Tisza Party’s Peter Magyar is leading comfortably in the polls, making his victory possible in the April vote. Magyar clarified that he and his ex-girlfriend had consensual sex in an apartment, adding that there may have been illegal drugs in the complex
Hungary’s main opposition leader has come out clean and said that he was secretly taped having sex with his former partner in 2024, in a preemptive move before the release of a video that he called a “Russia-style” attempt to drag his name through mud ahead of the elections.
Tisza Party’s Peter Magyar is leading comfortably in the polls, making his victory possible in the April vote. Magyar clarified that he and his ex-girlfriend had consensual sex in an apartment, adding that there may have been illegal drugs in the complex, however, denying that he took them.
A still image appearing to show a hotel room with a bed circulated widely in Hungarian media this week, fueling speculation about the release of a video amid what observers describe as the country’s dirtiest election campaign to date. Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces the prospect of losing power after 16 years of uninterrupted rule.
Magyar said that the picture is from a Tisza summer party, calling it “a classic, Russia-style kompromat.” The video has not been published since the leader posted his statement.
“You won’t be able to threaten me or blackmail me,” Magyar said in an emotional post directed at Orban. The government, on the other hand, has denied involvement with the purported video.
Magyar, once an insider in Orban’s ruling party, founded Tisza in 2024 and rapidly consolidated much of the fractured opposition, while also drawing support from disillusioned Orban voters. He has tapped into public anger over the cost-of-living crisis, economic mismanagement and corruption.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel next week to Hungary after President Donald Trump endorsed its right-wing leader Viktor Orban, who is trailing in polls ahead of the April elections.
Last week, Trump endorsed Orban in a social media post, calling the European Union’s longest-serving national leader “a true friend, fighter, and WINNER.”
With inputs from agencies
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