BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) 鈥� A group of friends in their mid-20s campaigned door to door last week in a small Hungarian city, supporting a political movement that soon could end Prime Minister ‘s 16-year grip on power.
The young men from Lake Balaton region were volunteering for the center-right Tisza party and its leader, P茅ter Magyar, and campaigning to move past what they described as Orb谩n’s broken system.
鈥淲e’ve lived our whole lives in this system, and we want to see what it could be like outside of it,鈥� said Flori谩n V茅gh, a 25-year-old student. 鈥淚 can say on behalf of my fellow university students and my friends that this system is absolutely dysfunctional.鈥�
A generational gap is widening, with Hungary鈥檚 youth pushing overwhelmingly for an end to while the oldest citizens remain loyal to the prime minister 鈥� a split that could be a decisive factor in the April 12 elections.
Orb谩n, 62, trails in the polls behind Magyar, a 45-year-old lawyer who broke with Orb谩n’s nationalist-populist Fidesz party over a political scandal in 2024. He has led Tisza on a , inspiring a voting cohort that had largely avoided politics for at least two decades.
Fidesz’s declining popularity during economic stagnation and political and corruption scandals has widened the demographic divide. A recent survey by pollster 21 Research Center found that 65% of voters under 30 support Tisza, while 14% are backing Orb谩n.
Changing of the guard
One Tisza volunteer, 24-year-old student Levente Koltai, pointed out that Fidesz is an acronym in Hungarian for 鈥淎lliance of Young Democrats.鈥� But he believes the party no longer lives up to its name.
鈥淔idesz has lost the title of young, democratic and alliance,鈥� he told The Associated Press. 鈥淚t鈥檚 gone from young to old, from democratic to tending toward dictatorial, and from an alliance to a circle of cronies.鈥�
Andrea Szab贸, a senior researcher with E枚tv枚s Lor谩nd University’s Institute for Political Science in Budapest, said a changing of the guard was emerging in Hungary, where 鈥渁 new, active political generation is beginning to unfold before our eyes.鈥�
While Orb谩n鈥檚 political generation was defined by its fight against Hungary鈥檚 Soviet-era socialist system in the 1980s and 1990s, “now, we have reached the point where after 25 years, there is a new political generation that is against the Orb谩n regime,鈥� Szab贸 said.
鈥業lliberal鈥� drift toward Russia and China
Orb谩n鈥檚 government defines itself as both Christian-national and 鈥� ,鈥� and has drifted away from partners in the European Union in favor of and China.
Long accused by critics of taking over Hungary’s institutions, and overseeing entrenched 鈥� charges he denies 鈥� Orb谩n has become an icon in the global .
Admirers approve of his opposition to immigration and , and applaud benefits to young families such as abolishing income tax for mothers with multiple children and providing state-backed loans to first-time homebuyers.
Such policies, as well as a pension supplement for retirees, appeal to many older voters. Fidesz leads Tisza 50% to 19% among retirement-age Hungarians, according to the 21 Research Center Poll.
Zsuzsanna Pr茅pos, a retiree, said at one of Orb谩n鈥檚 recent campaign rallies that she was 鈥渧ery happy鈥� with the government’s pension policies, and that she’s supporting Fidesz because it 鈥渉elps young people.鈥�
鈥淲hen I was young … I didn鈥檛 get anything. Now young people have a lot of help,鈥� she said.
Yet such measures have not translated into youth support for Orb谩n. In several recent speeches, he has both scolded young people for their anti-government attitudes and pleaded with them to reconsider.
鈥淵oung people, wake up!鈥� he said at a rally last week. 鈥淭hese are not times for taking risks, experimenting or trying new things. … Believe me, today only Fidesz and my humble self can provide this country with security.鈥�
Szab贸, the researcher, said while many young people view Orb谩n’s family support policies positively, their 鈥渧ery strong sense of justice鈥� is incompatible with “the authoritarian exercise of power, the corruption, the fact that they feel vulnerable and that there is insecurity in the country.鈥�
鈥淭heir lives essentially took place entirely within the Orb谩n regime, so they know nothing other than this kind of functioning of power,” she said.
Tisza’s rise
Recent events in Hungary have turned large numbers of youth against the ruling party.
Hungary was rocked by scandal in February 2024 when it was revealed that the president, a close Orb谩n ally, had granted a pardon to an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case. The revelation , and the president and justice minister .
Days later, some of the country鈥檚 best-known influencers led a demanding a political transformation. Drawing tens of thousands, it marked a turning point which 鈥渙pened the door to politicization for a lot of young people,” Szab贸 said.
In the wake of the pardon scandal, Magyar broke with Fidesz and launched Tisza. Three months later, the party won 30% of the vote in European Parliament elections.
Magyar has built his campaign on promises to end Orb谩n’s drift toward Russia and , and to revive the stagnating economy by recovering billions in EU funds that are and corruption concerns.
That economic message has resonated with youth. V茅gh, the Tisza volunteer, said it’s easier than ever for his internet-savvy generation to access different forms of information, and to travel to nearby countries where governments are putting public money to good use.
鈥淚n Austria, you see a much calmer, more peaceful, more educated society with better roads and better health care,” he said. “You cross the border and see that you have drifted into a developed European country.鈥�
Although Tisza leads in the polls, its victory is far from assured. Orb谩n has a lead among older voters and in much of the countryside.
At a recent rally in Budapest that drew upward of 100,000 people, Tisza supporter Dorina Csob谩n said the election battle had become “pretty divisive in my family for the older people, because we younger people are saying clearly that there must be change.鈥�
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