Hungary’s Magyar Rallies Opposition Against State Propaganda

(Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Hungarians gathered in Budapest to protest Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s propaganda networks, in a sign of rising confidence among the country’s opposition.

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Saturday’s rally, outside the headquarters of state television in the Hungarian capital, was organized by Peter Magyar, whose Tisza party only entered the political fray this year but is neck-and-neck with Orban’s Fidesz in the latest opinion polls.

“What is being done here under the banner of public service is a world scandal,” Magyar said at the rally. “We’ve had enough of it once and for all.”

Before the demonstration, he published a list of demands that included a return to objective editorial standards and the dismissal of current executives at government-run media companies.

Magyar, 43, has called for an end to more than a decade of practice by state media and scores of other outlets controlled by the ruling elite, in which opposition politicians are effectively silenced. That’s also become a frequent point of criticism of international election observers for tilting the playing field in Orban’s favor.

Since returning to power in 2010, Orban has clashed with the European Union over graft and the erosion of the rule of law. Hungary now sits at the bottom of Transparency International’s annual corruption-perception index among EU members. It’s also rated one of the worst in the EU for press freedom in the latest report by watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

Magyar, who’s emerged as Orban’s de-facto challenger ahead of general elections scheduled for 2026, was invited to give his first live state TV interview only last week — a day after announcing that he’d organize the protest in a bid to pressure the media into more objective coverage.

A lawyer and former ruling party supporter who was formerly close to key Orban allies, Magyar is the first opposition politician to assemble a mass following, including on social media. That’s allowed him to weather an intense negative media campaign on the part of pro-government outlets.

His Tisza party placed second in elections for European Parliament in June, grabbing almost 30% of the vote, by capitalizing on a political scandal that toppled the Orban-allied president as well as the justice minister — who was also Magyar’s ex-wife.

Discontent about an ailing economy and perceived corruption and government mismanagement, including in the decrepit state of hospitals and railways, have further fueled support for Magyar.

(Updates with quote and details in third paragraph.)

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