Opposition Mi Hazánk is proposing changes to how social media is regulated, László Toroczkai, the radical party’s leader, said on Monday.
Mi Hazánk urges for changes
Mi Hazánk wants the regulations applying to social media to ensure that politicians have the same rights to freedom of expression as everyone else, Toroczkai told a press conference. The party also wants to prohibit social media platforms from banning elected officials and sanctioning journalists, he added.
Toroczkai said it was “truly shocking and uniquely undemocratic” that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, had banned him and those who mentioned his name on a regular basis.
“This means that an international, global corporation can influence elections,” he said, vowing that if the situation did not change, the party would challenge the result of next year’s general election “at every existing forum”.
Krisztina Csibi, the candidate of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance, won Sunday’s by-election in Tolna County’s 2nd electoral district, in south-western Hungary, with close to two-thirds of the vote.
Data published by the National Election Office with 99.12 percent of the votes counted shows Csibi with 11,913 votes, 63.7 percent of all votes cast. Dóra Dúró of opposition Mi Hazánk had 3,588 votes (19.18 percent) and László Takács of the opposition Democratic Coalition had 2,055 (10,99 percent). Independent candidate Gábor Harangozó had 437 votes (2.34 percent), independent Ernő Vilcsek 380 (2.03 percent) and Pál Péter Ágoston of the Second Reform Age party had 330 votes (1.76 percent).
The MP-elect Krisztina Csibi and PM Orbán. Photo: FB/Krisztina Csibi
The by-election was held to decide who takes up the parliamentary seat of Árpád János Potápi, who served as a Fidesz MP for Tolna County’s 2nd district and state secretary for policies for Hungarians across the borders when he died in October last year.
Opposition MP Ákos Hadházy believes a snap election in Hungary is only possible if it serves the prime minister’s interest. And, in this case, it would not. Therefore, the chance for early elections is zero.
Zero chance for an early election, says government-close think-tank
Ákos Hadházy, the opposition MP of Zugló (Budapest’s 14th district) believes that Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party, the biggest challenger of PM Orbán, intentionally misleads his voters by saying there is a real chance for a snap election in Hungary. Hadházy wrote in a Facebook post that Orbán’s supermajority in the Hungarian Parliament is solid, so there is no chance for an election.
Photo: facebook.com/hadhazyakos
Ágoston Sámuel Mráz, the director of Nézőpont, a government-close think-tank, basically agreed with the opposition MP. He said Orbán’s Fidesz has a chance to win the 2026 general election and would like to fight Péter Magyar then. He added that Fidesz had 2.9 million supporters in the country. Meanwhile, Magyar aims to bring that battle forward and permanently rule political communication. Since his Tisza Party will not have candidates in the two upcoming by-elections in Tolna County and Budapest’s 13th district, Magyar would like to talk about his issues instead of the campaign in these two electoral districts.
Photo: FB/Péter Magyar
In fact, in Tolna, Fidesz would probably win, while in the 13th district, experts agree that the Democratic Coalition will score a victory since the electoral district was theirs even in 2022.
The leftist Democratic Coalition, the far-right Our Homeland (Mi Hazánk) and the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party are the only three players that can have a say in 2026, based on current polls.
Former PM Gyurcsány also demands early elections
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has called for parliament to be disbanded and early elections to be called.
Photo: FB/Ferenc Gyurcsány
DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány told a press conference on Friday that the party was preparing to adopt a parliamentary proposal on the matter. “The country is in far too bad a shape to wait another 15-16 months” until the general elections scheduled for the spring of 2026, Gyurcsány said, adding that the government “is clearly incapable of handling the crisis it has practically created.”
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Will early election be held in April in Hungary? PM Orbán’s main challenger in “campaign mode” – read more HERE
Featured image: illustration, 9 June EP elections, source: MTI
Pollster Real-PR 93 said on Monday that if elections were held this weekend, the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance would garner support from 44 percent of decided voters.
In the same group, the opposition Tisza Party would be supported by 36 percent, the pollster said.
Commenting on the survey, conducted between November 25 and 27 on a sample of 1,000 people, the pollster said support for the ruling parties had not changed from October, adding that among Fidesz supporters, “there is no sign of uncertainty.”
Concerning Tisza, Real-PR 93 said support for the opposition party “increased to the detriment of minute leftist parties” could have “reached its maximum”.
The pollster said Radical Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) had a 7-percent backing, followed by the leftist Democratic Coalition with 5 percent and the satirical Two-Tailed Dog with 3 percent. The latter party did not clear the parliamentary threshold.
As we wrote in November, Péter Magyar’s Tisza party ahead of PM Orbán in latest polls but won’t field candidates on next election – Medián poll
Another poll says also, Tisza Party gains momentum, outshining Hungary’s leading Fidesz Party, details HERE.
