Hungarian Member of European Parliament Péter Magyar has been hailed by leading globalists on both sides of the Atlantic for his convincing victory over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during Sunday’s parliamentary elections; however, it remains unclear how the supposed centre-right politician will govern in Budapest.
Just two years after splitting from Orbán’s Fidesz party, Péter Magyar, 45, whose Tisza (Respect and Freedom) Party rocketed from relative obscurity to victory on Sunday, is set to be elevated from a lowly MEP role to the highest government office in Hungary after securing enough votes for a super majority in the Országgyűlés parliament.
His decisive win over Orbán, who had long stood as a counterweight to the neo-liberal Brussels agenda, has instantly earned Magyar golden boy status for arch globalists, including longtime Orbán nemesis Ursula von der Leyen.
The unelected president of the European Commission said on Monday, “Today, Europe is Hungarian. We are stronger. More united. To the people of Hungary – you’ve done it again. You have spoken. You have chosen Europe. It’s a victory for fundamental freedoms.”
Von der Leyen and her cohort in Brussels have been accused of engaging in election interference by withholding billions in funding from Hungary over domestic legislation passed by the outgoing Orbán government. The tacit implication has long been that if the Hungarian people voted out the populist PM, the spigots of EU cash would once again flow, as was the case when Poland voted out its conservative government in 2023 in favour of a ‘liberal’ government led by former EU Council chief Donald Tusk.
Rather than address the anti-democratic measures by Brussels, legacy media outlets and liberal opponents chose instead to accuse Orbán of acting like a dictator. Despite accepting his defeat — as he previously did in 2002 the last time he was voted out of office — the accusations against the outgoing leader continued unabated.
Former U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — who has yet to accept the legitimacy of the 2016 election victory of President Donald Trump — said: “The end of Viktor Orbán’s autocratic regime is a victory not just for Hungary, but for people who value democracy around the world.
“Congratulations to Tisza, to incoming leader Péter Magyar, and to Hungarians everywhere.”
Former U.S. President Barack Obama also chimed in, adding: “The victory of the opposition in Hungary yesterday, like the Polish election in 2023, is a victory for democracy, not just in Europe but around the world. Most of all, it’s a testament to the resilience and determination of the Hungarian people – and a reminder to all of us to keep striving for fairness, equality and the rule of law.”
Yet observers were quick to note that while Magyar has cast himself as fervently pro-EU, he campaigned as a centre-right conservative, vowing to continue many of his predecessor’s policies, particularly on immigration.
For example, the Tisza leader has said that his government would maintain the border fence protections erected by the Orbán government to protect the country from illegal immigrants. Magyar has also signalled that Budapest will continue to oppose the migrant relocation scheme within the EU asylum pact, which the Fidesz government fervently opposes. However, some observers believe that Magyar is likely to negotiate with Brussels to avoid hefty fines for refusing to accept alleged asylum seekers from fellow member states.
Critics have noted that the MEP had surrounded himself with open borders advocates, including tapping a Soros-tied international lawyer, Boldizsar Nagy, as an advisor to his party on immigration. According to the Magyar Nemzet newspaper, Nagy backed Brussels sanctions against Hungary for refusing supposed asylum seekers under the EU migration pact, opposed the border wall, rejected the reality that terrorists often enter the country as asylum seekers, and even disagreed with the term “illegal migrant”.
Unsurprisingly, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Open Society Foundations, Alex Soros, was quick to hail Magyar on Sunday, writing that “the people of Hungary have taken back their country! A resounding rejection of entrenched corruption and foreign interference.”
X boss Elon Musk quipped that it was more of an indication that the “Soros Organization has taken over Hungary.”
Perhaps most critically for Hungary, Magyar claimed during his campaign that a Tisza government would oppose the demands from Brussels bigwigs to fast-track Ukraine’s EU accession. Orbán accused Magyar of hiding his true intentions and predicted that he would flip-flop on the issue once in office.
Critics have noted that Magyar’s party sits in the EU Parliament with the European People’s Party of Ursula von der Leyen, which stands as the most vocal supporter of allowing Ukraine to jump the queue and join the bloc. Orbán has warned that this would endanger Hungary’s supply of Russian energy, open the gates to mass migration, and undermine Hungarian farmers and others with the influx of cheaply produced goods from the neighbouring country.
It also remains to be seen how Magyar will govern on social issues. Although he largely avoided topics such as transgenderism and LGBTQ issues during the campaign, characterising them as distractions, it is thought likely that Magyar would have to reverse the ban on Pride Parades and the prohibition of LGBT content on children’s television programming if he hopes to deliver on his promise of convincing Brussels to deliver the frozen funding to Hungary.
However, Magyar has attempted to cast himself as a protector of children, having launched his leadership challenge off the back of the 2024 scandal, which saw then rising star Katalin Novák resign from her post as Hungarian president after it was revealed that she had pardoned the ex-deputy director of a children’s home who had been convicted of covering up child sexual abuse.
Alleging corruption and hypocrisy, Magyar, who had spent over a decade within Orbán’s Fidesz Party, went turncoat, split from the PM and joined the previously dormant Tisza party. The resignation instantly brought Magyar to national prominence and elevated him as Orbán’s chief opponent. It is unclear whether Magyar’s hands were entirely clean of the affair, as his ex-wife and former justice minister, Judit Varga, also resigned over the pardon.
Varga has since gone on to accuse her ex-husband of violent domestic abuse and of having blackmailed her. She also accused him of “betrayal” over the leaking of a secret recording made by Magyar in 2003 in which Varga apparently discussed deleting information from a government document.
Another former lover of PM-in-waiting Magyar, Evelin Vogel, has also spoken out publicly against Magyar, claiming that he has “no ideas or convictions”, that he is “not what he seems”, and is nothing more than a political opportunist.
In his first press conference on Monday, Magyar maintained that he will enforce border controls and refuse to accept asylum-seeker transfers from fellow EU states. He also said that his government will continue to oppose fast-tracked Ukraine admission into the EU, and will continue to buy gas and oil from Russia.
Nevertheless, Magyar stressed that he does not intend to govern as a “younger Orbán”, saying: “Everyone will see from our first steps that we implement a program that can be counted on.”
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