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Hungary Set for Pre-Election Showdown amid Foreign Meddling Concerns

Facing an unprecedented challenge to his 16-year-rule, Orban has accused the EU and Ukraine of helping the opposition.

Kyiv Post

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15 Mart 2026

4 min read

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Hungary’s long-time premier Viktor Orban and his main opponent Peter Magyar are set to stage rival marches in Budapest on Sunday, both pushing allegations of foreign interference four weeks before the elections.

Facing an unprecedented challenge to his 16-year-rule, Orban has accused the EU and Ukraine of helping the opposition.

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Tensions between the nationalist leader and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reached new heights last week, when Zelensky appeared to issue a direct threat against Orban and Hungary detained and then expelled a group of Ukrainian bank employees.  

Billboards casting Zelensky in a negative light have also sprung up in recent weeks across the country.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Magyar has accused the Moscow-friendly Orban of seeking the Kremlin’s help to stay in power.

This followed reports by regional investigative outlet VSquare and the Financial Times of a covert Russian social media campaign to boost Orban and weaken the opposition.

- ‘Peace march’ -

Both camps have pushed to mobilise their supporters for Sunday’s mass gatherings ahead of the April 12 election.

Government sympathisers will gather in a park for a “peace march” across a bridge over the Danube river to parliament. The nationalist premier will give a speech in front of parliament at 1:00 pm local time (1200 GMT).

Since Orban’s return to power in 2010, gatherings in support of the ruling Fidesz party, dubbed “peace marches”, have routinely been held.

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Magyar is set to hold a “national march” from Budapest’s city centre to Heroes’ Square, where he is expected to address the crowd at 4:30 pm.

The rallies will take place on Hungary’s national day.

- ‘War psychosis’ -

Orban’s party has been trailing behind in polls since last year, and he has recently centred his campaign on attacking Zelensky. He has told supporters that either he or the Ukrainian leader will form Hungary’s next government.

“Orban is doing everything he can to rev up the war psychosis that brought him a fourth supermajority in 2022” after Russia invaded Ukraine, Robert Laszlo, an election specialist at Political Capital think-tank, told AFP.

“After 16 years in power, Orban does not have a good answer to Magyar’s chief message about public services failing due to widespread corruption,” Laszlo added.

The government advertised a fresh anti-Ukraine consultation sent to Hungarians with the phrase “let us not let Zelensky have the last laugh”, while ruling party billboards depict him next to Magyar.

Zelensky is the second most unpopular foreign leader in Hungary, with only Russian President Vladimir Putin viewed worse, according to a survey by political research institute Policy Solutions published last year.

Orban also claimed that Kyiv was illegally financing Magyar’s party, which the opposition leader denied. The government said it would declassify an intelligence report on the issue.

Hungary detained seven Ukrainian bank employees and seized cash and gold they were transporting through the country last week, after it accused Kyiv of stalling the reopening of a pipeline carrying Russian oil to the landlocked EU state.

Orban has also been holding up a 90 billion euro ($106 billion) EU loan to the war-torn country and a new round of sanctions on Russia over the pipeline issue.

Last month, Orban ordered reinforced security around Hungary’s key energy facilities, alleging that Ukraine was preparing “operations” against such sites.

This prompted renewed accusations from Magyar that he could be preparing for a “false flag operation”.