Across the whole voter base the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance has a “convincing, 12 percentage point lead” over the opposition Tisza Party, pollster Magyar Társadalomkutató said on Monday, citing its latest survey.
According to Társadalomkutató’s report, 38 percent of voting age adults would support the ruling parties, while Tisza would garner 26 percent, if elections were held next weekend. The pollster added that the ruling parties’ lead was somewhat smaller, 8 percentage points, among decided voters.
Based on feedback from politically active respondents, the radical Mi Hazank and satirical Two-Tailed Dog parties would clear beside Fidesz-KDNP and Tisza the parliamentary threshold with a 6 percent support each.
The poll was conducted on a representative sample of 1,000 people between November 19-22.
Opposition Mi Hazánk protests against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s decision to invite Benjamin Netanyahu, “his friend”, to visit Hungary after the International Criminal Court’s issuance of an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister on war crime charges, the party said on Friday.
In a statement, the party said that Orbán had withheld the fact that the court had also issued an arrest warrant against the leaders of Hamas.
“Viktor Orbán would normally not be this tough with various other international tribunals when the matter concerns Hungary’s interests,” Mi Hazánk said.
“Despite all the show of strength, Hungary keeps paying compensation to criminals released from prison if the Strasbourg court so rules,” the party said.
PM Orbán and PM Netanyahu. Photo: facebook.com/deakdanielelemez
Here’s the reaction of Netanyahu
Orbán is inviting Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Hungary, the PM said in an interview to public radio on Friday. Referring to an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister issued by the International Criminal Court on Thursday, Orbán called the move “outrageously brazen and cynical”, amounting to “interference in an ongoing conflict in legal disguise” and motivated by politics.
Orbán said this was in itself wrong and would completely discredit the reputation of international law and could “add fuel to the fire”. He said he had “no other choice but to oppose” the ruling. Referring to the invitation, Orbán said he would guarantee that
the ICCruling would not be applied in Hungary, adding that “we will not follow its provisions”.
“We solely consider the quality and state of Israel-Hungary ties … Israel’s prime minister will be surrounded by suitable security to conduct substantive talks in Hungary,” he said.
Netanyahu on Friday afternoon thanked the Hungarian prime minister for the invitation, saying: “I thank Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for the warm support for me and the State of Israel”.
Photo: FB/Benjamin Netanyahu
“Against the shameful weakness of those who have lined up alongside the outrageous decision against the State of Israel’s right to defend itself, Hungary – like our friends in the US – has shown moral clarity and steadfastness on the side of justice and the truth,” he said.
Anti-Semitism, violence emerged in W European cities alongside migration, Orbán’s secretary says
Anti-Semitism, violence and the threat of terrorism has emerged in western European cities alongside migration, the “brutal and terrifying” consequences of pro-immigration policies, Balazs Hidveghi, the parliamentary state secretary of the prime minister’s cabinet office, said on Thursday.
“Jews and homosexuals” in Germany are told by the police to avoid Arab neighborhoods in Berlin “for their own safety”, while Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam were recently attacked “brutally”, he said, adding that order was restored only after several days.
The Brussels and left-wing pro-immigration policy “is ruining Europe irretrievably”, he said, adding in the video that “they want to install a puppet government in Budapest”.
He referred to “self-confessed Soros agents” who would “betray the Hungarian people and allow migrants in at any time”.
Hidveghi said the public can insist on Hungary’s right to opt out of the acceptance and distribution of migrants by responding to the National Consultation questionnaire. “Only this way can we preserve our country’s security,” he added.
Read also:
Hungarian President talkedabout anti-Semitism in Hungary in Vienna
Most W European countries have seen a renewed of modern-day antisemitism, but not Hungary, saysForeign Minister
The Budapest Municipal Court has fined Előd Novák, a lawmaker of the Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party, to 1.1 million forints (EUR 2,690) for various instances of removing rainbow flags and defacing a poster connected to LGBTQ issues.
Hungarian opposition lawmaker fined
The municipal court rejected the first-instance court’s decision to sentence Novák also on criminal damage charges, but left the fine in place.
During 2020, Novák removed rainbow flags from the municipal building of the 11th district, a cultural centre there, and the Budapest Town Hall. He was reprimanded by court for the latter earlier. A year earlier, Novák poured paint on a poster which he said was “connected with LGBTQ propaganda”, and defended himself by saying he had been expressing his opinion through his actions.
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) plans to nominate candidates in all 106 individual constituencies in the 2026 general election, according to a party official.
