Tens of thousands of Hungarians marched through the streets of Budapest on Thursday as rival political rallies were staged in the capital, marking Memorial Day for the Revolution of 1956, the anniversary of the country’s failed uprising against the Soviet Union.It coincides with campaign season ahead of an April ballot that could see the prime minister face the biggest electoral challenge of his career.The rallies are seen as a barometer of support for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the longest serving leader in the EU, and challenger Peter Magyar and his Tisza party, with both running neck-and-neck in the polls six-months out from a general election.Prime Minister Orban’s self-labeled “peace march” got under way first, with his supporters marching under a banner reading, “We don’t want to die for Ukraine.” Supporters of Orban’s pro-EU political rival Peter Magyar marched under a banner demanding “system change” in what he and his center-right Tisza party dubbed a “national rally.”Viktor Orban, a nationalist, has led Hungary for 15 years as a far-right populist with increasingly strained ties to the EU but ever-friendlier relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is also a friend of US President Donald Trump.Peter Magyar, a 44-year-old former lawyer and ex-Fidesz insider turned EU parliamentarian, has ridden a wave of economic and political dissatisfaction to become Orban’s main challenger after publicly breaking with him and his party in February 2024.
What did Orban tell his supporters?
Addressing supporters at Parliament Square, Orban, a fierce critic of most things EU and Ukraine, accused Brussels of sabotaging President Trump’s efforts to end the war there.“Brussels has decided to go to war. If Brussels did not hinder the US president’s peace mission, the war would already be over,” Orban told his flag-waving crowd.Orban has repeatedly infuriated both the EU and fellow European leaders by opposing military aid to Ukraine and vehemently attacking the idea of EU and Nato membership for Kyiv while at the same time maintaining close ties with the Kremlin despite concerted EU efforts to isolate Moscow over its invasion of neighboring Ukraine.Orban and his Fidesz party argue that Hungary’s sovereignty is not threatened by Russia today but “the imperial aspirations of the European Union.”The prime minister is expected to travel to Brussels later Thursday for an EU summit on support for Kyiv.
Orban attempts to frame opponents as clueless warmongers
Despite the tight political race right now, things had been looking up for Orban last week when Trump and Putin announced that peace talks would soon be held in Budapest, much to the consternation of Kyiv for historical reasons as well as over Orban’s involvement in any negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, before canceling them.Political observers see focus on the war as advantageous to Orban, who is pitching himself and his supporters as “pacifists” and Brussels, Tisza and anyone who supports Ukraine as “warmongers.”Orban, who labeled the opposition rally a “Brussels war march,” turned his rhetoric toward Magyar and Tisza in his remarks, saying, “Those who believe they are supporting a change of government are in fact supporting war, whether they realize it or not.”
What did Magyar say to his supporters?
Later on Thursday, Magyar waved a Hungarian flag as he addressed thousands of his own supporters at Heroes’ Square.After marching through the streets of Budapest chanting “Russians go home,” referencing both 1956 and the perceived surge in Russian influence over Hungary’s politics today, Magyar’s supporters, cheered him, shouting “We’ve had enough.”Magyar used the historical significance of the day to highlight Orban’s dramatic shift in stance over the years by taking supporters back to 1989, when Orban demanded Soviet troops get out of Hungary.“That politician who demanded Russian troops should leave Hungary, now is the most loyal ally of the Kremlin,” said Magyar. “He built a system in which power is centralized, the press is under control… and the country is ruled by fear.”Magyar is running as an anti-corruption candidate and rails against Orban’s leadership, pointing out that under him Hungary has become the EU’s poorest and most corrupt member state.Magyar has increasingly taken his message to rural voters, recently completing an 80-day open forum discussion tour of the nation. His push is a direct threat to Fidesz, which draws most of its support from rural voters.
