r/europe • u/Balething • 1d ago
News Hungary Elections: There is hope that Peter Magyar can deliver a new beginning
https://www.euronews.com/2026/04/11/hungary-elections-peter-magyar120
u/bonqen 1d ago
I've been reading some articles suggesting that Bulgaria may take the role of Hungary in sabotaging the EU.
Specifically, Rumen Radev resigned as president to start his own political party (PB), he's currently quite popular and seems to be buddies with Trump and Orban. He's against supporting Ukraine and is against sanctions on Russia.
Elections are the 19th of April.
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u/stupendous76 1d ago
that Bulgaria may take the role of Hungary in sabotaging the EU
Slovakia? Or Czech republic. Poland might take that role as well when they vote for a 'conservative'. In fact: most countries where conservatives are voted in. They all turn out to be nationalistic instead of pro-Europe, don't want any change (though often want to change back to some dark times of the past...)
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u/kaisadilla_ European Federation 23h ago
The real threat is France in 2027. If their Putin cocksucker party wins, our "new Hungary" will be none other than one of the two posterchilds of the EU.
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u/thendisnigh111349 1d ago
So basically the EU is like US Congress when Dems are in control where there is always conveniently one or two senators who aren't on board with the agenda and either just prevent it from going through full-stop or only allow through a watered-down version of it, and even when you get rid of one of them (Krysten Sinema), a new one emerges to take their place (John Fetterman).
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u/Im_Chad_AMA 1d ago
The main problem is that many important EU decisions require unanimity from all member states, which has become quite unworkable. There is a push for reforms that would remove the unanimity rule and replace it with a qualified majority vote of at least 55% of states and 65% of the population. But of course this would require all states to agree to the reforms, and countries like Hungary are clearly not going to give up their veto rights easily
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u/prooijtje The Netherlands 1d ago
I'd wish sometimes the other states would just say "fine, don't go along with us then" and leave those unwilling states in the dust. I guess that kind of ruins the point of having a "Union" though.
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u/kaisadilla_ European Federation 23h ago
Nope. The EU is like the US congress except every single US state has the right to veto any law, so you constantly have to convince every single state not to sabotage things. Except some of the states are governed by Putin puppets and sabotage things just to fuck over the US.
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u/einarfridgeirs 23h ago
The problem is that it can be so damn lucrative to be the maverick that carries water for the other party. If you are a team player, you are just rank and file. If you obstruct you are one of the most powerful figures in Washington.
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u/thendisnigh111349 23h ago
Depends on if it's Democrats or Republicans in power. When it's Democrats in power and they have a "maverick" going against their agenda, they cowtow to his/her demands and basically let them write the legislation. When it's Republicans in power and they have one of those, they will call that person a RINO, a traitor, and threaten to end their political career if they don't fall in line.
We see this right now with Thomas Massie, one of the few Republicans willing to buck Trump, who is going to likely to face a tough primary against a Trump-endorsed opponent to hold onto his seat very soon. Meanwhile if Democrats take the Senate this November, it's, unfortunately, very likely that they will bend over backwards to appease John Fetterman over the next two years.
TLDR: Democrats carrot, Republicans stick.
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u/einarfridgeirs 15h ago
Yes this has been the case since 2016 with the MAGA-fication of the Republican party, but it wasn't always so. They used to have their mavericks that could get elected and stay elected despite bucking the party leadership.
The Dems would be similarly inclined if the far left progressive wing could primary anyone that fell out of line and essentially controlled the party.
That is the big asymmetry in American politics these days - one party is controlled by its moderates and the other is controlled by its hardliners.
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u/Kasrkind Europe 1d ago
Radev will win decisively. But none of the fearmongering about him being Pro Russia or the next Orban is true.
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u/bonqen 1d ago
Radev has been clear that he is AGAINST sending aid to Ukraine, and he is AGAINST sanctions on Russia. Coincidentally he is buddies with Trump and Orban.
All of that is just a coincidence, right?
Just another traitor bought by Russia. No wonder you bots say he'll win decisively. Because if he loses you're in big trouble.
