Who does Viktor Orban point to as the “godfathers” of the rival party that threatens his political supremacy?
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Photo credit: Attila Kisbenedek / AFP / Profimedia
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban characterized the opposition as a “creation” of foreign powers in his state of the nation address on Saturday, as elections approach.
Orban listed German politicians in the European Parliament and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, as the main forces behind the growing conservative opposition – the Party of Respect and Freedom (Tisza), reports DPA and Agerpres.
A new parliament is due to be elected in Hungary on April 12, and for the first time in 16 years, the 63-year-old right-wing populist leader faces a serious challenge to hold on to power.
“We already know that our real opponents are not the Hungarian opposition parties. Our real opponents are their masters in Brussels,” Orban told a carefully selected audience in Budapest, DPA reports.
Led by Peter Magyar, the Tisza formation is given by polls as the potential winner of the next elections.
Candidates “lacking any political experience”. The strategy with which Péter Magyar wants to win the elections against Viktor Orbán and take power in Hungary
Orban claims the party is a “creation of Brussels”, orchestrated by German MEP Manfred Weber, president of the European People's Party (EPP), and having EC President Ursula von der Leyen as “godmother”.
“Germans know they need a Hungarian party,” Orban added, linking Tisza's emergence to Fidesz's 2021 departure from the EPP over refugee disputes.
In the European elections of 2024, Tisza got 30% of the votes starting from zero, and now his MEPs are part of the EPP group in the European Parliament.
Magyar, 19 years younger than Orban, is a former member of the ruling Fidesz party and has held relatively minor posts. For 17 years he was married to Judit Varga, former Minister of Justice, a fact that provided him with inside information on how the Orban government works, comments the DPA agency.
Magyar left Fidesz two years ago after a scandal involving the pardon of a pedophile ended his ex-wife's political career.
After leaving Fidesz, Magyar founded Tisza and, with a small team, built an energetic campaign using humor and social media to fight Orban's regime.
Tisza has maintained a ten percentage point lead over Fidesz in the polls for the past 18 years. His election manifesto, published a week ago, pledges Hungary to be “a credible, active and constructive member of the EU and NATO”.
The program with which the opposition wants to remove Viktor Orban from power. Among the measures, a wealth tax and the switch to the euro currency
“We will destroy the Brussels machine”
On the same occasion, Viktor Orban pledged on Saturday to continue his offensive against “pseudo-civilian organizations, journalists and bought politicians”, according to AFP.
“The oppressive machinery of Brussels is still working in Hungary, we will destroy it after April,” declared the nationalist leader.
“We have worked hard and we are making good progress, but this work is not over yet. That is why we must, and will, win the elections in April,” he assured.
Orban also said that US President Donald Trump “has stood up against the global network of liberals – businessmen, media and politicians – thus improving our chances”.
“We, too, can expel from Hungary the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty, as well as its agents,” Orban also said in the speech.
Ukraine is the “enemy” of Hungary, says Viktor Orban. Virulent speech of the prime minister from Budapest
