Elections in Hungary : Who is Péter Magyar ?

For 16 years, Viktor Orbán’s conservative, Eurosceptic and openly pro-Russian Fidesz party ruled (and slowly eroded democracy in) Hungary. But last Sunday’s parliamentary elections brought an end to his rule. On 12th April 2026, Hungary elected Péter Magyar and his Tisza party. Who is Péter Magyar and how much of a change he is for Hungary?

Who Is Péter Magyar?

Péter Magyar wasn’t always Orbán’s enemy… As a lawyer from a rich family with Catholic education, he was actually the prototype of a Fidesz party member. And so was his wife, Judith Varga, the Minister of Justice under Orbán’s government. For years, Magyar moved in Fides’s inner circle. He held well-paid positions in state and semi-state companies, including the Hungarian Development Bank or the Student Loan Center.

But everything changed in 2024…

From Orbán’s ally to his greatest enemy

In February 2024, it was revealed that Hungary’s president Katalin Novák had pardoned a man convicted of helping cover up child sexual abuse in a state-run children’s home. The pardon was signed by Judith Varga. The scandal shocked Hungary. It was one of the first moments when some of Fidesz’s supporters started questioning their choices.

Both Novák and Varga resigned. But these two were only the top of the iceberg – its underwater part remained unmelted. And Péter Magyar started to criticise it. Even though at that time he was already divorced from Varga, at first he somehow defended her in his Facebook post by saying that he “doesn’t want to be a part of a system when the true leaders hide behind women’s skirts.”

However, he soon sharpened his rhetoric against Varga too and released a recording he secretly made of her. In this recording Varga describes how government officials removed evidence from court records to cover up their role in corruption. Varga responded by accusing Magyar of domestic violence. Magyar denied, calling it a smear campaign to discredit him.

As a result of the whole affair, and Magyar’s appearances in the opposition media (like the below Partizán), where he criticized the Orbán government, Magyar gained visibility and peoples’ trust. Since the European Parliament elections were approaching at that time, he decided to try his political chance.

Tisza party

Since Magyar didn’t have the time to create a political party “from scratch”, he revived Tisza, a small, and to that point non-significant party. Tisza is a combination of the beginnings of the Hungarian words “respect” and “freedom”. Created in 2020 as an opposition to Viktor Orbán, Tisza was a conservative, pro-European party. We would find it more on the center-right / right side of the political spectrum.

However, Tisza has always been (and even under Magyar still is) a populist party. Marketing itself as a party “for all” without taking a clear ideological position so it wouldn’t discourage some of its diverse voters.

In the two months remaining until the European election, Péter Magyar managed to gain so much support that he ended up second with 29% of the vote.

Why Magyar won?

Whereas Orbán built his program on polarizing topics such as LGBTQ+ rights or migration, Magyar focused on fighting issues that everyone could agree are objectively problematic : like corruption, deteriorating healthcare or education… – even voters who wouldn’t normally vote for conservatives.

Magyar also managed to market Tisza as a party that came “from below” but that is, at the same time, full of strong leaders who know what they are doing. He mobilized activists in smaller towns. This gave people the impression that with Tisza they can be directly involved in politics, and helped spread the campaign outside of the capital Budapest. At the same time, he filled key party positions with professionals with rich leadership and managerial experience they gained by working for big companies like Shell or Vodafone.

Last but not least, Magyar managed to “bypass” pro-orban media by leading an intensive campaign on social media and at the same time meeting voters face to face. Even in areas with a large share of Orbán voters where other opposition parties had already given up.

Why should we care ?

Because under Orbán Hungary was Russia’s closest ally in the EU. Sometimes even called “Putin’s Trojan Horse”. Since many decisions in which the EU would have taken a more severe stance towards Russia (like freezing Russian assets in Europe or sending financial help to Ukraine) had to be made unanimously and Hungary blocked it.

Because the Hungarian case gives hope. Even though, during his 16 years rule, Orbán damaged the democratical system (gaining control over the media, changing laws in his favour…) he didn’t destroy it completely. Magyar’s victory shows that even in a semi-authoritarian state, democracy still has a chance. But people need to fight for it – it won’t happen by itself.

Because Magyar is still a populist. His political development shows that he is capable of opportunistically changing his mind as it suits him. And such people can be dangerous. They often start as reformers, but end up authoritarian. We don’t have to go too far for an example – even Orbán posed as an alternative at the beginning and look how it turned out… So we can celebrate, but we should also stay cautious.