On the eve of Hungary's bitterly fought and highly significant election, the two main rivals are taking their campaigns to the wire, as Péter Magyar attempts to end 16 years of continuous rule by Viktor Orbán's party Fidesz. 'We're at the gates of a two-thirds majority victory,' he told cheering supporters, before mingling for selfies. 'Let's gear up and push for the last 100 metres!'
His final campaign stop will be in the second city, Debrecen, in the north-east, while Orbán, who trails in most of the polls, will address a rally in Budapest. But perhaps the biggest rally of all came on Friday night, when tens of thousands of Hungarians crammed the capital's Heroes' Square and surrounding streets for an anti-Fidesz concert. 'I feel it in my bones something's going to change,' said first-time voter Fanni, who came with her mother from a village two hours' drive away in the south. 'I don't believe I'd vote for [Magyar] in an ideal situation, but this is our only chance.'
Orbán's biggest threat is that he is facing a cross-section of public anger, and it has been largely channelled into one single opposition movement, led by a former Fidesz insider who rebelled. The Fidesz leader has been buoyed, first by a two-day campaign visit from US Vice-President JD Vance, and then late on Friday by President Donald Trump's pledge to 'use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen Hungary's Economy' if Orbán won the election. There may only be 9.6 million people in this landlocked Central European nation, but Orbán has made himself a key player on the international stage.
He is a close partner of both Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin, and has become a big thorn in the side of his European allies in the EU and his neighbour Ukraine. Yet, some pro-Fidesz pollsters do still give the veteran prime minister the edge and there are plenty of shy Fidesz voters who will support him, but his big message to voters has lacked the momentum and energy of his rival. 'We could lose everything we have built,' he warns his audience, and calls for national unity in a time of difficulty.
His attempt to identify the EU and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky as Hungary's main threat has failed to dent his challenger's average 10-point lead in the opinion polls. Most of the running in this election has come from Magyar, who now believes victory is in his sights, having criss-crossed the country in a gruelling schedule of up to seven campaign speeches a day, in villages, towns and cities. It was time to rewrite history with 'regime change', Magyar told the crowd in the small north-western town of Mosonmagyaróvár. He is at heart a centre-right conservative, who held key roles for years in Fidesz before deciding to establish a grassroots movement called Tisza to drive them from power.
But Tisza has since attracted support from across the political spectrum, and particularly among young voters who sense change may be coming. 'Right now there's no future for the young in Hungary,' said Laura, a first-time voter in the crowd with her friend Napsugár, neither of whom can remember any other government than Fidesz. Political analyst Zsuzsanna Végh of the German Marshall Fund of the US says there has been a clear shift away from Orbán among younger voters aged 18-29, with opinion polls giving Fidesz less than 10% of the younger vote.
'If he were to achieve a majority in parliament it would mean an end to Orbán rule and many of his policies, but without winning two-thirds of seats he will struggle to scrap much of the Fidesz-supporting infrastructure in the judiciary and elsewhere.'
On the ground, the atmosphere is polarizing as some voters lament Orbán's connection to power while others remain loyal, portraying the party's history as a period of prosperity. A change in leadership could signal broader implications for Hungary's policies and international relations, marking a potential turning point after more than a decade of Fidesz's governance. As the election approaches, the world watches closely to see if Hungary will seize the moment to redefine its political identity.
His final campaign stop will be in the second city, Debrecen, in the north-east, while Orbán, who trails in most of the polls, will address a rally in Budapest. But perhaps the biggest rally of all came on Friday night, when tens of thousands of Hungarians crammed the capital's Heroes' Square and surrounding streets for an anti-Fidesz concert. 'I feel it in my bones something's going to change,' said first-time voter Fanni, who came with her mother from a village two hours' drive away in the south. 'I don't believe I'd vote for [Magyar] in an ideal situation, but this is our only chance.'
Orbán's biggest threat is that he is facing a cross-section of public anger, and it has been largely channelled into one single opposition movement, led by a former Fidesz insider who rebelled. The Fidesz leader has been buoyed, first by a two-day campaign visit from US Vice-President JD Vance, and then late on Friday by President Donald Trump's pledge to 'use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen Hungary's Economy' if Orbán won the election. There may only be 9.6 million people in this landlocked Central European nation, but Orbán has made himself a key player on the international stage.
He is a close partner of both Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin, and has become a big thorn in the side of his European allies in the EU and his neighbour Ukraine. Yet, some pro-Fidesz pollsters do still give the veteran prime minister the edge and there are plenty of shy Fidesz voters who will support him, but his big message to voters has lacked the momentum and energy of his rival. 'We could lose everything we have built,' he warns his audience, and calls for national unity in a time of difficulty.
His attempt to identify the EU and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky as Hungary's main threat has failed to dent his challenger's average 10-point lead in the opinion polls. Most of the running in this election has come from Magyar, who now believes victory is in his sights, having criss-crossed the country in a gruelling schedule of up to seven campaign speeches a day, in villages, towns and cities. It was time to rewrite history with 'regime change', Magyar told the crowd in the small north-western town of Mosonmagyaróvár. He is at heart a centre-right conservative, who held key roles for years in Fidesz before deciding to establish a grassroots movement called Tisza to drive them from power.
But Tisza has since attracted support from across the political spectrum, and particularly among young voters who sense change may be coming. 'Right now there's no future for the young in Hungary,' said Laura, a first-time voter in the crowd with her friend Napsugár, neither of whom can remember any other government than Fidesz. Political analyst Zsuzsanna Végh of the German Marshall Fund of the US says there has been a clear shift away from Orbán among younger voters aged 18-29, with opinion polls giving Fidesz less than 10% of the younger vote.
'If he were to achieve a majority in parliament it would mean an end to Orbán rule and many of his policies, but without winning two-thirds of seats he will struggle to scrap much of the Fidesz-supporting infrastructure in the judiciary and elsewhere.'
On the ground, the atmosphere is polarizing as some voters lament Orbán's connection to power while others remain loyal, portraying the party's history as a period of prosperity. A change in leadership could signal broader implications for Hungary's policies and international relations, marking a potential turning point after more than a decade of Fidesz's governance. As the election approaches, the world watches closely to see if Hungary will seize the moment to redefine its political identity.
