Farage take note — Maga is the kiss of death ...Middle East

With their historic win against a 16-year Viktor Orbán government, Péter Magyar and his opposition party Tisza will spell a seismic shift for Hungarian politics – and one which was almost unimaginable a few years ago. Orbán headed a staunchly right-wing and nationalist party, rejecting EU policies regarding migration and LGBTQ rights, and instead forging close ties with Vladimir Putin. Magyar, meanwhile – who only left Orbán’s Fidesz party two years ago – stands for pro-European and centre-right politics, and has promised to combat corruption and restore connections with the EU.

Magyar’s landslide victory – to which he last night drew parallels with the Hungarian revolution of 1858 and the uprising of 1956 against the Soviet Union – is not only a significant moment for Hungary, but will also dictate global politics. It was a disappointing night for Putin, as well as for Donald Trump, who sent the Vice President JD Vance to Budapest to rally votes for Orbán. The now former Hungarian Prime Minister was a key European ally for Trump’s Maga movement, which follows a similar anti-immigration, white Christian nationalist politics.

Magyar’s victory is set to shape a European politics which, in recent years, has seen right-wing parties like Nigel Farage’s Reform UK proliferate. Orbán’s model of far-right populism has served as a model for these parties across both Europe and the US, and such a decisive loss will be a warning sign to every one of those parties.

Closer to home, Magyar’s victory represented a decisive turning away from the cronyism and corruption that has come to define Orbán’s rule. Hungarians felt the reality of that graft every day: in their stagnating economy, rising living costs, deteriorating health services, and even the potholes that did not get fixed – driving disillusionment with populist rule that profited at their expense.

A bad night for Europe’s right

Orbán not only garnered the approval of Trump and Putin, but also that of leaders across the European right. Many European right-wing politicians and parties follow similar anti-EU, anti-immigration ideas as Fidesz and have, in recent years, cemented allegiance through the Patriots for Europe group – the third-largest group in the European Parliament, promoting right-wing to far-right views, whose creation was announced by Orbán in 2024. It includes MEPs from Fidesz – and France’s National Rally, Italy’s right-wing populist Lega, the Netherlands’ right-wing and far-right Party for Freedom, Poland’s far-right National Movement, and Spain’s national conservative Vox.

In late March, Budapest hosted the first “Patriots’ Grand Assembly” of the Patriots for Europe group. Among the right-wing politicians in attendance was party leader of National Rally Marine Le Pen, leader of Party for Freedom Geert Wilders, and Italy’s deputy prime minister and federal secretary of Lega Matteo Salvini. The meeting was dominated by Orbán’s re-election bid, with Le Pen calling Orbán “visionary”, and Wilders claiming he was “a lion on a continent led by sheep”.

Although the right-wing parties in Europe have differed from Fidesz over one sticking point – Orbán’s support for Russia – the petitions by these leaders for Orbán’s politics of Hungarian self-determination, Christian values and anti-immigration, point to the unity of Europe’s right. Orbán’s fall is another blow to this unity, following the success of centrist and left parties in recent French local elections, in Slovenia’s parliamentary election, and in the failure of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s constitutional referendum on judicial reforms.

It also spells danger for the far-right in Britain, including Nigel Farage and his Reform party. Farage has previously sung Orbán’s praises, calling him “the strongest leader in Europe” on social media, and Reform supporters have received funding from the Hungarian government.

Farage is also a front-row supporter of Trump’s Maga movement, and supported Trump’s election campaign. Yet recent weeks have seen Farage distance himself from the American President, after a series of controversial decisions by Trump, notably his war in the Middle East. Farage’s previous embrace of Orbán and Trump’s right-wing nationalism may damage his election chances.

A lease of life for the EU

Magyar’s victory is also significant in repairing Hungary’s beleaguered relations with the EU. In late March, Orbán vetoed EU sanctions on Russia, and a £78 billion loan for Ukraine, continuing his eurosceptic perspective which has been marked by a slew of anti-EU policies. Orbán’s government faced criticism from the EU for limiting the rights of minorities, and for their restrictions on an independent judiciary and the press. The EU also froze billions in funding for Hungary.

A recent survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations think-tank, found 77 per cent of Hungarian voters supported EU membership, and 68 per cent wanted change in relations between the country and the EU.

Nonetheless, Tisza is still a conservative-liberal party, and has a broad ideology, and so it remains to be seen whether the change will enable a restored relation with the EU.

However, many European leaders have still congratulated the new Prime Minister, including Ursula von der Leyen, who stated: “Europe’s heart is beating stronger in Hungary tonight”.

It is undeniable that his election marks a change in Hungary’s relations with Europe, and European politics.

Juliette Bretan is a researcher and journalist, currently based in Cambridge, who has written about Eastern European politics, culture, and history for a decade.

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