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Lawyer Péter Magyar won Hungary's parliamentary elections on Sunday at the head of the Tisza party, securing 53.65% of the votes. This victory ends 16 years of uninterrupted governance by Viktor Orbán and marks the most significant political change in the country since its democratic transition in 1989-1990.
Tisza secured 138 out of the 199 seats in the unicameral Parliament, surpassing the two-thirds majority set at 133 seats, which will allow Magyar to push through constitutional reforms without the need for other parties. Fidesz-KDNP, Orbán's party, obtained 37.76% of the votes and 55 seats. Orbán himself acknowledged the defeat to his supporters: "The results are painful for us, but clear: the responsibility of governing does not rest on us. I have congratulated the winning party," reported La Vanguardia.
But who is the man who accomplished what seemed impossible for years? Magyar was born in Budapest on March 16, 1981, and graduated in Law and Humanities from Péter Pázmány Catholic University. His political career began within the very universe of Fidesz; a declared admirer of Orbán in his youth, he joined the party in 2002 and developed his career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, at Hungary's permanent representation to the European Union in Brussels, and in the Prime Minister's Office since 2015.
His ex-wife, Judit Varga, was Minister of Justice from 2019 to 2023, which placed Magyar at the heart of Orbán's establishment.
The break occurred in February 2024, when Magyar resigned from his positions in state-owned companies and published recordings of conversations with Varga in which she admitted to having intervened in a presidential pardon in 2022 that benefited individuals convicted of covering up sexual abuse against minors in an orphanage. The scandal forced the resignation of President Katalin Novák and Varga herself.
On March 15, 2024, Magyar announced his new political platform and took over the leadership of Tisza, a small party that he transformed into the main opposition force in just two years.
One of the most distinctive features of Magyar is its hybrid ideological profile. It did not build its discourse on direct cultural confrontation with Orbán. It shares with him the defense of the nation, an emphasis on family, and sovereignist rhetoric, but introduces a stronger pro-European orientation, an anti-corruption discourse as a central theme, and a more pragmatic tone in foreign policy, distancing itself from the explicit alignment with Russia that has characterized Orbán.
This balance allowed him to articulate a cross-sectional base: disenchanted Fidesz voters, urban sectors and the youth, as well as the traditional opposition electorate that viewed him as the only viable option to displace the outgoing prime minister.
Unlike previous opposition attempts, Magyar did not join fragmented coalitions. He chose to build his own platform capable of uniting diverse sensibilities under a common goal. In the European elections of June 2024, Tisza had already secured 29.6% of the votes, the best result for a non-Fidesz party since 2006.
Their flagship program is Hungary's immediate entry into the European Prosecutor's Office to audit the use of public funds and unlock the 18 billion euros frozen by the European Union due to breaches of the rule of law.
The victory saw a record participation of 79.01% nationwide, surpassing the previous high of 70.53% recorded in 2002. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, celebrated the outcome with the message: "Hungary has chosen Europe. Europe has always chosen Hungary. A country claims its European path. The Union is being strengthened."
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