Viktor Orban calls the principle of fear if if his rival Peter Magyar will be triumphant in the 2026 elections
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a press conference in Budapest, February 12, 2025. Photo: Attila Kisbenedek / AFP / Profimedia
The 2026 elections will give the Hungarians the opportunity to choose between a party prepared to act alone and one that would bring “chaos and poverty” by aligning Hungary to policies in Brussels, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Sunday, Reuters reports.
In power in 2010, the Eurosceptic nationalist faces what political analysts consider to be the most difficult election campaign next year, in the context of stagnating the economy and persistent inflation, which prevents the rate of interest rate from 6.5%, the highest in the EU.
Orban, who said the European Union risks breaking up in the next decade, is trying to reject the challenge from the Center-Drepta C-candidate Peter Magyar with tax reductions for families, meal vouchers and cheap loans for those who buy the first home.
“Hungary has only two options from a strategic point of view,” Orban told the supporters of his right -wing party.
“One of the options is to join the policy in Brussels. In my opinion, this would be catastrophic, with consequences that would push us into chaos and poverty.”
Orban has repeatedly faced the EU on the right of migrants, the LGBT community, the freedom of courts and university cadres and support for Ukraine from the Russian invasion of February 2022.
On Sunday morning, Magyar, a former member of the government whose Tisza party is outraging by Orban in most polls, said Hungary is facing multiple simultaneous crises, the cost of life, public confidence and democratic standards.
If chosen, Magyar said he would revive Hungary's economy by unlocking billions of euros from EU funds suspended due to Orban's reforms in the field of law, by eradicating corruption and introducing a wealth tax, while reducing lower income taxes.
“Our country will again be an active and credible member of the European Union and NATO. Not an obstacle, but a valuable and constructive ally,” said Magyar.