DK’s plan
Public opinion polls indicate that four parties have a chance of entering parliament in 2026, and since Fidesz, Tisza and Mi Hazánk are all right-wing, Christian parties, only Democratic Coalition will represent non-right-wing voters, Csaba Molnár, DK’s executive vice-president, told an online press briefing on Tuesday.
Nominations will be for candidates who are local, well-known, and for the most part already elected representatives.
Hungary’s leading alliance of Fidesz and the Christian Democrats continues to hold a comfortable lead over the other parties, according to a new poll by the government-close Századvég.
Hungary’s leading parties are still strong
Taking the voting population as a whole, the ruling parties are backed by 40 percent of voters, with their nearest opposition rival, the Tisza Party, on 31 percent, Századvég told MTI on Monday. The radical Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party and the Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP) are third with 6 percent each.
The left-wing opposition parties are currently below the 5 percent threshold for seats in parliament, Századvég said.
Altogether 8 percent of the poll’s respondents were undecided.
Among decided voters, Fidesz and the Christian Democrats would capture 43 percent of the vote if an election were held now, the Tisza Party would get 32 percent and Mi Hazánk and MKKP 7 percent each. The left-wing parties would fail to reach the parliamentary threshold.
Századvég conducted the poll this month with a sample of 1,000 adults.
A survey conducted between 9 and 15 October with 1,000 participants reveals that the dominance of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz Party could be at risk, as the rising Tisza Party gains significant ground among key voter groups, particularly in urban areas and younger demographics. Here’s what a political analyst has to say about the newest numbers.
Tisza to leave Fidesz in the dust?
As Szeretlek Magyarország reports, a recent poll by the 21 Research Centre reveals that the Tisza Party has overtaken Fidesz among voters who are certain to cast their ballots, with 42 percent support compared to Fidesz’s 40 percent. However, among the broader population, the governing Fidesz party still holds the lead with 29 percent, while the Tisza Party trails at 26 percent.
Besides these two, only the Mi Hazánk Party (Our Homeland Party) would enter parliament, as other parties such as the Kétfarkú Kutya Party (Two-tailed Dog Party) and DK (Democratic Coalition) stand at 4 percent each. In the poll, 98 percent of Tisza Party voters believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, a sentiment shared by 71 percent of all respondents.
Demographical data
The recent poll also highlighted party preferences across demographics. The Tisza Party holds a strong lead over Fidesz among younger voters aged 18-39, while Fidesz dominates among those aged 65 and over. Educational attainment also shows a divide, with Fidesz leading among those with primary and secondary education, whereas the Tisza Party is favoured by voters with higher qualifications. A surprising finding is the geographic breakdown: Fidesz leads only in villages and smaller municipalities, while the Tisza Party has overtaken them in the capital, county capitals, and other cities.
Photo: FB/Péter Magyar
Political analyst reacts to the poll’s results
Szeretlek Magyarország also writes that political analyst Gábor Török noted on Facebook that while the Tisza Party’s lead falls within the margin of error, this marks the first time in 18 years that such a result has emerged. He also highlighted that opinion polls not only reflect political realities but can influence voter decisions and political behaviour. The survey data, particularly regarding gender, age, education, and location, offer insights into the shifting dynamics between Fidesz and the Tisza Party.
According to Török, the poll shows a notable gender divide: Fidesz remains more popular among women, with 30 percent supporting the ruling party, compared to 22 percent backing the Tisza Party. Conversely, men tend to favour the Tisza Party, with 31 percent supporting it compared to Fidesz’s 27 percent. Additionally, women are more likely to be undecided voters, with a third of them unsure, while only a quarter of men fall into this category. This gender gap, along with other demographic factors, illustrates the fascinating competition between Hungary’s leading political parties.
Photo: FB/Magyar
Tisza MEPs ‘voted for migration, against Hungarians’, says Fidesz MEP
MEPs of the opposition Tisza party have voted “in favour of migration and against Hungarians” several times in the European Parliament, the head of the Fidesz-Christian Democrat (KDNP) delegation said on Thursday, adding that Tisza MEPs voted to speed up the implementation of the EU’s migration pact at the EP vote on the 2025 EU budget.
Tamás Deutsch told Hungarian journalists that Tisza MEPs also supported an EU proposal to raise by 10 billion euros funds for ensuring the welfare of migrants. In another vote, they supported a proposal “that says it was right to fine Hungary for 200 million euros for rejecting migration and for operating legal and physical barriers to keep migrants out.”
Further, Tisza MEPs voted against a proposal to allocated 2 million euros to fund Hungary’s maintenance of the border fence, he said.
The opposition MEPs were ready “to fulfil EU expectations and help turn Hungary into an immigration country by forcing it to allow in illegal migrants. We will not allow that, and we will thwart Tisza’s attempts,” Deutsch said.
Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör noted that Tisza had earlier said that they would align their position with that of the European People’s Party. “Their alignment to Brussels means more migration, more war expenditures and less financial support for Hungary. Rather than giving up a little bit of sovereignty, this spells damage that will be hard to repair,” Dömötör said.
“Those who hold dear Hungary’s sovereignty, culture and financial independence can only count on the MEPs of Fidesz-Christian Democrats,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Fidesz delegation said in a statement that the “leftist majority of the EP voted for a war budget” in a vote on budget amendments. “This budget will finance ongoing institutional blackmail, the rule-of-law jihad, the madness of gender ideology and woke, and the Soros network,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Fidesz rejected the amendments in line with its Patriots for Europe party family, it said.
PfE MEPs have also called for the monies Hungary is entitled to be paid as soon as possible, and guarantees that those sums would not be spent for other purposes, the statement said. They have also called for the “discriminative decision” excluding Hungarian universities, researchers and students from the Horizon and Erasmus programmes, it said.
Addressing a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, opposition Tisza Party MEP Péter Magyar said the premierships of Ferenc Gyurcsány and Viktor Orbán “were the decades of missed opportunities”, insisting that Hungary had become “the poorest and most corrupt” country in the European Union.
Responding to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech on the Hungarian EU presidency’s programme, Magyar said Orbán “had every opportunity over the last 14 years to make Hungary a land of fulfilled promises”.
“Our ancestors fought for centuries for our country’s independence and sovereignty and to make Hungary a part of Europe,” Magyar said. “An overwhelming majority of Hungarians voted to join NATO and the EU, and if they had to vote today, they’d say the same thing.”
Magyar said he was in agreement with Orbánon the need to protect the EU’s external borders and take firm action against illegal migration. He criticised Hungary’s government for “releasing 2,000 people smugglers from Hungarian prisons”. He accused “government-affiliated oligarchs” of “doing business with residency bonds” and the government of planning to build a “migrant camp” near the border with Austria.
Photo: FB/Orbán
“Why have you spent 1,309 billion forints (EUR 3.3bn) on propaganda in five years when the Hungarian state isn’t functioning and public services are falling apart?” Magyar said.
Magyar shook hands with Orbán after his speech:
Russians blackmailing Orbán?
Klára Dobrev, an MEP of the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition, said Europe “doesn’t care” about the programme of the Hungarian EU presidency because it considered it “unserious and filled with platitudes”. She insisted that the Hungarian prime minister was “growing more and more detached from reality, fighting enemies that are the figments of his own imagination and alienating Hungary’s true friends and allies”.
Dobrev said Orbán was setting up obstacles to EU policies with the intention of helping Russia and its oligarchs and aiding extortionate Russian gas and energy imports to the benefit of Russian President Putin. She called on Orbán to “reveal what the Russians are blackmailing you with”.
Photo: Facebook/Dobrev Klára
Orbán’s MEP Tamás Deutsch thinks Magyar has mental problems
Tamás Deutsch, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, said Magyar had “mental problems”, arguing that he had admitted to secretly recording a conversation with his wife for the purpose of blackmailing her later, and that he had “psychologically abused” her.
“Magyar’s actions are a textbook example of domestic abuse,” Deutsch said. “But he’s also in legal trouble because he has committed a crime,” Deutsch added, noting the allegation that the Tisza leader accosted an individual at a club and stole his mobile phone before throwing it in the Danube.
Deutsch said Magyar was “hiding behind his immunity to escape accountability”, calling on MEPs “not to be his accomplices”.
Csaba Dömötör, another Fidesz MEP, said the EP was “mounting a witch hunt” against Hungary while the EU’s competitiveness was weakening and the Schengen system “crumbling”.
Zsuzsanna Borvendég of the Our Homeland Movement accused the EU of “punishing” Hungary, withholding funds the country is entitled to and refusing to contribute to border protection costs. She said the EU also wanted to boycott the programme of the Hungarian EU presidency despite the fact that it had put important issues on the agenda.
UPDATE – Orbán’s reactions
Europe must be protected from European left
Europe must be protected from the European left wing, “as they think democracy only exists as long as they win and ends as soon as the right wins”, the prime minister said during a debate on the Hungarian presidency’s programme at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. In his response to MEPs’ speeches, Viktor Orbán said the debate “has long left behind common sense and the world of facts”. The EP “has become a field of cheap propaganda,” he said.
Orbán said that propaganda rendered intelligent, impartial debate on the rule of law and corruption impossible. According to the European Commission’s report on the rule of law and Hungary’s judiciary, the country “has complied with all demands and requests”, he said, adding that the EC itself had found Hungary’s public procurement system to be fully in line with Brussels requirements.
The proportion of Hungarian respondents who said they were satisfied with the state of democracy in their country was higher than that in most other European countries, he said.
