Is Hungary Getting a New Dictator?
It’s not often democracy triumphs over tyranny by removing checks and balances, silencing the press, and attacking the opposition. Yet that is exactly what incoming Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is pledging to do to save Hungary from his predecessor, Viktor Orbán. Thousands of Hungarians concerned about the direction Orbán was taking them celebrated on the night of April 12 when Magyar beat Orbán by a landslide. To them, Orbán’s rule represented 16 years of corruption, manipulating elections, silencing the press, clinging to Russia and China, and even religious persecution. They voted for Magyar as their best chance to unseat Orbán.
Those voters dancing in Budapest got what they wanted. But instead of celebrating, they should have been mourning. Magyar isn’t even in office yet, but he is already announcing a program that makes Orbán’s look tame by comparison.
Attacking the Presidency
Hungary’s prime minister, as leader of Parliament’s largest party, is head of the government. But Hungary also has a president who functions as a head of state. The president can accredit ambassadors, issue pardons, and perform other general duties. But most functions of the government lie with the prime minister and his cabinet. The presidency is mostly ceremonial. Countries like Germany and Israel have similar systems.
The current president is Tamás Sulyok, formerly president of Hungary’s Constitutional Court. Orbán’s government nominated Sulyok to the presidency in 2024 after the previous holder stepped down amid a scandal.
On April 15, Magyar met Sulyok at the president’s residence. That day, Magyar posted on social media that Sulyok “is unworthy of representing the unity of the Hungarian nation. He is unfit to serve as the guardian of legality. He is not fit to serve as a moral authority or a role model. Following the formation of the new government, Tamás Sulyok must leave office immediately.”
https://twitter.com/magyarpeterMP/status/2044345463814431184
Magyar’s Tisza Party controls a two-thirds parliamentary majority. He has enough seats in Parliament to change Hungary’s Constitution. And if Sulyok doesn’t resign, he has threatened to do that to force him out of office.
In states with a ceremonial head of state, new governments usually let the incumbent president serve out his term. This demonstrates the political system’s continuity. The role of the ceremonial president is supposed to be above partisan politics and above control of the elected government.
A new prime minister threatening to forcibly remove the president is practically unheard of. Threatening to immediately change the Constitution to do so is even more provocative.
Magyar has claimed Sulyok is Orbán’s “puppet.” But any president Magyar installs would be no less a puppet, only beholden to a different man. Tisza didn’t win any seats last election. Every single Tisza seat is brand new. Most of the party’s legislators likely have minimal experience in parliamentary politics. Magyar is asking a bunch of novices to rubber-stamp his plans for massive constitutional change.
Shutting Down the Media
It’s not only the presidency Magyar vows to attack. He is threatening the same with Hungary’s public broadcasters. During a recent interview on the state-run M1 television, Magyar called the broadcaster a “factory of lies.” He vowed to “immediately suspend the false news service that is operating here.”
Hungary’s media definitely has serious problems. Some analysts estimate that between public broadcasters and media controlled by Orbán’s oligarch buddies, the outgoing prime minister controls 80 percent of Hungary’s media. The public broadcasters, especially, are guilty of manipulation. In 2022, during Hungary’s last election, an editor of state broadcaster mtva was caught telling reporters that the broadcaster doesn’t support opposition candidates; he told those who objected to resign immediately.
But a blanket blackout on all public media? Not even implementing a police investigation or parliamentary inquiry first? When Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk did something similar in Poland in 2023, Ralf Schneider, president of the Association of European Journalists, said: “It does not bode well when a newly elected government in [a European Union] country tries to silence criticism.”
Silencing Critics
Under Orbán, the line between government and party was exceptionally blurred. The Hungarian government gave heavy sponsorship to think tanks, political conventions and other institutions that helped Orbán electioneer. These included the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Brussels, a think tank affiliated with a university whose chairman is also Orbán’s political director. Another example is the Conservative Political Action Conference Hungary, cpac’s European affiliate. Regarding both, Magyar said: “I think this was a criminal offense, party financing mixed up with government expenditures.” He said that “the future authorities will have to examine or investigate.”
This is entirely reasonable. But some affiliated with the groups claim this is leading to the new government snuffing them out. “We suspect that the vindictiveness of Magyar’s agenda will surprise many of those who preach about the sanctity of rule of law and due process,” said John O’Brien, head of communications at mcc–Brussels.
Cutting public funding doesn’t mean concrete plans for termination. But Orbán used exactly the same tactic to shut down his critics, like the dissident religious group Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. At the very least, Magyar is opening the door to following Orbán’s precedent.
What Is Going On in Hungary?
Viktor Orbán was no friend of liberal democracy or the rule of law. Many have been hoping for somebody to come along and topple his rule so his reforms could be undone. Péter Magyar looked like that man. Yet he hasn’t even entered office and some of his policies sound more radical than anything Orbán attempted.
Unlike most of Orbán’s challengers over the years, Magyar is a conservative. Until 2024—well into Orbán’s reform program—he belonged to Orbán’s party. He is a staunch nationalist whose Catholic convictions guide his politics. He stands for much of the same programs Orbán does. There are really only two fundamental differences between Magyar and Orbán. The first is that he wants himself at the helm rather than his boss. The second is that he is willing to support the rest of the EU in exchange for them supporting his political rise.
One of Orbán’s tactics was repeatedly telling the electorate that invisible corrupt elites were responsible for all Hungary’s problems and he was the only man who could stand up to them, giving him cause to go after any political dissent in the name of saving his nation. It appears Magyar is doing exactly the same thing on an accelerated timetable. The one difference is, instead of blaming figures like Ursula von der Leyen or George Soros, Magyar’s scapegoat is Orbán himself.
In other words, Magyar is out-Orbáning Orbán. Neither the Hungarian public nor international observers seem to have noticed.
Europe’s Future?
The Trumpet watches for free, postmodern Europe to reverse course and return to its traditions of autocracy and empire-building. This is because of prophecies in Revelation 13:1 and 17:3 that speak of a “beast,” a symbol for a revival of the Roman Empire. This resurrected Roman Empire is prophesied to appear in our day through a super-union of 10 European “kings” or strongmen (Revelation 17:12-13). (Request a free copy of The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy for more information.)
The Trumpet expects Hungary to be one of these nations. Much of Orbán’s policies informed this. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry asked in a 2020 article, “Is the acceptance of Orbán’s dictatorship in the EU a sign that the time has come for Europe’s 10 kings to emerge? It is almost certain that Hungary will be part of the coming 10-nation European superpower.”
That didn’t mean Orbán himself would be at the helm. Some factors, especially his antagonism toward the rest of Europe, struck against him. Today, Orbán is about to be replaced by a man who apparently thinks exactly like him. The difference is Magyar has Europe’s blessing and is prepared to go down the strongman route even faster than Orbán.
Those cheering for Hungary’s liberation are premature. Hungary’s experiment with strongman politics isn’t over. It’s just getting started.
To learn more, request a free copy of The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy.