Orbán Calls on Fidesz in Romania to Resist Magyar's Successor

Serious Accusations Against Magyar

At the same time, Orbán called on his party to undergo a fundamental transformation. „Fidesz must now function completely differently and serve the national resistance," he declared. In the future, the party should appear less as a classic party and more as a „service center, an incubator, a nursery" for freedom-loving people. He said verbatim: „FIDESZ must support the groups and organizations of freedom-loving people. Not as a party, but as a service center, as an incubator, as a nursery, if you will."

At the same time, Orbán predicted the decline of the Tisza Party. „Hundreds of thousands of voters from Magyar's bourgeois Tisza Party would then turn their backs on it and rise up against the 'rule of arbitrary power,'" he said. He also announced an energy crisis in Hungary in the autumn as a consequence of the Middle East war and predicted that the government would fail in the face of it. He himself described the achievements of his time in government as a „historical fact."

New Laws Restrict Orbán

The background to this changed situation is a series of legislative changes by the new government under Magyar. In the first weeks in office, constitutional amendments were passed that significantly weakened Fidesz's power base. Henceforth, no one may be a member of parliament more than three times, and the office of prime minister is limited to two legislative periods. As a result, Orbán himself can neither become prime minister nor a member of parliament. In addition, the head of state, Tamás Sulyok, a president installed by Orbán, was removed from office through an ad hoc constitutional law.

Fidesz is also under legal pressure. On the previous Tuesday, the public prosecutor's investigation had led to the search and seizure of servers at the Fidesz headquarters in Budapest on suspicion of illegal campaign financing. According to sources close to the investigators, around 17 billion forints (approximately 40 million euros) from the state-controlled National Cultural Fund (NKA), which was controlled by people close to Orbán, are said to have been used for appearances by singers, influencers, and celebrities during the election campaign.

Investigations and Withdrawal of Confidants

Magyar had announced during the election campaign that he would dismantle the system associated with Orbán. He himself had emerged from the Fidesz Party and publicly broke with it in 2024. After his victory in the April election, he founded the Tisza Party and set up a government that announced a new office for asset recovery with the powers of a special prosecutor's office against corruption.

Several prominent Fidesz figures were absent from this year's summer camp in Băile Tuşnad. These included former minister János Lázár, former cabinet chief Antal Rogán, who was responsible for propaganda and oversight of the intelligence services, as well as former minister Gergely Gulyás, who had resigned as Fidesz parliamentary group leader after just two months. The Fidesz party congress had previously confirmed Orbán for another year as party chairman.

Critics accuse Orbán of having dismantled democracy and the rule of law during his years in office and of having built a corrupt, clientelist system that permeated the entire country. As early as 2014, Orbán had proclaimed the concept of an „illiberal state" in Băile Tuşnad. With his current speech, he is continuing this line while simultaneously calling for a new self-image of Fidesz as an extra-parliamentary resistance movement.

For Hungarian politics, the appearance marks a watershed: For the first time in 16 years, Orbán is speaking to his supporters as an opposition politician. Whether the strategy of „national resistance" he announced and the transformation into a „service center" can achieve a majority within the party remains to be seen — especially since numerous legacy issues remain open in personnel and legal terms.