BUDAPEST — Hungary’s main opposition leader has vowed to strengthen personal privacy protections after accusing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government of trying to blackmail him with secretly recorded intimate footage, intensifying political tensions ahead of April’s parliamentary elections, according to Euro News.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Budapest on Sunday, Péter Magyar claimed the ruling establishment had set a “honeytrap” to damage his reputation and frighten voters. “If you want Viktor Orbán to spy in your bedroom, then feel free to vote for the ruling Fidesz party,” he told supporters, drawing applause and chants from the crowd.
Magyar, whose Tisza Party currently leads national opinion polls, said government figures had attempted to blackmail him with a video allegedly recorded in a Budapest apartment in 2024 showing him and a former partner. The video has not been released publicly, though a still image of a bedroom has circulated online. Orbán’s government has not confirmed the allegation.
The opposition leader framed the upcoming April 12 election as a turning point, urging young Hungarians to vote and describing the contest as “the biggest party of the decade.” He rejected government claims that an opposition victory would drag Hungary into war, pledging that his party would oppose military conscription while condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Hungary will not be dragged into conflict,” he said.
Magyar also promised to keep the border barrier on Hungary’s southern frontier to curb illegal migration, while opposing the European Union’s migration pact and Ukraine’s fast-track membership bid.
Beyond campaign rhetoric, he addressed environmental concerns after reports of a chemical leak at a battery plant near Budapest. He pledged mandatory independent monitoring of toxic emissions and full public disclosure of industrial data.
Earlier in the week, Magyar attended the Munich Security Conference, where he met several European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. He said he outlined plans to restore suspended EU funds to Hungary, enforce anti-corruption reforms, and guarantee judicial independence and media freedom.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in power since 2010, has yet to respond directly to Magyar’s accusations but faces his strongest electoral challenge in years as the campaign enters its final weeks.
