Orbán re-elected Fidesz leader, blames EU and 'foreign algorithms' for April defeat, vows never to surrender

Uncontested re-election

Viktor Orbán secured another term as Fidesz chairman at the party congress on Saturday, winning 729 of 737 delegate votes with no rival candidate. The 62-year-old former prime minister had largely withdrawn from public view after the April election, even giving up his parliamentary mandate. Delegates approved a one-year mandate, and Orbán signalled he would like to hand over the party to a younger generation after that.

'Never, never, never give up'

Orbán struck a defiant tone in his address, repeating the phrase "I will never, never, never give up" and confirming he accepted full responsibility for the electoral disaster. He characterised the new government under Péter Magyar as a "liberal Brussels interim government" imposing "the familiar methods of liberal tyranny" on Hungary. The European Union, he said, remained the greatest threat to a sovereign Hungary.

I will never, never, never, never, never give up.

Diagnosing the defeat

Orbán offered his most detailed public explanation yet for Fidesz's loss. He conceded that the party's election message failed while Tisza's was far more attractive to voters. Record turnout, an opponent that mobilised more successfully, an inadequate response to corruption allegations, and what he called a "catastrophic defeat in the digital space" and a "brutal defeat among young people" all contributed. He claimed algorithms steered from abroad systematically favoured those pushing for a change of government. The war and Brussels sanctions blocked economic growth across Europe, he added, and his own cabinet never built a credible growth strategy.

The opponent's mobilisation was much more successful and we did not react adequately to accusations of corruption. We suffered a catastrophic defeat in the digital space and a brutal defeat among young people.

Magyar hits back

Prime Minister Péter Magyar, whose Tisza party won a two-thirds majority in April, dismissed the congress as a cosmetic exercise. "Fidesz has moved from a falling plane to a sinking ship," Magyar said, accusing Orbán of holding the party hostage and blocking any renewal. He compared Orbán's speech to that of a general secretary of the old communist party and is pressing ahead with dismantling institutional legacies: the heads of the secret services have already been removed and changes are being demanded in the prosecution service, media bodies and the presidential palace. Magyar also wants to scrap a special office once used to restrict foreign-funded NGOs and is planning a wealth tax aimed at oligarchs linked to the former regime.

Viktor Orbán took Fidesz hostage and is blocking any responsibility and renewal. He spoke like the general secretary of the MSZMP and is pushing his party in the same direction.

Frozen funds and future votes

Magyar has moved quickly to unlock roughly 400 billion crowns of frozen EU funds, with Brussels promising the first tranche at the end of May while insisting that Hungary must still meet 27 conditions covering judicial reform, academic freedom and anti-corruption steps. The prime minister wants the next summit to close the long-running procedure that could strip Hungary of its voting rights. Orbán, meanwhile, will be back in Brussels next week for a meeting of the EU political faction he once co-founded. A May Publicus poll underscores the scale of the shift: Tisza stood at 55 percent, up from the 53 percent it won on 12 April, while Fidesz had collapsed to 17 percent from its election result of 39 percent.