How Hungary's Opposition Could End Viktor Orbán's 16-Year Rule

It's election season here in Hungary and what promises to be potentially the biggest election since the fall of communism, certainly the biggest election in Europe this year. Over the past 16 years, prime minister Viktor Orbán, has turned Hungary into what he calls a 'illiberal democracy'. With allies now controlling much of the media, the courts and big business. But in spite of his unrivalled power, Orbán is projected to lose this election. So with rightwing populism on the rise across the world, I wonder what Hungary can teach us about how you fight an oligarchy.

I'm in Budapest at a rally in support of Orbán's Fidesz party and dominated by one great, if outwardly unlikely, fear. He's the only president who can save Hungary from the war. This is the message really today; stop war. You might recognise this guy. This is Peter Magyar, the opposition candidate who stands a good chance of unseating Viktor Orbán. Are you going to take part in the lookalike competition? Orbán's grip on power has enables him to stir up the fear that a changing government would result in the Ukraine war spreading over the Hungarian border. And at the front of today's rally,

Orbán's tactics for retaining control of the narrative are on full display. This is the way that the independent media are being treated, if you're not with us, you're against us. I'm visiting the offices of HVG, an independent news outlet that has been critical of Orbán, to meet the reporter ejected from yesterday's march. Was this something that you were expecting, prepared for, because presumably you're pretty recognisable now? I think it's radically getting much worse, because we have been at this march in October and I don't think it was this bad.

Just the hatred that we got from just general people, people shouting after us, calling us fake news. Are you worried with how low they might go? There was a Russian editor-in-chief of TV Rain, they are now based in Amsterdam, because they had to leave the country. And he said that he wishes they were more dramatic And he said his advice for me and for us is to be drama queens. If we get used to this, then what is the next step? There is no stopping. Yeah. Orbán's autocratic methods have drawn Hungary into closer ties with Russia, using Hungarian membership of the EU to obstruct the block's unity.

You get out of the lovely Hapsburg centre of Budapest and it's just communist flats wherever you look. There's a trabant as well. Oh, look at that. We're at a residential area on the outskirts of Budapest and I'm just drawing your attention to this massive anti-Magyar billboard campaign, especially the fan-fiction over here. This is a comic that's actually been produced all about how Peter Magyar might say one thing, but behind it lurks the EU and Ukraine.

I'm wondering, what do you think of this? It's good that you're able to laugh at this. This is a Fidesz campaign that's clearly based on fear rather than hope. And that kind of ties in some ways to Hungarian history which in the last few hundred years has seen multiple invasions, lots of territory loss.

It's been occupied by both communist Russia and Nazi Germany. This is a country that has a national anthem all about the suffering of the Hungarian people and clearly fear plays out quite well here. So, of course, the Fidesz fan-fiction comic does exist in reality. I'm going to try and find it. To do that, I'm heading to a local government-funded bookshop. OK, here we go. Number one bestseller, 10% off, and it's even beating Dan Brown. There we go, look at this. Oh. Do not trust this man.

It's just full of anti-EU imagery. Wonks, looking really boring. And how's - Oh, he's going to a nightclub. See, he's depraved as well. And there's Zelensky, OK. Here we go. But for some people, this is working. On the other side of the city is another rally. This one in support of Peter Magyar's Tisza party. Revolution is in the air. In spite of the fact that really, we're moving from the hard right, to the centre right. I want to find out how Maya has managed to cut through the Orbán propaganda.

A lot of Fidesz supporters are very worried about what Tisza might do, that they might take Hungary into war. How do you feel about that? It's bullshit. No, it's all absolute bullshit. In my opinion, it's ridiculous. 100% propaganda. What is it that drives this real, because it is a strong fear that people have here? You have a national TV, the government speaks propaganda there, they're like, war, Zelenskyy's bad. If the main TV channels are not good for news, where do you get your news instead?

In the UK, we have a free press, right? We don't have state-run propaganda like you do here. And yet when people say I get my news from social media, I mean I would say this, because I work for the mainstream media, but I feel a bit nervous about that, because there's so much disinformation there as well. Right now, you know, it's 2026. People should learn or already have learned how to deal with this in my opinion. I'm on my way to Debrecen, Hungary's second city and traditionally a Fidesz stronghold, to see the independent media in action.

