By Szilvia Sandberg, Adrian Sandberg
There are moments in life when being ethical means becoming political. On Sunday, the whole world turned its attention to a small Central European country with a population of just under ten million. On 12 April 2026, parliamentary elections were held in Hungary, in which the TISZA Party (Respect and Freedom Party) won a landslide victory following an incredible mobilization of the public. Exactly 23 years to the day after the referendum on joining the European Union, Hungarian people spoke again. They passed judgement not only on the ruling FIDESZ party, but symbolically also on Viktor Orbán’s political system. They voted on belonging to Europe, human values, and the rule of law. What opportunities does this offer, and what does it mean—a historic moment of no less significance for Hungary and Europe than the 1989 regime change?
New Hope
To understand why the TISZA Party’s victory—which secured it two-thirds of the seats in parliament—is of such immense significance, we must understand what has happened in Hungary over the past 16 years. The electoral system, which FIDESZ introduced unilaterally in 2011, used several structural mechanisms to help the party achieve a two-thirds majority, even when it won only a smaller share of the vote. Among other things, they “gerrymandered” electoral districts, redrawing them in such a way that opposition voters were “packed” into a few large districts, while areas strong for FIDESZ were split into several smaller districts. Furthermore, by extending the right of citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living across the borders, FIDESZ built a loyal voter base in neighbouring countries, securing hundreds of thousands of additional votes for itself. As a result of these measures, in 2014, for example, FIDESZ won 67% of the parliamentary seats with 44–45% of the vote, a super-majority which happens to bring with it the power to amend the country’s constitution.
Nevertheless, on 12 April 2026, a party that had grown out of a political movement barely two years old won two-thirds of the seats in parliament. Almost 79 percent of Hungarian voters cast their ballots, marking the highest turnout ever recorded in a parliamentary election in Hungary, with the TISZA Party securing 53 percent of the vote and FIDESZ just 38 percent. By comparison, average turnout at U.S. presidental elections is about 60 per cent. But what led to a country expressing its opinion on a ruling government so emphatically?
A tarnished legacy becomes an electoral burden
Since 2010, Hungarian economic policy under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán brought with it a combination of state intervention with very tight economic (and political) relationships with its Eastern partners. This model worked initially, but the vulnerabilities were cruelly exposed particularly during the economic meltdown following the COVID-19 pandemic, with Hungary experiencing the highest inflation rate in the European Union. In addition, a corrupt system of patronage evolved in the form of an institutionalised network known as the „System of National Cooperation”. The FIDESZ Party started concentrating wealth and power amongst a small circle of loyal elites who, often due to incompetence , financial mismanagement and greed, squandered billions of euros of taxpayers’ money.
Based on the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report by Transparency International, Hungary is ranked as the most corrupt, or lowest-scoring, European Union member state, often tying with Bulgaria. Hungary scored 40/100 points, ranking 84th globally (jointly with Cuba and Burkina Faso), and has shown the largest decline in corruption resilience among EU nations over the past decade. Between 2012 and 2025, Hungary's score dropped significantly, falling 15 points, reflecting the progressive dismantling of public sector resilience to corruption. In addition, the party built up a system of media channels controlled by the FIDESZ Party which became a vehicle for uncritical state propaganda and a tool to influence citizens.
Let us highlight just two examples of the kind of large-scale corruption which began to intrude directly on human lives, ultimately undermining the system which created them. One of the most significant corruption scandals of the past years was the famous “Elios”case involving EU-funded public lighting projects linked to István Tiborcz, the son-in-law of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Between 2011 and 2015, Elios Innovatív Zrt. won numerous tenders to modernise street lighting in several Hungarian municipalities. Beyond the public outcry caused by the installation of laughably low-quality street lights, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) found "organized fraud" and "conflicts of interest" in 35 public procurement cases, concluding that the projects were overpriced and rigged in favor of Tiborcz's company. To avoid paying fines to the EU, the Hungarian government decided to withdraw the EU funds used for the project, covering the costs with national funds. In 2019, Hungarian authorities terminated the investigation into the case altogether, claiming no criminal offense could be proven.
The Elios case might have been forgotten over the years, but another recent scandal might have had a direct impact on the outcome of the national elections on 12 April. The Samsung SDI electric vehicle battery plant case in Göd, Hungary, has been focus of severe environmental and safety violations. According to reports from Hungarian investigative media outlet Átlátszó, the plant released 88 tonnes of fetotoxic solvents into the air between 2019 and 2022 and exposed workers to high levels of carcinogenic substances and heavy metals, sometimes hundreds of times over legal limits. Investigations revealed that the Hungarian government knew about systemic occupational safety violations and the release of toxic substances at the plant. Despite official reports showing pollution levels sometimes hundreds of times above legal limits, the government opted not to shut down production. Even when Hungarian courts ruled that the factory lacked a valid environmental permit and should suspend operations, government agencies facilitated continued production.
Due to further corruption concerns, such as breaches of rule of law, the dismantling of judicial independence or the continuing severe defects in public procurement, the European Union suspended billions of euros in funding for Hungary to prevent EU budget from being used for political cronyism. As of early 2026, the European Commission continues to block a budget of more than €20 billion for Hungary, not including expired funding of over €1 billion which Hungary irrevocably lost at the end of 2025 because necessary reforms were not implemented by that deadline. To put this in perspective, this represents a whopping 10% of Hungary’s GDP. In the light of the above, it is easier to understand the unprecedented voter turnout and support for a new political movement, which gave people hope for change.
Quo vadis after the elections?
On the night after the elections, thousands of people celebrated the TISZA Party’s victory envisaging a new era. But what will tomorrow bring? Péter Magyar, the TISZA party leader, made several promises during his political campaign. He pledged to unlock the frozen EU funds by implementing structural reforms and the rule of law mechanisms requested by the European Union. The most important promises included joining the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to protect EU funds; establishing a National Office for Asset Recovery and Protection to conduct asset checks on politicians and their families going back 20 years; guaranteeing judicial independence and reforming public procurement processes. More broadly, the reforms are aimed to reestablishing Hungary’s place in the European Union.
And what does this victory mean to the European Union itself? Experts mark the landslide victory of the TISZA Party as a fundamental change in the workings of the European Union, especially in decision-making. Certain policy fields, such as sanctions, require unanimity from the member states. The Hungarian government wielded this veto right very often under the Orbán regime, paralyzing decision-making at the EU level and significantly weakening the unity of the European Union. Expectations are high both on the part of the voters in Hungary wishing for transparency and economic recovery and on the part of the EU. The new government has to implement structural reforms, eradicate corruption, bring back the frozen EU funds and reorient itself toward the European Union at the same time. It will be hard work after 16 years of the Orbán regime.
But today we must still celebrate. Because on 12 April, Hungary did not simply elect a political party. It made a choice about freedom, about belonging to Europe, about ending corruption, about embracing the rule of law, and about standing up for human rights. If historians refer to 1989 as the “miraculous year,” then 12 April 2026, will be Hungary’s “night of miracles.”
Image: Budapest (Pixabay.com)