Thousands protest incumbent Hungary government in demonstrations led by opposition News
Photo by Szilas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Thousands protest incumbent Hungary government in demonstrations led by opposition

Thousands of people gathered in Debrecen for a rally on Sunday organized by Péter Magyar, whose new Tisza party is the leading contender to current Prime Minister Orbán Viktor’s Fidesz party in the upcoming European parliamentary elections. The theme of Sunday’s rally was women’s rights and issues and was one stop in a series of protests planned to take place across Hungary in which Magyar will meet constituents and speak to crowds.

The night before the protest, the Hungarian government allegedly put up a series of “provocative signs” in the square at which the protest was planned, in an apparent attempt to intimidate protesters. The wave of support that Magyar has enjoyed has been propelled by his party’s anti-corruption stance. He has accused the ruling Fidesz party of utilizing propaganda and corrupt practices to maintain power.

Hungary had the largest amount of investigations from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) among non-participating member states in 2023. The EPPO is an EU organization that investigates and prosecutes crimes against the financial interests of the EU. While Hungary is not a member of the EPPO, it was the subject of 80 investigations in 2023, which is twice the amount of investigations Hungary was subject to in 2022.

Magyar is continuing to tour across Hungary, as he gathers signatures and support for Tisza candidates that are running in the upcoming European parliamentary elections and local elections which are both scheduled to take place on June 9.

There have been regular protests in Hungary since February, following a series of scandals that were triggered by Minister for Justice Judit Varga’s decision to pardon an orphanage director who had been found guilty of attempting to cover up sex abuse. Magyar was launched to political prominence after he secretly recorded a conversation with his ex-wife in which she “implicated a top minister in a corruption case”.

Current Prime Minister Orbán Viktor has been in power since 2010. His conservative Fidesz party has dominated Debrecan since the 1990s. Although Tisza is quite a new party, polling data suggests that it has quickly become the leading opposition, and is likely the biggest challenge to the ruling Fidesz party in recent memory.

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