Orbán and Magyar summon rival crowds in Budapest ahead of April vote
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his main challenger, Péter Magyar, held rival rallies in Budapest on Sunday, with the two men each projecting strength as voters prepare to decide Hungary’s next government in April. Orbán, seeking a fifth consecutive election victory and governing since 2010, addressed supporters after a march across the Danube toward parliament, while Magyar drew a large crowd to Heroes’ Square as campaigning moved into its final month.
Orbán’s supporters turned out in large numbers for a show of force for his nationalist Fidesz party, while Magyar’s Tisza rally drew hundreds of thousands in Budapest, according to the Associated Press account of the events. The rallies were seen by campaign teams and political observers as a barometer for which side commands more support entering the final stretch of the race, which both men framed as a defining moment for Hungary’s direction.
At Heroes’ Square, Magyar charged that Orbán’s government has turned Hungarians against one another through propaganda and divisive policies, and he argued that Orbán is steering the country away from its place among Western democracies. Magyar told the crowd, “Our homeland is part of the West, our homeland is part of the European community, our country is part of NATO. And not because of treaties or charters, but because it is written in our destiny,” adding, “Our ancestors left us the inheritance of where we belong. We’re not afraid. We have learned from our ancestors that nothing lasts forever.”
Orbán, meanwhile, leaned more heavily into a message built around threats from outside forces, with the campaign increasingly focused on anti-Ukraine themes. In the run-up to the election, Orbán has relied on claims that Kyiv, the European Union and Tisza are part of a conspiracy to oust his government and install one that would financially support Ukraine and send soldiers to fight in the war against Russia, according to the AP report.
During his speech on Sunday, Orbán depicted a future filled with dangers that he said include war and mass migration, while promising he would preserve Hungary’s stability. He framed the election as a “crossroads” for Hungary’s future and repeatedly took aim at the EU and Ukraine, comparing them to invading forces from Hungary’s history. “We will be here even if hundreds of parachutists from Brussels fall from the sky,” Orbán said, referring to Belgium as the EU’s de facto capital, and he added, “We will round them up, dust off their pants and send them back, some to Brussels and some to Kyiv.”
The AP report said many Orbán supporters marched across a bridge over the Danube toward parliament, where Orbán delivered his remarks to a large crowd that filled a sprawling square. A banner at the front of the march read, “We won’t be a Ukrainian colony!” One supporter, Anikó Menyhárt, said Orbán’s appeal could be summed up in three words: “God, homeland, family,” and she said, “Only this government is able to secure these three things for the future.”
Magyar’s campaign has focused less on foreign threats and more on domestic conditions, the AP report said, including Hungary’s stagnating economy, deteriorating public services and a cost-of-living crisis. Magyar, the report said, is 44 and broke with Fidesz in 2024 after emerging as a prominent challenger, and his message has emphasized improving conditions for ordinary Hungarians while restoring what he says are democratic institutions that have eroded under Orbán.
Magyar has also sought to position Hungary’s election as a choice about the country’s alliances, telling supporters that he would steer Hungary back toward Western partners and away from what he describes as drift toward Moscow. He said in his Sunday remarks, “On April 12, we will achieve a victory that will be seen not only from the moon, but also from the Kremlin,” the AP report said, tying his expected outcome to both domestic change and international significance.
Independent polling has suggested Tisza holds an advantage over Fidesz, and the AP report pointed to a February survey by pollster Medián published by HVG showing Magyar’s party had a 20 percentage-point advantage among decided voters. Still, the outcome remained uncertain as Fidesz has worked to engage broad support in many rural areas and has leveraged its control over public broadcasters and a network of loyal media outlets to deliver its message, the AP report said.
As part of its campaign messaging, Orban’s side also used public funds for billboards, the AP report said, featuring an AI-manipulated image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flashing what the caption described as a sinister smile. A Tisza supporter, Attila Tóth, said he believed a Tisza government would improve education, healthcare and transportation, and he criticized Orbán’s use of public spaces for political messaging, adding, “(Tisza) won’t brainwash people, and you won’t feel sick when you walk down the street and see 15 posters every 100 meters (328 feet) telling you who the enemy is at the moment.”