Fidesz rallies thousands in Budapest against Péter Magyar's plan to remove president and reshape courts
Fidesz, the party of former prime minister Viktor Orbán, mobilized thousands in Budapest on Thursday to protest a constitutional overhaul by the new Tisza-led government.
The protest at Buda Castle
Several thousand people gathered Thursday in front of the Hungarian presidency at Buda Castle to oppose the government of conservative prime minister Péter Magyar. The demonstration was called by Fidesz, the party of former ultranationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán, which governed Hungary for 16 consecutive years before losing parliamentary elections in April 2026. The slogan of the rally was "Stop the tyranny," and attendance estimates from the news portal Hvg.hu placed the crowd at several thousand people.
The current government dismantles the rule of law and institutionalizes tyranny.
Orbán himself did not attend the protest, though he had promoted it widely on social media in the preceding days. Former Hungarian president János Áder, a Fidesz co-founder, addressed the crowd directly.
The constitutional amendments announced by the government mean the collapse of the rule of law and seek to remove Sulyok from office illegally.
The constitutional reform package
The object of the protest is a package of constitutional reforms introduced to parliament by the Tisza party government. The bill extends the autonomy of the National Judicial Office and the Supreme Court. It also sets an age limit of 70 for a magistrate to be appointed as a judge on the Constitutional Court. Additionally, the measures aim to enable the removal of the current president, Tamás Sulyok, a politician described by the Fidesz side as loyal to Orbán. The legislation would also create a public entity tasked with recovering funds allegedly embezzled by oligarchs close to the previous regime.
Hungary's democratic reversal under Orbán
During his four consecutive terms from 2010 to 2026, Orbán centralized power, limited judicial autonomy, exerted control over the press, and modified the electoral law. These steps led the European Union to freeze a portion of the EU funds allocated to Hungary. The Tisza party, led by Magyar, won this year's parliamentary elections with an absolute majority after campaigning on promises to dismiss high-ranking officials appointed by the previous government, restore institutions, and meet Brussels' requirements to unlock the frozen EU funds.
- Viktor Orbán and Fidesz begin first of four consecutive terms in power, centralizing control over judiciary, media, and electoral law.
- European Union freezes a portion of EU funds allocated to Hungary, citing rule-of-law backsliding under Orbán.
- Péter Magyar and the Tisza party win parliamentary elections with an absolute majority, ending 16 years of Fidesz rule.
- Fidesz organizes a protest in Budapest under the slogan 'Stop the tyranny' against the Magyar government's constitutional reform package.
The government's response
Péter Magyar's executive defends the reform package as an effort to restore constitutional democracy, arguing that the country deviated from basic democratic standards under the previous Fidesz administration. The government calls the dismissed Orbán-era officials "Orbán's puppets" and frames the newly proposed public entity as a mechanism to reclaim money lost to corruption. In Hungary, the head of state is elected by parliament rather than by popular vote, a detail that places the fight over Sulyok's presidency squarely in the legislative arena where Tisza holds a two-thirds majority.