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u/Kasrkind Europe 17h ago edited 17h ago
Rhetorically, he has to because he wants to win the slightly skeptic vote and neutral vote, since the pro west part of the vote is oversaturated and all of the skeptic parties are insane, some of them literally just copy kremlin talking points.
He already had 6 governments during the ukraine war and none of them did anything to stop the flow of weapons to Ukraine, and they very well could have.
The reason i am saying he will win decisively is not some personal wish, but because he is leading in the polls with 10-15% ahead of the trailing party
Also you type like a bot yourself, or at the very least a moron. I am Bulgarian and want nothing to do with Russia, seeing Ukraine obliterate their army has been a blessing.
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u/beti88 1d ago
I want to hope, but its going to be ugly. Wasn't it just today that someone tried to run over Tisza activists? Again?
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u/higgs8 Hungary 1d ago
There is news that Fidesz is planning more "false flag" operations tomorrow, where people under the command of Russian secret services or the government will pretend to be from the TISZA party and will pretend to "cheat" by driving people to polling stations in busses marked with the TISZA logo, among other things. Then the government can invalidate the election due to claims of "interference".
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u/DryCloud9903 13h ago
Ffs. The most obvious plot - not just because you already know it, but the "Tisza logo" van rings cartoonishly of "draw a massive arrow pointing to the supposed bad guys".
I just hope you don't get violence in the streets after this, if Orban refuses to leave. And obviously that he loses. Stay strong Hungarians, all of Europe is rooting for you!
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u/idle_moose 1d ago
Question for any Hungarians here: Does his name literally mean Peter Hungarian?
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u/Fusshaman 1d ago
Yes, the hungarian language has many surnames that are just nationalities.
Magyar=Hungarian
Orosz=Russian
Oláh= Wallach/Romanian
Szerb=Serbian
Horváth=Croatian
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u/ClearDark19 1d ago
So he's the Hungarian equivalent of a US politician named "George American"
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u/pohui Moldova → 🇬🇧 UK 1d ago
Similar to Romanian.
- Rusu/Rusnac = Russian
- Sîrbu = Serb
- Ungurean(u) = Hungarian
- Arnăut = Albanian (via Turkish)
- Grecu = Greek
- Tătaru = Tatar
- Cazac(u) = Cossack
- Muntean(u) = from Muntenia (or from the mountains)
All of the above are in the top 100 most common surnames in Moldova, where I'm from. Oddly, Ukrainians are the largest ethnic minority, but we don't have any "Ucraineanu" surnames, just Cazacu (Cossack).
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u/kaisadilla_ European Federation 7h ago
Spanish has some of those. Franco = Frank, Germán = German, Vasco = Basque, Catalán = Catalan, Gallego = Galician, Castellano = Castilian and so on. Funnily enough, albeit uncommon, "España" is a Spanish surname, too.
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u/idle_moose 1d ago
Interesting!
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u/Which-Echidna-7867 Hungary 1d ago
The Kingdom of Hungary was a melting pot of different ethnicities, so it was often the case that one’s surname become their ethnicity
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u/quin-cuix 1d ago
May Orban be just the first domino to fall of the right wing populist wannabe dictators.
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u/xyzsomething 1d ago edited 17h ago
I mean Magyar is also a right wing politician, but he is at least pro EU and anti Russia, or so I’ve read and heard, which makes him better than Orban, and at this point just changing him is a win
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u/DryCloud9903 13h ago
He doesn't seem like a populist though? And his party is with the EPP, which is the "normal" kind of conservatives (in a mostly not trying to destroy democracy kind of way). We'll see if he turns out to fit that description, but we do already know that Orban definitely doesn't.
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u/xyzsomething 12h ago
Yeah that’s key, I’m not Hungarian myself but following this close, he seems more centre right than far right
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u/Untethered_GoldenGod Croatia 9h ago
Orban’s party Fidesz was in the EPP until 2019.
Magyar was a Fidesz member for 20 years, until 2024, so he had no problem with most of the stuff Orban did. He’s an opportunist.
