On Sunday, thousands of people gathered in Debrecen for a rally organized by Peter Magyar. Magyar's new party, Tisza, is the front-runner for current Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party in the upcoming European Parliament elections. The theme of Sunday's rally was women's rights and issues, and it was one of the stops in a series of protests scheduled to take place across Hungary, where Magyars are scheduled to meet with voters and address crowds.
On the eve of the protest, the Hungarian government allegedly installed a series of “provocative billboards” in the square where the protest was scheduled, in an attempt to intimidate the protesters. The wave of support for the Magyars is driven by the party's anti-corruption stance. He accused the ruling Fidesz party of using propaganda and corruption to maintain power.
In 2023, Hungary had the highest amount of investigations by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) among non-participating Member States. The EPPO is an EU organization that investigates and prosecutes crimes against the EU's financial interests. Although Hungary is not a member state of the EPPO, it will be the subject of 80 investigations in 2023, which is double the number of investigations that Hungary was the subject of in 2022.
Magyar continues to tour the country collecting signatures and support for candidate Tisza to run in the upcoming European Parliament and local elections scheduled for June 9th.
Hungary has been experiencing regular protests since February following a series of scandals stemming from Justice Minister Judith Varga's decision to pardon the director of an orphanage who was found guilty of trying to cover up sexual abuse. Activities continue. Magyar rose to political prominence after he secretly recorded conversations with his ex-wife in which she “implicated top ministers in corruption cases.”
Current Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been in power since 2010, and his conservative Fidesz party has controlled Debrekan since the 1990s. Although Tisa is a very new party, polling data shows that it will quickly become the main opposition party and perhaps the biggest challenge to the ruling Fidesz party in recent memory.