“It is possibly not by chance that Hungarian voters have consistently put their trust in us at elections.”
MEP beat peaceful people with an iron bar in the streets of Budapest
Responding to accusations of graft levelled at Hungary and Orbán himself, he said: “If you read data published by the World Bank, rather than corruption reports funded by George Soros, you would see that Hungary is up to scratch in that regard. It is no different from your countries.”
Orbán called it “absurd” that Green MEP Ilaria Salis, “an antifa activist arrested in Budapest who beat peaceful people with an iron bar in the streets”, was speaking about the rule of law. A Belgian MEP also “lectured Hungary on the rule of law”, even when a conference on that very topic was recently “banned” in Brussels, he said.
Putin sat in their kitchen
Commenting on a statement by the European Socialists, who said Hungary “has an overly friendly relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán turned to Democratic Coalition MEP Klára Dobrev, saying: “When your husband [Ferenc Gyurcsány] was prime minister, Putin sat in your kitchen. You used to be proud of that and flooded the Hungarian media with pictures of the event.”
He lamented that an occasion to present the Hungarian presidency’s programme to the EP had “turned into a debate on Hungarian domestic politics”. At the same time, MEPs “can see clearly that Hungarian democracy is fine, thank you; it is robust and strong.”
He said “it isn’t right” that Hungarian MEPs “attacked” their country in the EP. “What sort of person would use an international forum to attack their own country?”
It was also “absurd”, he said, that a Hungarian MEP now sitting in the European People’s Party had recently told the Hungarian public that being an MEP was a “fake job, only for making good money”.
Europe must be protected from the left
Referring to Tisza party leader Péter Magyar, Orbán said: “I think it is egregious that a Hungarian should talk about abuse [of power] here, even as there is an ongoing procedure against him for theft at home,” adding that Magyar had “clearly” taken on his mandate “only to hide behind his MEP immunity”.
“I must say it seems that the left thinks democracy only exists as long as they win, and ends as soon as the right wins,” he said, adding that Europe was to be protected from the left.
“More respect for Hungary! More respect for Hungarians!” he said in conclusion.
Read also:
PM Orbán in the ‘lion’s den’: can he convince the European Parliament that he wasn’t a traitor? – read more HERE
VIDEO: Counter-protester interrupts start of Viktor Orbán’s press conference in Strasbourg – details in THISarticle
Hungary’s radical Our Homeland Movement and its European allies have decided to set up a new group in the European Parliament, the party’s leader said on the X social media platform on Wednesday.
László Toroczkai said “we won’t negotiate with Europe’s enemies, nor will we aspire to join them; we want to defeat them.”
Germany’s AfD announced earlier in the day that it could meet the EP requirements to set up a group with other parties including Our Homeland, France’s Reconquete, Poland’s Konfederacja, Bulgaria’s Revival party, Spain’s Se Acabo La Fiesta, Czechia’s SPD, Slovakia’s Republika and Latvia’s People and Justice Union.
AfD has proposed that the new group be dubbed Europe of Sovereign Nations.
Read also:
Our Homeland beyond the shocking increase of anti-vaxxer parents in Hungary? – Read more HERE
Fatal childhood diseases may return if the number of anti-vaxxer parents continues to grow in Hungary. There is already an organisation providing legal and medical advice to these parents on how to sue doctors.
Anti-vaxxer doctors cannot be excluded anymore
According to the General Secretary of the Hungarian Paediatric Association, one in every five children died before compulsory vaccination for childhood diseases like pertussis and diphtheria. Even so, the number of anti-vaxxer parents is skyrocketing in Hungary, which may lead to future tragedies.
Based on the information from the Hungarian Medical Chamber (MOK), parents are suing doctors over compulsory vaccination. They receive legal and medical assistance from anti-vaxxer doctors and lawyers. Péter Álmos, the president of MOK, mentioned that these doctors and lawyers coach parents on what to say to extract incriminating statements from the doctors. Mr Álmos added that the government has abolished compulsory MOK membership, preventing them from excluding anti-vaxxer doctors.
Photo: FB
Hungarian party behind anti-vaxxer parents?
Tamás Svéd, the General Secretary of the chamber, stated that some doctors are attempting to gain personal and political advantages by campaigning against vaccination. It has been reported multiple times that Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland), a right-wing radical party in Hungary, has also campaigned against compulsory COVID-19 vaccination.
This activity may have encouraged vaccine hesitancy. Magyar Nemzet, a government-aligned daily, reported that the party could be behind the increase in anti-vaxxer parents. The paper noted that the number of exemptions from compulsory childhood vaccinations rose to 96 in 2024, compared to only 19 in 2021.
