2026 Hungarian Election Battle Heats Up

Viktor Orbán speaks at the European Union in October 2024. (Wikimedia Commons)

Hungary marked the anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution on October 23 with rival political rallies in Budapest as the country prepares for parliamentary elections expected in April 2026, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of the Fidesz Party, who has been in power since 2010 and is Hungary’s longest-serving Prime Minister, faces a challenge from the new center-right pro-EU Tisza party led by Petér Magyar.

Magyar’s party is capitalizing on Hungarians’ dissatisfaction with persistent inflation and weak economic growth under Orbán’s leadership, according to EuroNews. At his rally, Magyar also criticized Orbán’s efforts to bring Hungary closer to Russia. Under Orbán, Hungary has continuously tried to block the EU’s support for Ukraine’s war effort, and Hungary continues to rely on Russia for over 80 percent of its energy imports, per Daily News Hungary.

Orbán struck a different, though familiar, tone at his rally, portraying the EU as a warmonger that will send Hungarians “to die for Ukraine,” per Reuters. He used similar rhetoric—questioning the EU’s support of Ukraine—to coast to victory in the previous 2022 parliamentary elections, according to The Guardian. 

Still, Hungary recently updated its national energy plan, quietly adding language that redefined dependence on energy imports from Russia as a “risk,” contradicting Orbán’s public messaging, per Daily News Hungary. Orbán also faces negative publicity stemming from the cancellation of a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that was set to be held in Budapest. Orbán sought to use the summit to show that “the road to peace runs through Budapest,” per CNN. Magyar’s Tisza party leads in most opinion polls, though much can change in the months leading up to election day.