Hungary to hold election April 12 with Orban behind in polls

Zoltan Simon, Bloomberg News on Jan 13, 2026

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Hungary will hold its parliamentary election on April 12, leaving three months for longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orban to turn around his sagging support in most polls.

President Tamas Sulyok announced the election date on Tuesday in a Facebook post, in line with the timing expected according to Hungary’s constitution.

Orban’s Fidesz party is trailing in most polls after dominating the country for four consecutive terms amid a cost-of-living crisis, anemic economic growth and widespread corruption. That has given an opening to a former regime insider, Peter Magyar, who’s managed to unite much of the opposition and disaffected former Fidesz voters behind his Tisza party.

Over the years, Orban, 62, has become a trailblazer for right-wing nationalists across Europe and beyond with his unprecedented bid to consolidate power in the European Union member state, cementing his transformation from a liberal anti-communist student leader in the late 1980s.

Praised by U.S. President Donald Trump in November as a “great leader,” Orban has replaced the constitution, effectively ruled by decree and backed legislation that at times failed to stand up in E.U. courts, including on immigration. Brussels continues to withhold some $20 billion of Hungary’s funding on graft and rule of law concerns.

Magyar, 44, has vowed to unpick Orban’s 16-year rule and to pursue jail time for officials convicted of wrongdoing. He’s also pledged to re-orient Hungary toward the E.U. mainstream after Orban challenged E.U. and NATO unity by cultivating ties with Russia and China while openly criticizing the 27-member bloc and war-torn Ukraine.

Despite building out what he’s called an election-proof “illiberal laboratory” in Hungary — including redrawing electoral districts and appointing loyalists head state institutions — voters appear to show fatigue with the five-term premier, who first came to power as a center-right leader in 1998 and returned to the top job in 2010.

Most non-government pollsters show a significant lead for Magyar’s Tisza, with some putting it in in the double digits, though polling companies close to Orban have maintained that the ruling Fidesz party still has a narrowing edge.

Magyar’s surge has led to speculation about whether Orban will even stand in the election as a candidate for the premiership, even as he’s repeatedly said this month that he considers himself the best choice for Fidesz. The ruling party will announce its candidate by Feb. 20, Orban told a Fidesz congress on Saturday.

Bloomberg reported last month that Orban was toying with the idea of assuming the presidency and rewriting laws to make it into the most powerful office in the country. Orban said earlier the idea was “always on the table.”

The prime minister appeared to deny the possibility of a transformation to a presidential system at a Jan. 5 press conference, where he said the current political setup was “here to stay.”

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—With assistance from Marton Kasnyik.