Viktor Orbán, who ran unopposed, said he took full responsibility for his pro‑Russian Fidesz party’s defeat in April.
Published On 13 Jun 2026
Hungary’s main opposition Fidesz party has re‑elected former prime minister Viktor Orbán as its leader for another year, despite the party’s loss in the April election to the centre‑right, pro‑Western Tisza party.
Some 729 of 737 delegates voted to retain Orbán, who ran unopposed, at Fidesz’s party congress, state news agency MTI reported on Saturday.
Orbán’s political future was in question after the defeat, as some longtime allies urged him to step aside – the first such criticism since he first came to power in 2010.
“I do not give up, I never, never, never, never, never give up,” Orbán told the congress before the vote, reiterating that he took full responsibility for the party’s electoral loss.
Orbán, 62, said Fidesz had been a “fantastic governing party” for 16 years but needed to transform into a functional opposition party capable of returning to power.
Nationalist Orbán has inspired right‑wing conservatives across Europe and the United States as the architect of what he called an “illiberal” model of democracy. During his tenure, he cultivated close ties with former U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the April 12 election, Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s Tisza party won a two‑thirds parliamentary majority, enough to reverse constitutional changes introduced under Orbán that had eroded the judiciary, media, universities and other institutions.
Since taking office in May, Magyar has pledged to amend the constitution to remove President Tamás Sulyok and other officials appointed by Orbán. His government also agreed to lift Orbán’s veto on Ukraine’s EU accession bid, allowing the process to resume with talks in Luxembourg.
The EU announced it would release €16.4 billion of the €18 billion earmarked for Hungary, which had been frozen due to concerns over democratic backsliding, corruption and LGBTQ‑rights policies.
Fidesz’s support has slipped since the election. A May poll by the Publicus Institute showed Tisza at 55 percent, up from the 53 percent it secured in the vote, while Fidesz’s backing fell to 17 percent, down from 39 percent.