Waiting for the COVID-19 vaccination. https://www.facebook.com/koronavirus.gov.hu/photos
RTL Klub reported that the number of pertussis patients has increased over the last few years from 10 to 70. Experts believe that this is partly due to fewer people being vaccinated against it in neighbouring countries compared to Hungary.
Read also:
Hungarian minister announces end of public-private healthcare divide – Read more HERE
Semmelweis University completesfirst liver transplant with shared organ in Hungary
The ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance garnered 44.61 percent of the European parliamentary elections on Sunday, which could have been sufficient to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority at home, the pro-government Nézőpont Institute has said.
According to a statement released on Monday the results of the coalition of the leftist parties (8.1pc), the new entrant Tisza party (26.7pc), or the Our Homeland party (6.8pc) “would not be enough to topple the government or to dismantle the two-thirds majority of the ruling parties”.
Nézőpont said that according to its calculation model, if Hungary had held national elections on Sunday, the ruling parties could have secured 135 parliamentary seats, while the opposition parties “would have suffered an even greater defeat than in 2022”. In such a scenario, the Tisza party would be the largest opposition group with 45 mandates, the leftist parties’ coalition with 10 mandates, and Our Homeland with 8 seats.
It said that parties that had failed to make it to the EP this time would not have won seats in the Hungarian parliament, either.
Fidesz won its first two-thirds majority in 2010 when it changed the law on Hungarian elections and has been amended several times since then.
The government side was 10 percentage points worse off than in April 2022, with an unusually high turnout in the EP elections, and only two million list votes. The Fidesz-KDNP has never before achieved such a modest result in an EP election (the previous low was 47.4% in 2004)
Undoubtedly, the 2024 EP and municipal elections brought a huge reshuffle on the Hungarian political map. Some parties have so far looked strong but have barely received any votes, and on the opposition side, there is only one clear winner from yesterday’s election, Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party.
List
Number of valid votes cast for the list
Percentage of valid votes cast for a list
Mandates obtained
FIDESZ-KDNP
2 015 972
44,62%
11
TISZA
1 341 499
29,69%
7
MSZP-DK-Párbeszéd- ZÖLDEK
366 093
8,10%
2
Mi Hazánk
305 226
6,76%
1
Momentum
166 457
3,68%
0
MKKP
161 806
3,58%
0
Jobbik
45 323
1,00%
0
LMP – Zöldek
39 423
0,87%
0
2RK Párt
30 718
0,68%
0
MMN
29 111
0,64%
0
MEMO
16 727
0,37%
0
Összesen
4 518 355
100,00%
21
Magyar: Tisza party shows that politics ‘can be beautiful, just and honest’
Péter Magyar, deputy leader and EP list-leading candidate of the Respect and Freedom (Tisza) party, said the Tisza party would prove to the Hungarian people that politics “can be beautiful, just and honest”.
“Today marks the end of an era and the start of the future,” Magyar told Tisza party supporters as the election results were announced in the early hours of Monday. “The greatest result is that this is the beginning of the end for the [Fidesz] Alliance of Young Democrats and the System of National Cooperation.”
“Despite the billions burned on propaganda, the war psychosis, the hate propaganda, the Hungarian people have seen through the charade,” he said. “Fidesz has never achieved such a weak result in the EP elections.”
“There’s no turning back; this is the slope that [former Socialist PM] Ferenc Gyurcsány also started on, and it’s easy to pick up speed up on it.”
He said Fidesz had lost the public’s trust, and had a chance to decide to call early elections in Hungary in the coming months. He insisted that one reason to call early elections was because it was uncertain whether the government could “survive the austerity that will be coming because of the state of the budget”.
He said it was up to ruling Fidesz to decide “whether they will use the next two years to continue robbing their country”.
In response to a question, he said he had not yet decided whether he would take up his mandate in the Budapest municipal assembly or the European Parliament. He noted that he had said in the past that he would not become an MEP, adding, however, that the party would be the one to decide.
Magyar said Tisza would be joining the European People’s Party in the European Parliament. He said he had discussed this with Manfred Weber, the EPP’s leader, on the phone last week, and they had agreed that Tisza will send its official application after the results came in. Tisza could join the EPP group as early as next week, he said.
Dobrev laments ‘disappointing result’
Klára Dobrev, the list-leading MEP candidate of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), Socialist and Dialogue-Greens parties, called the outcome of Hungary’s European parliamentary and local elections “disappointing”, at a ballot-watch early on Monday.
Dobrev said they had thought that their policies would “convince more people”.
She said three of the four parties that would be representing Hungary in the EP were right wing and they “envision a very different Europe to the one we do”. She said they still believed that a strong Europe could guarantee prosperity to Hungarians in their everyday lives.
