Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been re-elected as leader of the Fidesz party for a one-year term, despite the party’s defeat in the April parliamentary elections and a drop in its poll ratings.
At the party convention, 729 delegates voted for Orbán out of 737 valid ballots. There were no votes against, and eight delegates abstained. Orbán was the only candidate for the party leadership.
The re-election confirmed that Orbán retains control over Fidesz even after losing power. The party moved into opposition after 16 years in power, losing the April elections to the Tisza party led by Péter Magyar.
According to Reuters, recent polls show a sharp shift in the political balance in Hungary: support for Fidesz has dropped to about 17%, while Tisza received about 55%. In the elections, Mályi’s party secured a parliamentary majority sufficient to overhaul parts of the political and institutional system established under Orbán.
At the convention, Orbán acknowledged responsibility for Fidesz’s defeat and stated that the party must learn to operate under new conditions—no longer as the ruling party, but as the opposition. At the same time, his re-election indicates that there is currently no public alternative to the former prime minister within Fidesz.
For Hungary, this means that Orbán remains a key figure in the right-wing opposition and the main political opponent of Péter Magyar’s government. In the coming year, Fidesz will likely attempt to restructure the party, retain its core supporters, and formulate a strategy for returning to power.
Péter Magyar, a former member of the Fidesz political system, founded the Tisza party after breaking with Orbán’s inner circle and became the main beneficiary of public discontent with corruption, the state of institutions, and Fidesz’s prolonged dominance. His election victory marked Orbán’s biggest political defeat since 2010.
Viktor Orbán is a Hungarian politician and one of Europe’s most prominent right-wing leaders. He first served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1998 to 2002, then returned to power in 2010 and led the government for 16 years. During Orbán’s tenure, Fidesz established a model of governance that the politician himself called “illiberal democracy.” His governments pursued a strict immigration policy, tightened control over institutions and the media, and clashed with the EU over issues of the rule of law.
According to Open4business, Budapest’s residential real estate market began showing signs of cooling off following Hungary’s parliamentary elections: in April 2026, the capital’s housing price index fell by 0.1% after rising by 1.1% in March. This marked the first monthly price decline in Budapest in about a year and a half, according to Hungarian real estate market data.
The decline appears moderate so far, but it has sent an important signal to the market, which in recent years has remained one of the most expensive and overheated in Central Europe. Annual price growth in Budapest slowed from 13.7% to 10.9% and, according to market participants, could fall below 10% for the first time since November 2024.
The market cooling comes amid a sharp political shift in Hungary. In April, Péter Mádár’s Tisza party defeated Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, ending his 16-year rule. The new government was sworn in on May 12, and Tisza secured two-thirds of the seats in parliament—141 out of 199. Fidesz holds 52 seats following the election.
A direct link between Orbán’s defeat and the decline in housing prices has not been proven, but political uncertainty and expectations of a shift in economic policy may have increased caution among buyers and investors. The new government has stated its intention to restore predictability in economic policy, reduce the budget deficit, step up the fight against corruption, and secure the release of frozen EU funds.
An additional factor weighing on investment sentiment may be the situation surrounding the assets of business groups linked to the former government. The Guardian reported that following Orbán’s defeat, some influential figures close to Fidesz began transferring assets abroad, particularly to countries in the Middle East, the U.S., Australia, and Singapore. Péter Magyar also publicly stated that businesspeople linked to Orbán are attempting to move tens of billions of forints out of the country.
For the real estate market, this could mean a decline in activity in the high-end price segment, where wealthy investors and buyers linked to domestic capital have played a significant role. If some of these players are indeed withdrawing funds from Hungary or adopting a wait-and-see approach, this could reduce demand for expensive apartments and houses in Budapest.
At the same time, the fundamental reasons for high housing costs in the Hungarian capital remain. Supply remains limited, and new housing construction is proceeding slowly.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that his government will not comply with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact and does not intend to accept migrants under relocation schemes. “As long as there is a patriotic government in Hungary, we will not implement the migration pact. We will not accept migrants and will not spend a cent on them,” Orbán wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
The statement came amid the European Commission’s initiative to relocate asylum seekers from the countries under the most pressure — Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus — to other EU states.
A number of countries, including Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, have opposed participation in this scheme.
Orbán has repeatedly criticized pan-European mechanisms for distributing migrants and threatened to sue the European Commission if mandatory resettlement quotas are imposed.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said he is ready to host a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary.
“The planned meeting between the US and Russian presidents is great news for peace-loving people around the world. We are ready!” Orbán wrote on social media on Thursday.
As reported, Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin on Thursday, calling it a very productive conversation, and announced the planned meetings—a personal meeting in Budapest and a meeting between advisers beforehand. He also said that during a planned meeting on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, the parties will discuss this conversation with Putin “and much more.”
At the same time, Trump said that during the conversation with Putin, he devoted a lot of time to discussing “trade between Russia and the US after the end of the war with Ukraine.”
On his Facebook page, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote 12 points of expectations of the Hungarian people from Brussels, including “the union, but without Ukraine.” Here are the points listed in the post:
– we want a Europe of nations;
– We want equality before the law for all member states;
– return to the member states the illegally taken away powers;
– national sovereignty, strong veto power for national governments;
– exclude Soros agents from the European Commission and corrupt lobbyists from the European Parliament;
– the future of our grandchildren should not be mortgaged;
– not to prevent our National Guard from defending our borders. Do not accept migrants, take away illegal immigrants from us;
– “corrupt” dollars and euros should not enter EU member states;
– prohibit the “unnatural” re-education of our children;
– we want to protect the Christian heritage of Europe;
– demand peace in Europe;
– Union, but without Ukraine.
Europe will need to rethink its support of Ukraine if Donald Trump is elected president of the United States, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Sunday, as the continent “will not be able to bear the burdens of the war alone”.
Orban opposes military aid to Ukraine and has made clear he thinks Trump shares his views and would negotiate a peace settlement for Ukraine.
He backs former president Trump, the Republic candidate, to beat Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s U.S. election.
“We (in Europe) need to realize that if there will be a pro-peace president in America, which I not only believe in but I also read the numbers that way, … if what we expect happens and America becomes pro-peace, then Europe cannot remain pro-war,” Orban said.
Ukraine will be high on the agenda when European leaders meet in Budapest in the coming week, he said, referring to a European Political Community meeting and a more informal meeting of EU leaders due to take place.
“Europe cannot bear the burden of [the war] alone, and if Americans switch to peace, then we also need to adapt, and this is what we will discuss in Budapest,” Orban said.
Europe is jittery about how the outcome of the U.S. election will affect the war in Ukraine and the continent’s security.
Orban has angered Brussels with his close ties to Russia and opposition to aid for Ukraine.
Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said in July that the Hungarian government sees Trump as a “chance for peace” in Ukraine.
In July Orban said his team was assisting Trump’s aides with policies on families and migration. On Thursday, he called Trump to wish him good luck ahead of Tuesday’s election.
