Viktor Orbán’s Grip on Power Starts to Slip

After 15 years of dominating Hungarian politics with seemingly unshakable authority, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s control over Hungary appears to be faltering. His once-powerful media machine, which effectively silenced opposition for over a decade, no longer delivers the knockout blows it once did. For the first time since Orbán consolidated power in 2010, an opposition movement is gaining serious momentum—and it’s shaking the illusion of his political invincibility.

The most significant challenge to Orbán’s rule comes from Peter Magyar, a former ally who now leads the opposition Tisza party. Despite relentless attacks from state-aligned media—including accusations of abuse and corruption—Magyar’s popularity continues to grow, according to reports from Digi24. Recent polling suggests that Tisza holds a clear lead heading into the next general election, marking a potentially seismic shift in Hungarian politics.

Magyar has directly accused Orbán of corruption, drawing public attention to a luxurious estate commonly referred to as “Orbán’s Versailles” and highlighting the vast wealth accumulated by the prime minister’s son-in-law, István Tiborcz, who was previously implicated in fraud allegations. These revelations have struck a nerve with Hungarian voters who are increasingly questioning the disparity between their own economic struggles and the apparent enrichment of those in Orbán’s inner circle.

“They have learned nothing else in the last 15 years except how to attack and destroy their opponents,” said political scientist Laszlo Kéri—once Orbán’s professor and now a supporter of Magyar—in a statement reported by Digi24. Kéri believes that the propaganda state Orbán has built is wearing increasingly thin as citizens confront the gap between state messaging and lived reality.

The cracks in Orbán’s carefully constructed political edifice are becoming visible across multiple fronts. While Fidesz-controlled media continues to portray Orbán as a defender of traditional values and Hungarian sovereignty, many citizens are experiencing a different reality characterized by economic stagnation, persistent inflation, and a demographic crisis that has seen many young Hungarians leave the country in search of better opportunities elsewhere.

Even Orbán’s strategy of targeting the LGBT community, long a cornerstone of his culture-war politics, appears to be backfiring. In 2025, over 100,000 people joined the Budapest Pride parade—a sharp increase that came after government attempts to ban the event. According to Digi24, Orbán labeled the event “disgusting and shameful,” blaming Brussels for promoting what he called foreign ideologies. However, the strong turnout suggests growing public resistance to this aspect of his politics.

The prime minister also faced a symbolic rebuke when acclaimed Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, a vocal critic of Orbán’s government, recently won the Nobel Prize for Literature. While Orbán publicly congratulated the writer, Krasznahorkai responded by reaffirming his opposition to the prime minister’s politics—a moment many viewed as emblematic of the growing tension between Hungary’s cultural elite and its political leadership.

“In all hybrid regimes, there comes a point when propaganda is no longer enough,” warned Ákos Hadházy, a former Fidesz official now aligned with the opposition, according to Digi24. This assessment reflects a growing sentiment that Orbán’s political playbook—which has combined nationalist rhetoric, control of media narratives, and strategic use of state resources—may be losing its effectiveness.

The upcoming election will be a crucial test for both Orbán’s Fidesz party and Magyar’s opposition movement. While Orbán still maintains significant institutional advantages, including electoral rules that favor his party and extensive control over state media, the rising tide of discontent suggests that Hungary may be approaching a political inflection point.

As economic challenges persist and public skepticism grows, the question remains whether Orbán can adapt his strategy to counter this unprecedented challenge—or whether Hungary is witnessing the beginning of the end of his long-dominant political era.