On the eve of EU elections in Hungary, tens of thousands rallied for opposition figure Peter Magyar who has emerged as the main challenger to long-time nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Though Mr Orban’s Fidesz party stands to gain an unassailable 50% of votes, according to the latest polls, Magyar’s Tisza movement is expected to win around 27% tomorrow.
Mr Magyar, a 43-year-old former government insider, shot to prominence earlier this year following a child abuse pardon scandal that shook Mr Orban’s government in an unprecedented way.
He has railed against a “system” firmly under the control of Mr Orban, who has ruled the central European country uninterruptedly since 2010, making him the longest-serving leader in the EU.
“Together we can save Hungary … We are here, and we are ready to change our destiny, the fate that a thieving, oppressive power wants to impose on us,” he told a huge crowd, with many waving Hungarian flags.
“Viktor Orban has been keeping his own people in fear,” he added.
Posters held by the cheering masses read ‘Wake up Hungarians’ and ‘We are masters of our future’.
Mr Orban has vowed to “occupy Brussels” as a far-right drift across Europe is expected in the EU elections.
Last weekend, tens of thousands of Hungarians rallied at a “peace march” called by Mr Orban, aged 61, who is increasingly stoking fears of a war between the West and Russia that he blames on Brussels and NATO.
Mr Orban has styled himself as “fighting for peace alone” in the EU, characterising the upcoming European Parliament elections as a referendum on the conflict in Ukraine.
As Moscow’s closest EU ally despite its invasion of Ukraine, Mr Orban has refused to send weapons to Kyiv while blocking European military aid.
Earlier this year, rare public fury erupted in Hungary after it emerged the then president Katalin Novak had pardoned a convicted child abuser’s accomplice.
Novak resigned, but anger at the government, and Mr Orban’s stranglehold on power, has continued to be expressed at Magyar rallies.
Nearly eight million voters will take to the polls tomorrow in Hungary. Local elections will be held at the same time as the EU elections.
