Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar launched his party's election campaign in Budapest today, promising to restore Hungary's Western orientation eight weeks before a crucial election in which he will challenge Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The Hungarian, who was a former insider in Orban's nationalist Fidesz party, burst onto the Hungarian political scene in 2024 after breaking with his political community and quickly forming the center-right Tisa party.
His Tisa party won around 30 percent of the vote in the European Parliament elections in June 2024, and since then the Hungarian has built the party into the strongest political force Orban has faced during his 16 years in power.
Most independent polls show that Tisa has a significant lead ahead of the April 12th elections, and that lead has lasted for more than a year.
"We are on the verge of victory with 56 days left. The Tisza is ready to rule," the Hungarian told his supporters at the Budapest exhibition center today.
He campaigned fiercely across rural, conservative Hungary, a traditional Orban stronghold, holding rallies and town hall events in dozens of villages and towns. He focused on everyday issues such as low wages and the rapidly rising cost of living, which has made Hungary one of the poorest countries in the European Union.
The Hungarian accuses Orban and his government of mismanaging Hungary's economy and social services and of letting corruption run rampant, which he says has led to extreme wealth within a small circle of well-connected insiders, while ordinary Hungarians have been neglected.
He also criticized Orban for his belligerent foreign policy toward the EU, while maintaining close ties with Russia despite the war in neighboring Ukraine.
The Hungarian today pointed to meetings he had with a number of European leaders at the Munich Security Conference this weekend and said he would halt Hungary's drift away from the EU under Orban.
"Hungary's place is in Europe, not only because Hungary needs Europe, but also because Europe needs Hungary," he declared.
These statements are in stark contrast to Orban's statements the day before during his election campaign launch, when he said that the real threat to Hungary was not Russian military aggression, but the European Union.
The Hungarian reiterated today that his party plans to maintain the fence that Orban's government built along the country's southern border in 2015 and will maintain Fidesz policies that oppose illegal immigration and any accelerated procedure for Ukraine's accession to the European Union.
He has, however, promised to bring back billions of euros in funds that the EU has suspended for Hungary over concerns that Orban has weakened democratic institutions, reduced the independence of the judiciary and failed to fight corruption.
According to the program, it is promised that the conditions for adopting the euro as a currency will be met by 2030 and that investments will be made in healthcare and public transport.
The Tisa party also plans to crack down on corruption and recover public funds that, according to the party, have been funneled into the hands of government-linked oligarchs.
"It's time to call corruption what it is - theft," said Magjar today.
For its candidates in each of Hungary's 106 constituencies, Tisa relied heavily on political newcomers who are locally active as entrepreneurs, doctors, economists, teachers or other professionals.
Among the leading people on the list, besides the Hungarians, are international energy expert Anita Orban (who is not a relative of the prime minister), who the party has designated as the future foreign minister, and former Shell CEO Istvan Kapitány, who is expected to hold a high economic position in the future Tisza party government.
The Hungarian says such candidates will provide expertise in certain sectors that is lacking in Orban's government and help rebuild relations with Western partners and end Hungary's international isolation.
"I am proud that our experts are once again showing what it means to take the country's fundamental issues seriously and plan our common future. We do not plan to dominate this country, but to serve it," the Hungarian said today.
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