The coming months could therefore reveal whether the Civic Democrats can establish a genuinely independent forum for discussion — or whether Navracsics and Ferencz’s initiative becomes part of the wider realignment taking place on the Hungarian right.
Read also: PM Magyar’s first 100 days: Success or failure for Hungary?