Dobrev said that over the coming months and years DK would aim to convince more and more people that they could only prosper in a strong Europe, arguing that Hungary would be “crippled” by a weakened Europe.
Ferenc Gyurcsany, DK’s leader, said the elections had “significantly reshaped the Hungarian political map”, adding that the reasons behind this and its consequences would be discussed in depth in the coming days and weeks.
He said it was “disappointing” that DK would have fewer MEPs than they had wanted, “but the European idea we represent won’t change”.
Toroczkai: Four political forces to decide Hungary’s direction from 2026
The four political forces “that remain standing” after the 2024 European parliamentary and local elections “will be the ones to decide Hungary’s fate”, the leader of the Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazánk) said in the early hours of Monday.
László Toroczkai told a press conference before the final results were published that it was clear his radical party had achieved its main goal of winning a seat in the European Parliament.
Concerning his party’s performance in the local elections, he said Our Homeland appeared to be the second strongest party outside the capital, arguing that the party was in second place in several county assemblies.
Donáth: ‘We will continue to build’
The Momentum party will “continue to build”, Anna Donáth, the leader of the party’s EP election list, said in Budapest early on Monday, adding that Momentum had won seats in all but one of the county assemblies, with over 20 percent in Pest county.
Assessing the results of Sunday’s local and European parliamentary elections, Donath noted that Momentum also won a number of mayoral seats, in the 6th, 8th and 14th districts of Budapest, as well as in several rural localities.
She thanked the 120,000 voters for their support in the European parliamentary elections, in which Momentum failed to reach the parliamentary threshold, adding that Momentum would carry on its work “because it has pledged to represent them”.
Márki-Zay: ‘We’re committed to making Hungary a democratic state’
The incumbent mayor of Hódmezővásárhely, Péter Márki-Zay, who was reelected in the local election on Sunday, said his Everybody’s Hungary People’s Party was committed to Hungary as a democratic state governed by the rule of law.
Márki-Zay, who is also the party’s leader and the former prime minister candidate of the joint opposition, congratulated party activists and supporters in the early hours of Monday.
Citing preliminary results, he said the ruling Fidesz-led alliance had won two fewer European Parliament seats compared with five years ago.
The opposition Respect and Freedom (Tisza) Party held a campaign closing event on Saturday, where party head Péter Magyar called on people to vote at tomorrow’s election, saying “bad and corrupt politicians are elected by citizens who don’t vote”.
Opposition parties’ campaign closing events
At the event held at Budapest’s Heroes’ Square, Magyarsaid people should reject all attempts of influencing as well as irregular ballot papers.
Péter Magyar’s demonstration on 8 June. According to preliminary estimates, hundreds of thousands of people took part. Photo: Daily News Hungary/Mercédesz Hetzmann
The party aims to eliminate the power of those with privilege, restore the prestige of education and rebuild health care, he said. Tisza would “eliminate fear-mongering propaganda”, he said.
Should Tisza come to power, it would introduce the euro, join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, “bring home thousands of billions [of funding] from the EU”, introduce a minimum pension and stop the influx of Asian guest workers, he said.
“If you don’t want Hungary to be the most corrupt European country, vote for the Tisza Party,” he said.
At a separate event in Szigetszentmiklós, near Budapest, Klára Dobrev, the top MEP candidate of the allied Democratic Coalition-Socialist-Dialogue parties said the alliance was going to “replace Fidesz from the left”.
The leftist alliance wants a fairer country with more solidarity, and a strong Europe “we call the United States of Europe”, Dobrev said. She said her alliance was facing three right-wing parties: Fidesz, the Our Homeland Movement and the Tisza Party which “all talk about Brussels and double standards and would weaken Hungary” by weakening Europe.
Alexandra Szentkirályi is withdrawing her candidacy for Budapest mayor and asking her supporters to vote for Dávid Vitézy.
Szentkirályi, the candidate of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrats, announced her withdrawal on Facebook early on Friday. She asked her supporters to vote for Vitézy as Budapest mayor and for the Fidesz-Christian Democrats list.
Now three candidates, Gergely Karácsony (Párbeszéd-DK-MSZP), Dávid Vitézy (LMP) and András Grundtner (Mi Hazánk Mozgalom/Our Homeland Movement) remain in the race; however, a close fight is expected to be decided between Gergely Karácsony and Dávid Vitézy.
Vitézy and Karácsony reacted
Vitézy, who has been put forward by green opposition party LMP and a local association, said “the first win is there the second will come on Sunday”.
He said on Facebook that when he embarked on his campaign he knew he would have to defeat the government policy associated with transport minister Janos Lazar, “which is stymieing all key developments”, as well as the “national political ambitions” of Gergely Karácsony, the incumbent, “who complains and procrastinates while doing nothing”.
