How Hungary’s Péter Magyar went from being Viktor Orbán’s friend to ending his 16-year rule

When Péter Magyar was a child, he taped a picture of Viktor Orbán, then an anti-communist firebrand, on his bedroom wall, excited by Hungary’s first democratic elections in 1990.

Decades later, he ended Orbán’s 16-year rule as prime minister in an election that brought a record high voter turnout and was expected to upset Russia and send shockwaves through the West, including the White House of US President Donald Trump.

Magyar’s centre-right, pro-European Union party Tisza defeated Orbán’s nationalist party Fidesz in Sunday’s parliamentary election. Part of the results showed that Tisza will win 137 seats, or a two-thirds majority, in the 199-seat parliament.

He was only nine years old when communism collapsed, Magyar said he had decorated his walls with portraits of political figures in his home in Budapest.

Orbán, then a young lawyer, had become a hero of Hungary’s pro-democracy movement when he publicly called in 1989 for Soviet troops to leave the country.

“There was a lot of energy during the regime change that overwhelmed me as a child,” Magyar told the Fokuszcsoport podcast last year.

Magyar, whose family name literally means “Hungarian,” rose to prominence two years ago after his ex-wife, Orbán’s former justice minister, Judit Varga, resigned from all political roles following the pardon of a sex-assault case that caused a public uproar.

Magyar quickly distanced himself from the ruling party and accused it of corruption and spreading propaganda, saying that he was disappointed with Fidesz.

Just four months after emerging from obscurity with an interview on YouTube channel Partizan, Magyar’s new party won 30 percent of the June 2024 European elections, coming second to Fidesz and crushing all opposition.

Extensive results

Orbán’s defeat has important implications not only for Hungary but also for Europe and its populist far-right.

Orbán has sought to create what he calls “illegal democracy” since 2010, curbing media freedom and NGO activities, and weakening the independence of the judiciary.

He has built good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump, but has repeatedly clashed with the EU, which froze billions of euros over concerns about Hungary’s democratic values.

In contrast, Magyar has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s Western orientation and end its dependence on Russian power by 2035 while striving for “pragmatic relations” with Moscow. He also promised to open frozen EU funds, which will help revive Hungary’s economy.

“On the first day we need to pass anti-corruption measures and we need to submit our application to join the European Prosecutor’s Office,” Magyar said on Sunday morning after the vote.

But he treaded carefully during the election campaign, wanting not to scare conservative voters.

Unlike Orbán, he does not rule out Ukraine’s right to one day join the EU, but Tisza’s plan does not support Kyiv’s immediate accession. Like Fidesz, Tisza opposes the EU’s quotas for taking in migrants, and would also put an end to the border fence built under Orbán to stop illegal immigration.

But analysts say tensions between Budapest and the EU — further exacerbated by Orbán’s 90 billion euro (about $146 billion) decision on Kyiv — could ease under Tisza.

“Orbán no longer has faith in the current form and path of European integration, and is pursuing a policy of containment and containment,” said Botond Feledy, a country analyst at Red Snow Consulting.

“Tisza is not against integration and can fight its battles in a practical way.”

‘Clash with the system’

Magyar drew from Orbán’s playbook in this election, running a grassroots campaign that took him into Fidesz’s rural areas.

His rallies regularly displayed many national flags, in a style similar to Orbán’s appeal to the patriotism of Hungarian voters.

His consistent and clear messaging, and smart use of social media all contributed to his rapid rise, said Gabor Toka, senior researcher at the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives.

“A lot of people are repressed by the story of someone who is irrevocably at odds with the system, and has no way back,” he said, referring to Magyar’s break with Orbán.

Born in 1981 to a family of lawyers, Magyar also studied law. She married Varga in 2006, and when her career took her to Brussels, Magyar joined the Hungarian embassy and worked on EU law.

After returning to Hungary, he joined a state bank and then headed a student loan organization.

Magyar and Varga, who divorced in 2023, have three sons.

Magyar describes himself as a pious person and says he likes to cook and play football with his friends and sons.

Asked in December how he has changed since entering politics, Magyar spoke to media reports describing him as an aggressive person, and said: “Now I count to 10.”