Former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered a rare and unusually self-critical assessment of Fidesz’s election defeat at the party’s 32nd congress in Budapest on Saturday, accepting responsibility for what he described as strategic mistakes and announcing a major organisational overhaul of the party.
Speaking to delegates, Orbán declared that he would not give up despite the setback.
“I will never give up, never, never, never,” he told party members, according to Telex.
The longtime Fidesz leader said that after two months of internal evaluation, he had concluded that voters had largely approved of the party’s record between 2010 and 2022, but that serious errors during the past four years and the election campaign ultimately led to defeat.
“I am responsible for the strategic mistakes, not them,” Orbán said, defending campaign chief Balázs Orbán, party director Gábor Kubatov, regional directors and unsuccessful parliamentary candidates.
The ten reasons Orbán says Fidesz lost
Orbán outlined ten key factors that he believes contributed to the party’s defeat.
According to the former prime minister, Fidesz’s campaign message failed to resonate with voters, while the opposition’s message proved significantly more attractive. He also admitted that the party underestimated its opponents and failed to recognise their growing advantage in time to adjust campaign strategy or tactics.
Another major mistake, he said, was assuming voter turnout would not exceed previous records. As a result, Fidesz’s polling and election forecasting systems failed to anticipate the final result.
Orbán also acknowledged that the opposition’s voter mobilisation methods outperformed Fidesz’s traditional door-to-door campaigning.
Among the most notable admissions was his assessment of the digital campaign. He described Fidesz’s performance online as a “catastrophic defeat”, claiming the party lagged behind in both technology and content production.
According to Orbán, the battle for young voters was decisively lost.
He said support for Tisza among TikTok users reached 70 percent, while among Facebook users it stood at 66 percent.
“The election was lost because of our brutal defeat among young people,” Orbán said, adding that he regarded this as a personal failure and understood that many younger voters had rejected both him and his programme.
The former prime minister also argued that anti-Fidesz campaigns, corruption allegations and what he called “foreign-controlled algorithms” had worked against the party, while opposition forces successfully neutralised Fidesz’s warnings about the war in neighbouring Ukraine and security concerns.
Economic frustrations played a decisive role
Orbán further blamed Europe’s weak economic environment and the impact of EU sanctions for slowing economic growth.
He admitted that his government had failed to find an economic strategy capable of delivering visible prosperity despite wider European challenges.
“I could not find that path, and my government could not create that strategy,” he said.
At the same time, Orbán insisted that Fidesz had refused to make economic and social promises that it knew could not be fulfilled, while accusing its opponents of making unrealistic commitments.
Fidesz preparing for life in opposition
Orbán argued that Fidesz, in its current form, is not suited to operating as an opposition party and therefore requires significant organisational renewal.
“Serving the country from government and from opposition requires a different approach,” he said.
He outlined a new role for Fidesz as a force that should challenge government mistakes, organise resistance against what he called abuses of power and provide a political home for voters who continue to support national-conservative policies.
He also stressed that a successful opposition must always remain prepared to govern again.
Major party restructuring announced
As part of the renewal process, Orbán announced sweeping structural reforms within Fidesz.
The party will abolish its current constituency-based organisational model, regional directors’ positions and the role of executive vice-president. He said Fidesz should evolve from a governing power party back into a movement-based organisation focused more on civic values and personal engagement.
“Instead of muscles, we need spiritual strength,” Orbán told delegates.
The former prime minister argued that the election result also reflected a generational change in Hungarian politics. He therefore called for leadership renewal while making clear that he intends to remain at the helm of the party.
Orbán announced that MEP Kinga Gál, MP Alpár Gyopáros, former EU affairs minister János Bóka and Salgótarján mayor Bálint Kreicsi would take leading roles in the renewed party structure.
He urged members to complete the rebuilding process by September.
“By the time the leaves fall, the renewed Fidesz must be ready,” he said.
Orbán warns of “political and economic chaos”
Before the congress, Orbán also told journalists that Hungary was heading towards what he described as political and economic chaos under the current Magyar government.
He said the opposition’s task was to prevent the country from descending into disorder and to remain prepared should public dissatisfaction with the government continue to grow.
Responding to questions about migration, Orbán reiterated his longstanding position that Hungary has no migrant camps and no migrants because previous governments under his leadership had prevented their entry into the country.
He also rejected claims that Fidesz was moving towards the far right, arguing instead that Hungary’s national-conservative camp includes radical, civic and centre-right elements that must remain united.
According to Orbán, past election defeats occurred when that unity broke down.
Orbán said there are no migrant camps in the country; however, PM Péter Magyar revealed documents earlier today that show the opposite: Breaking: Secret documents revealed by PM Magyar show Orbán government built a migrant camp in Hungary
Catastrophic defeat among youth was because our younger generation is so much smarter and following news from multiple sources, not just from Fidesz controlled media like older generations mostly did. All younger generation voters I know have repeated the same feeling: they did not know whether to laugh or cry due to the Fidez/Orban propaganda campaign filled with utter lies and non-stop fear mongering. And on top of that the Fidesz stance to not condemn Russia´s brutal invasion war but instead Orban & Fidesz blamed Ukraine and prevented support for Ukraine – this simply made many youth to feel ashamed and some said they always felt obliged to immediately explain to any foreigner they met that they do not support Fidesz anti-Ukraine actions. And then there is the corruption… Orban still calls them “corruption allegations” – we have already seen many these allegations proved to be true, just like everybody knew already – it was the “Fidesz way of doing things” and youth had seen enough of it as it deprived future possibilities from them.