He said that as mayor he would not form a coalition with either Fidesz or the leftist Democratic Coalition. Budapest and the capital’s companies would be “run by professionals rather than failed party cliques”.
“Gyurcsany’s people are off, but Orban’s people can’t take their place either,” he said, referring to the former Socialist prime minister who leads the Democratic Coalition and the current premier, respectively.
Candidates of five political parties in the Budapest municipal election set for June 9 participated in a debate hosted by commercial television channel ATV late on Sunday and presented their proposals for the capital’s development.
The debate was attended by Krisztina Baranyi, incumbent mayor of District 9 and the Budapest list leader of the satirical Two-Tailed Dog party, András Grundtner, list leader of radical nationalist Mi Hazánk, incumbent Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, list leader of the Párbeszéd-Greens-DK-Socialists alliance, Tamás Soproni, mayor of District 6 and second on the list of Momentum, as well as Dávid Vitézy, list leader of the With Dávid Vitézy Association for Budapest and a politician backed by the LMP party.
ATV said Alexandra Szentkirályi, the list leader of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance, and Péter Magyar of the Tisza Party had declined to attend.
Baranyi
In the debate, focusing on traffic developments, making Budapest a more resident-friendly city, and cooperation between the government and the city’s leadership, Baranyi said in local affairs local leaders were need “who will build a community”, adding that “everybody is bored with Hungarian politics” and suggested that her party sought the votes of those people. Concerning traffic developments, she noted the high rate of carcinogenic particles in the air, and called for reducing vehicular traffic. She said she did not agree with centralising parking fee collection in Budapest, as she said it was “a hotbed for corruption”. She noted a “housing crisis” in Budapest and said the government should be “forced” to finance plans to build accommodation for students. She also suggested the introduction of subsidies for people facing homelessness, and giving more focus to such vulnerable groups as the victims of domestic violence.
Grundtner
Grundtner said that “though there is no Hungary without Budapest and there is no Budapest without the country … Budapest has become separated from the body of the nation, like a city state … people flee Hungary while foreigners keep settling in” adding that Mi Hazank would prevent “the formation of unliveable ghettos”. Concerning housing, he said his party would scrap taxes on private rental revenues, while universities would not be allowed to increase the number of their students unless they could provide enough capacity in student hostels. He said the city’s leadership should always strive for good relations with the central government to ensure access to subsidies. He also suggested the establishment of a municipal police and noted the importance of action against animal cruelty.
Vitézy
Vitézy said he did not want to be “a party politician … using Budapest as a springboard”. He said his focus was Budapest’s development. He said public transport services between central Budapest and its greater area must be improved, and called for a “fight” for government support to an upgrade of suburban train services and railway developments, developing the tram network and speeding up road renovations. He also argued for centralising the parking fee collection system. Concerning the city’s relationship with the government, Vitézy said “continuous fussing” with the government “led nowhere” and criticised Karacsony for “getting involving in national politics rather than promoting the interests of Budapest residents”. On the subject of the environment, he called for “preparing Budapest for climate change” through enlarging its parks. He also called for the development of an animal protection system. He called for efforts to make the city and its transport cleaner and said that in the city’s “rust belt” areas, 10,000 housing units could be constructed using private investments.
Karácsony
Karácsony said “those that have not turned up at the debate have sent the clear message of having nothing to say for the people of Budapest”. The mayor said he would work for “an even greener Budapest with more solidarity for needy residents”. He said the city called for cleaner air and affordable rental housing. In the next cycle, he said, the city would spend a total 56 billion forints in EU funding for increasing green areas under his leadership. He said the municipal leadership “must work to ensure a longer, more complete and healthier life for residents”. Karácsony noted that life expectancy in Budapest was 5 years lower than in other capitals of Europe. He insisted that in the past five years, Budapest had seen “the largest outpatient service development” in its history and said he wanted to continue in that spirit. He also stressed that health institutions should be kept under the control of district governments rather than centralised. Budapest is a “free, loyal and diverse European city … while the government represents the opposite of all that, which does not make cooperation easy.” He added, however, that he was willing to cooperate “with anyone” but he would not give up his principles.
Soproni
Soproni said his party represented progressive and liberal values and was working to ensure transparency, while it was “free of even the shadow of corruption, which cannot be said of all opposition parties.” Concerning transport, he said vehicular traffic should be reduced, and pledged an introduction of all-night metro services. He slammed the government for cutting funds for the city and curbing the rights of districts. Momentum “offers and extended hand” to the government, and will “always promote the interests of residents” in the municipal assembly, he said. He added that his party would support introduction of a traffic jam fee. Soproni also offered his party’s support to Karácsony “in efforts to jointly develop Budapest.”