Jólvanezígy, a popular YouTube channel, is touring the country with its morning breakfast show. In the lead-up to the election. I mean, breakfast shows in the UK do not contain breakfast. Independent channels like this have thrived in a controlled media landscape where mainstream propaganda has only alienated young people from government rhetoric. I want to know what it's like to operate in such a challenging environment. For journalists, I think it's been super hard, but I don't think that it's helpful to over-stress this. So, this channel would not be so popular, if not for the Orbán regime.

It's interesting you would say that Orbán has been good for independent media outlets like yours, because he's also created an environment in which it is very hard to operate and some of the smears that have been going on have been really, really bad. The psychological effects of the Orbán propaganda are of course super strong and you know I've had some stuff about me in the Orbán press. I had my phone tapped previously and those are things that are, you know, you can either decide that it makes you more afraid or it makes you more motivated to do the work.

Globally, rightwing populism has been on the march, right? A lot of it following Viktor Orbán's lead. I just wonder whether Hungary might represent way of fighting back against some of these populist messages that are doing so well? I think that the lessons from it might be uncomfortable for some progressives around the world. That's cool. We're good with it. Hit us. Yeah. So I think, so one of the things is that Peter Magyar has been very good at only going into questions and issues where he's able to maintain a majority. So he will not be the guy in front of the forbidden pride parade.

I think this is something that those who want to fight back against right-wing populism can take some lessons from, because you have to speak about and represent the issues that are actually important to people and not just to your progressive elite. Maya might be campaigning on safe territory, but there are fears that Orbán could still block his path to victory after years of leveraging his allies in the courts and the media to discredit his opponents. Anna Donath was once a rising star in Hungary's liberal movement before stepping away from frontline politics in 2024. Can you talk to me about some of the specifics around the types of attack you would have faced as a politician? Where to start?

Just right after I got elected, I was accused that I molested, sexually molested, a minor in the Sziget Festival. Then my father was accused that he sexually molested one of his employees in a nursery home. Wherever I went propagandists, like journalists working for the rightwing media outlets, there were always somebody jumping. 'So what do you think about your father molesting the employer?' 'Can you comment on that?' 'Why are you molesting minor girls?' And it's a psychological game as well, how long you can keep up. But the longer you face such accusations, the deeper it goes.

Today, Donath is taking a group of students to a homeless shelter run by an NGO that has itself been targeted by the Orbán government. I want this next generation to understand that politics is about making decisions an everyday reality. How to make it better not just for ourselves, but for the whole society. Here they can understand what is at stake. With tensions increasing, Orbán is now accused of trying to manipulate the vote with allegations of a false flag attack on a gas pipeline.

As the election draws closer, there is growing pressure for other parties to drop out, so as not to split the anti-Fidesz vote. I don't know where I'm going. I'm heading to a rally for the Democratic Coalition Party. I think it's somewhere around here, but I don't know where. To find out why they're still standing. I'm going to go where they're going, because I'm pretty sure this is the rally. Maybe this is the whole rally.

It seems the majority of DK supporters have come incognito. So I assume this is them, some of them might be tourists. DK. Rich. Lovely to meet you. Why is it important to keep turning out for DK, a party that's polling quite low, when there is actually genuine opportunity to get rid of Orbán? DK are currently polling somewhere between 1% and 5%, 5% being the threshold at which they might get some seats in parliament, so not doing brilliantly. So the main candidate here has arrived,

the prime ministerial candidate, and she's in a bit of a press scrum. Clearly a big draw. Are you concerned about how far he'll go to cling on to power? I think he will go as far as he can and as far as we let him. What are we talking about? Well, look, we have been prosecuted. My immunity is lifted for the second time in the European Parliament. We have politicians who were in prison for months without questioning them, just because being opposition.

You will look around, you will see people here who have lost their jobs, who have lost their future, just because of being in the opposition, being a left politician. So, I'm definitely sure he's capable of anything. With Hungary at an ominous crossroads, this election is beyond a matter of left and right. The combination of a regime performing badly domestically and a palatable centrist alternative has offered a vision of a different future. Many here are left wondering if there is still enough democracy left to make such a change stick.