Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar is launching his election campaign and says he can return Hungary to a stronger European path.

Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar is launching his election campaign and says he can return Hungary to a stronger European path.

Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar launched his party’s election campaign in Budapest on Sunday, vowing to restore Hungary’s Western orientation just eight weeks before he faces Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a pivotal vote.

Magyar, a former insider in Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party, burst onto Hungary’s political scene in 2024 after breaking with his political community and quickly forming the center-right Tisza party.

After taking around 30% of the vote in European Parliament elections in June 2024, he has grown Tisza into the most formidable political force Orbán has faced during his 16 years at Hungary’s helm. Most independent polls show Tisza with a significant lead before the April 12 vote, an advantage which has held steady for more than a year.

MBFC
Archive

        • myrmidex@belgae.socialEnglish
          14·
          1 day ago

          Should? Not talking about should here. Instead of pushing off against extreme right, the EU is inviting it in even more.

          On February 2 and 3 the EU parliament hosted the VII Transatlantic Summit, a conference organized by the Political Network for Values together with the far-right Patriots for Europe and ECR groups. Under the guise of ‘free speech,’ speakers openly defended Uganda’s anti-homosexuality law (which prescribes the death penalty), mocked transgender people, and railed against conversion therapy bans — all from inside the European Parliament itself. The event featured US groups like the Heritage Foundation and Alliance Defending Freedom alongside far-right MEPs. Critically, an EPP member — Slovenian MEP Branko Grims — also participated, meaning the centre-right party that claims to uphold the cordon sanitaire was lending its legitimacy to the proceedings. The European Parliament later distanced itself, but the damage was done: homophobia got a free platform in the heart of European democracy.

          A summary of a Dutch article. Seems our European newspapers feel ill-at-ease reporting on this. The closest English one would be this: https://globalextremism.org/post/weaponizing-free-speech-against-lgbtq-rights-at-the-european-parliament/

          • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            12 hours ago

            speakers openly defended Uganda’s anti-homosexuality law

            I seriously doubt that, also weird it doesn’t which speakers said what.

            • myrmidex@belgae.socialEnglish
              1·
              4 hours ago

              Amid the controversy surrounding her appearance as a speaker at the European Parliament, Akello publicly defended the Anti-Homosexuality Act during her intervention. “It wasn’t about killing any homosexual. No, it was about protecting our children who were being coerced, who were being forced into homosexual activities,” she said, in a speech that was met with applause from attendees. Akello was introduced by a MEP from the Spanish far-right party Vox, who described her presence in the European Parliament as an “honor.”

              • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                2 hours ago

                The existence of nutcases in Hungary is in no way a sign that EU is “inviting” it in, even if some religious nutcase backs it up.
                This is not a trend, but purely anecdotal.

                • myrmidex@belgae.socialEnglish
                  1·
                  2 hours ago

                  The event is organised by Stephen Bartulica, Member of the European Parliament, President of the ECR Working Group on Freedom of Speech and President of the Political Network for Values, in cooperation with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group and the Patriots for Europe Group.

                  You can try to reduce it as much as you want, but those are big fractions in the parliament. This is not an Orban-only thing.

    • AItoothbrush@lemmy.zipEnglish
      12·
      2 days ago

      Well theyve already leaked the legal name, age and address of his top 100000 or so supporters and also recorded him having sex woth his ex so they really are going down the russian path.

        • Dicska@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          12 hours ago

          While some others might think otherwise (and who am I to condemn someone I don’t even know personally), as another determined Magyar (ehh, I mean the guy) voter, I sense an overwhelmingly strong smell of narcissism, demagogy and vulnerability in him. After all, he used to be a faithful Fidesz party member up until he lost access to the honeypot.

          At the moment, he is still our only hope and beacon of light before the elections in April, because the rest of the candidates are either complete underdogs or (even more) awful politicians, and after almost 16 years, he is the first one who has an actual chance to break Fidesz’s spell. We need to vote him, it’s a no-brainer.

          But, unfortunately, he is rather far from being the impeccable Bicycle Repair Man some would like to see him as.