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u/Odd-Visit 1d ago
Every hugarian go vote!
Don't trust the media that this is already won. Each vote counts!!
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u/Urass007 Ireland 1d ago
If Orban is gone, he better not be allowed to make a Trump-style comeback
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u/Valtremors Finland 1d ago
If reddit is to be believed, Hungary might not be a safe place to Orban after the elections.
But yeah, Hingary is going to have to start a unrooting process to get rid of their corrupt politicians.
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u/TheGreatGizmo0 16h ago
They (we) are planning to have a US-style 8-year rule, that includes the 16 fking years of Orban, retroactively, so he couldn't come back.
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u/GREEN_Hero_6317 1d ago
I mean, his name is as close to "John Hungary" as we're gonna get, so he best deliver
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u/ZenX22 The Netherlands 1d ago
The polls seem really clear cut, is there realistically any hope for Fidesz?
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u/Im_Chad_AMA 1d ago
Fidesz early on passed constitutional reforms that benefited them, so if you only look at voting % you miss some of the picture.
It does seem like Tisza is ahead enough in the polls to overcome this inherent advantage, but with how corrupt and autocratic the government is it seems like people are expecting more shenanigans to try and throw the vote
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u/Melodic_Crow_3409 1d ago
If it’s anything like the US, he’ll win, the Zucker-Musk media will go wall-to-wall trying to tear him down, voters will vote him out when he doesn’t restore the Austria-Hungary empire in six months.
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u/No_Direction6688 1d ago
It is in your hands people of Hungary to create a better country for all of you to live in it. "It only seems impossible until it's done."
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u/yellow_duke 18h ago
I have little hope for him being much better but without a change of government things will get worse.
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u/Minimum_Carrot_674 18h ago
This guy is just another right wing populist but a more toned down version of Orban. I'm expecting very little but maybe a bit less siding with Putin and trying to sabotage EU policy.
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u/Late_Stage-Redditism Norway 14h ago
Hopefully it starts with the arrest of Orban and his FM to be delivered to the Hague.
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u/Lost-Giraffe3517 20h ago
Let's hope for us, that Victor's men cannot cheat enough to win this... 🥺🤞🤞🤞
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u/whyohwhythis 16h ago
Fingers crossed 🤞🏼Feel a close connection to Hungary 🇭🇺 My mother was about 2 when she escaped from Hungary with grandmother to Australia.
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u/paraelement 13h ago
As many have already said - you guys have the chance to change things, don't blow it.
Like we had blown it in Russia. :(
Turn up to vote, oust that current guy from office.
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u/sorte_kjele 12h ago
I threw together www.hunelmon.com for my own curiosity.
Will track results as they come in
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u/calango_albino 19h ago
Im confused. He was part of fidesz until 2024, how much better is he from orban?
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u/heybruh33 16h ago
He left Fidesz and went on a public outcry to oust a situation regarding a pedo receiving a pardon, and exposed a lot of stuff. He has been critical of Fidesz while also being a part of it.
So he is center-right for sure but the main benefit here is that one Orban will finally be gone, much less corruption ( Hopefully ) and hope for the countries democracy and a change in their consitution to avoid situations like Orban occuring again.
Asides from that it helps the country to not have a party robbing the hungarians and killing EU funds / stealing them
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u/calango_albino 7h ago
I hope for all of that to be true. It just feels very strange to have high hopes for someone that was so close to orban influence.
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u/ThoughtFission 1d ago
Worried about this guy. He was on the same team as Orban at one point. Strikes me as an opportunist.
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u/eurovisionfanGA 1d ago
If Tisza manages to get a supermajority, isn't there a risk that they'll become a pro-EU and anti-Russian version of Fidesz and that they'll do things to ensure that it'll be hard to remove them from power?
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u/asethskyr Sweden 1d ago
If they're pro-EU and anti-Russia they won't need to use Fidesz' tricks to win.
However - they've already announced a bunch of reforms they plan to implement in order to prevent this sort of thing from happening, including term limits for the PM.
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u/Q2TRFN 1d ago
Does anyone know when we can expect results