A growing generational divide in Hungary shows young voters overwhelmingly supporting opposition candidate Péter Magyar over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has held power for 16 years. Recent polling indicates 65% of voters under 30 back Magyar's center-right Tisza party, while older citizens remain loyal to Orbán.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Young volunteers in their mid-twenties knocked on doors throughout a Hungarian town last week, backing a political movement that could potentially topple Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s decade-and-a-half hold on leadership.
These volunteers from Hungary’s Lake Balaton area were working for the center-right Tisza party and its candidate, Péter Magyar, as they sought to advance beyond what they called Orbán’s failing governance.
“Our entire lives have been spent under this administration, and we’re curious to experience what lies beyond it,” explained Florián Végh, a 25-year-old university student. “Speaking for my classmates and peers, I can confidently say this administration is completely broken.”
An expanding age-based political divide shows Hungary’s younger generation strongly demanding an end to Orbán’s authoritarian leadership, while elderly voters continue supporting the prime minister — a division that may prove crucial in the April 12 elections.
The 62-year-old Orbán currently lags in polling behind Magyar, a 45-year-old attorney who departed from Orbán’s nationalist-populist Fidesz party following a political controversy in 2024. Magyar has guided Tisza through remarkable political growth, energizing voters who had stayed away from politics for roughly twenty years.
Fidesz’s weakening support amid economic slowdown and various political and corruption controversies has expanded the age-related political gap. Recent polling from 21 Research Center revealed that 65% of voters under 30 favor Tisza, compared to just 14% supporting Orbán.
Levente Koltai, a 24-year-old student volunteering for Tisza, noted that Fidesz originally stood for “Alliance of Young Democrats” in Hungarian. However, he argues the party has abandoned those founding principles.
“Fidesz has abandoned its claims to being young, democratic and unified,” he explained to The Associated Press. “It has transformed from youthful to aged, from democratic to authoritarian-leaning, and from a coalition to an inner circle of loyalists.”
Andrea Szabó, a senior researcher at Eötvös Loránd University’s Institute for Political Science in Budapest, described an emerging leadership transition in Hungary, where “a fresh, engaged political generation is starting to emerge.”
While Orbán’s political cohort was shaped by opposition to Hungary’s Soviet-era communist government during the 1980s and 1990s, “we’ve now arrived at a moment where, after 25 years, there exists a new political generation opposed to the Orbán administration,” Szabó explained.
Orbán’s administration characterizes itself as both Christian-national and “illiberal,” and has moved away from European Union partnerships while strengthening ties with Russia and China.
Critics have long alleged that Orbán has captured Hungary’s institutions, restricted media independence and overseen widespread political corruption — allegations he rejects — and he has emerged as a prominent figure in the international far-right movement.
Supporters praise his stance against immigration and restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights, and celebrate benefits for young families including tax exemptions for mothers with multiple children and government-supported loans for first-time home purchasers.
These policies, along with additional pension benefits for seniors, attract many older voters. Fidesz maintains a 50% to 19% advantage over Tisza among retirement-age Hungarians, according to 21 Research Center polling.
Zsuzsanna Prépos, a retiree attending one of Orbán’s recent campaign events, expressed satisfaction with the government’s pension programs, stating she supports Fidesz because it “assists young people.”
“During my youth… I received nothing. Today’s young people receive substantial assistance,” she stated.
However, these programs haven’t generated youth support for Orbán. In multiple recent addresses, he has both criticized young people for their anti-government positions and appealed for their reconsideration.
“Young people, wake up!” he declared at a rally last week. “These are not times for taking risks, experimenting or trying new things… Believe me, today only Fidesz and my humble self can provide this country with security.”
Szabó, the researcher, noted that while many young people appreciate Orbán’s family assistance programs, their “very strong sense of justice” conflicts with “the authoritarian exercise of power, the corruption, the fact that they feel vulnerable and that there is insecurity in the country.”
“Their lives essentially took place entirely within the Orbán regime, so they know nothing other than this kind of functioning of power,” she explained.
Recent developments in Hungary have turned significant numbers of young people against the governing party.
Hungary experienced major controversy in February 2024 when reports emerged that the president, a close Orbán supporter, had pardoned someone involved in a child sexual abuse case. This revelation stunned the nation, leading to resignations by both the president and justice minister.
Shortly afterward, several prominent social media influencers organized a protest calling for political change. Drawing tens of thousands of participants, it represented a pivotal moment that “opened the door to politicization for a lot of young people,” Szabó stated.
Following the pardon controversy, Magyar left Fidesz and established Tisza. Three months later, the party captured 30% of votes in European Parliament elections.
Magyar has centered his campaign on pledges to reverse Orbán’s alignment with Russia and restore Hungary’s Western partnerships, and to revitalize the struggling economy by recovering billions in EU funding currently withheld due to rule-of-law and corruption issues.
This economic platform has connected with young voters. Végh, the Tisza volunteer, explained that his internet-connected generation can easily access diverse information sources and travel to neighboring countries where governments effectively utilize public resources.
“In Austria, you observe a much more tranquil, peaceful, educated society with superior infrastructure and healthcare,” he noted. “You cross the border and realize you’ve entered a developed European nation.”
Despite Tisza’s polling advantage, victory remains uncertain. Orbán maintains support among older voters and throughout much of rural Hungary.
At a recent Budapest rally attracting over 100,000 attendees, Tisza supporter Dorina Csobán described how the electoral contest had become “pretty divisive in my family for the older people, because we younger people are saying clearly that there must be change.”