Sunday, 12 April 2026 will be a crucial day for the European Union as Hungarians head to the polls for parliamentary elections.
Hungary’s current prime minister, Viktor Orbán, leader of the eurosceptic Fidesz party, will be challenged by Péter Magyar, leader of the Tisza party and a former member of Orbán’s own party.
To better understand what’s at stake for Budapest and Brussels, Brussels, My Love? sits down with Sandor Zsiros, Euronews’ EU correspondent who hails from Hungary.
Orbán vs Magyar
With 16 years in power, Orbán is Hungary’s most veteran politician in recent history.
According to Zsiros, his popularity is largely due to his political identity. “Orbán is a populist in a way that he always considers what people want,” Zsiros explained. “And, he’s a real power politician who is willing to fight his enemies in an extremely brutal way,” he continued.
Zsiros described how toxic the political campaigning leading up to the election has been. “This is not a real traditional political campaign; it’s a war, they want to destroy each other,” he explained.
Orbán’s main competitor in the election is Peter Magyar, leader of the increasingly popular Tisza party.
Defining the ideological line of Tisza is not easy: “There are a lot of liberal people, a lot of conservatives, also a bit of leftists, but generally the party orientation and the personality of Péter Magyar are very much right-wing conservative traditionalist,” Zsiros said.
In the European Parliament, Magyar’s party sits with the European People’s Party, the alliance of Europe’s centre-right parties while Fidesz is part of the far-right group Patriots for Europe.
One of the main differences between Orbán and Magyar lies in their approach to the EU.
Magyar’s party is pro-European and seeks to restore Hungary’s access to EU funds frozen over rule-of-law concerns. It also pledges to reduce ties between Budapest and Russia. By contrast, Orbán’s party has taken a more eurosceptic stance and maintains relatively close relations with Russia.
The outcome of this election will be crucial as it will impact the balance of power in the EU and influence many decisions, including the EU’s stance on Ukraine.
To find out more about these crucial elections, listen to this episode of Brussels, My Love? and follow our live blog on Sunday, 12 April.
Additional sources • David Brodheim, sound editor and mixer