Fidesz

History

1988–1989: Liberal activist beginnings

The party was founded in the spring of 1988 and named Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége (Alliance of Young Democrats), with the acronym FIDESZ. It grew out of an underground liberal student activist movement opposed to the ruling Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. Founding such a movement was semi-illegal at the time, so the founders risked their careers by being involved in the opposition. The membership had an upper age limit of 35 years (this requirement was abolished at the 1993 party congress).

In 1989, Fidesz won the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize. The movement was represented at the award ceremony by one of its leaders, Péter Molnár, who later became a Member of Parliament in Hungary.

1990–1998: Centre-left opposition and conservative turn

In the 1990 elections, the party entered the National Assembly after winning about 6% of the vote. They became a small, though quite popular oppositional party. In 1992, Fidesz joined the Liberal International. At the time, it was a moderate liberal centrist party, sometimes also described as social-liberal. By April 1993, Fidesz had "consistently led opinion polls for the past two years".

At the party congress that year, it changed its political position from liberal to civic-centrist ("polgári centrumpárt"). The turn in ideology caused a severe split in the membership. Péter Molnár left the party along with Gábor Fodor and Klára Ungár, who joined the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats. Viktor Orbán was elected party chairman.

After its disappointing result in the 1994 elections, Fidesz remained an opposition party but grew increasingly conservative. In 1995, it changed its name to Hungarian Civic Party (Magyar Polgári Párt) and sought connections to the national-conservative Hungarian Democratic Forum, a former governing party.

1998–2002: First Orbán government

Fidesz gained power for the first time at the 1998 elections, with Viktor Orbán becoming prime minister. Their coalition partners were the smaller Hungarian Democratic Forum and the Independent Smallholders' Party. In 2000, Fidesz terminated its membership in the Liberal International and joined the European People's Party. The first Fidesz-led government was reckoned as a "relatively conventional European conservative" government.

2002–2010: Return to opposition

Fidesz narrowly lost the 2002 elections to the Hungarian Socialist Party, garnering 41.07% to the Socialists' 42.05%. Fidesz had 169 members of the National Assembly, out of a total of 386. Immediately after the election, they accused the opponents of electoral fraud. The 2002 Hungarian municipal elections saw again huge Fidesz losses.

In the spring of 2003, Fidesz took its current name, Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union.

It was the most successful party in the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections: it won 47.4% of the vote and 12 of its candidates were elected as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), including Lívia Járóka, the second Romani MEP.

Fidesz's nominee, Dr. László Sólyom, was elected President of Hungary in the 2005 election. He was endorsed by Védegylet, an NGO including people from the whole political spectrum. A self-described "conservative liberal," he championed elements of both political wings with a selective, but conscious choice of values.

In 2005, Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) formed an alliance for the 2006 elections, which were won by the social-democratic and liberal coalition of Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ). Fidesz received 42% of the list votes and 164 of 386 representatives in the National Assembly.

On 1 October 2006, Fidesz won the municipal elections, which counterbalanced the MSZP-led government's power to some extent. Fidesz won 15 of 23 mayoralties in Hungary's largest cities—although its candidate narrowly lost the city of Budapest to a member of the SZDSZ—and majorities in 18 out of 20 regional assemblies.

In the 2009 European Parliament election, Fidesz won a landslide victory, gaining 56.36% of the vote and 14 of Hungary's 22 seats.

In a closed-door party meeting in 2009, Orbán called for a "central political forcefield" to govern Hungary for up to 20 years to achieve political stability.

2010–2026: In power

The strong and preeminent Fidesz has benefited from the fragmented and disjointed opposition that proved inept at mounting a unified challenge to the ruling party in a country where a majority of parliamentary seats are allocated to the party that garners the plurality of votes in a constituency.

Government debt fell by 6% in the 8 years after Fidesz took power in 2010 while the country's credit ratings improved. Economic growth almost quadrupled with wages rising by over 10% and destitution decreasing by almost 50% (though still considerable). According to official figures, unemployment had fallen by nearly two-thirds. However, as many as almost half of newly employed Hungarians found work elsewhere in the EU. A public works program has also been criticized by some economists for artificially and deceptively reducing unemployment numbers while engaging in and compensating people for possibly unneeded or unnecessarily inefficient work. Hungary has been highly dependent on EU funds during Fidesz's rule; these representing nearly 4% of the country's GDP, more than for any other EU member.

In a landslide victory in the 2010 parliamentary elections, the party won an outright majority in the first round on 11 April, with the Fidesz-KDNP alliance winning 206 seats, including 119 individual seats. In the final result, Fidesz 263 seats, of which 173 are individual seats. Fidesz held 227 of these seats, giving it an outright majority in the National Assembly by itself.

Fidesz was widely seen as propelled to a sweeping victory in large part due to the dissatisfaction with the ruling political establishment which was plagued by corruption scandals and by the 2008 financial crisis. The socialist government had also imposed harsh austerity measures in an attempt to rein in its ballooning budget deficits even before the late 2000s’ crisis. In September 2006, a recording of the prime minister admitting to lying about the country's dire economic prospects was revealed by the media and broadcast on radio. Steel barriers were erected around the parliament to protect it from tens of thousands of protesters.

After winning 53% of the popular vote in the first round of the 2010 parliamentary election, which translated into a supermajority of 68% of parliamentary seats, giving Fidesz sufficient power to revise or replace the constitution, the party embarked on an extraordinary project of passing over 200 laws and drafting and adopting a new constitution—since followed by nearly 2000 amendments.

2026–present: Return to opposition

Fidesz sought a fifth term at the 2026 election. At that election, Fidesz was resoundingly defeated by the Tisza Party, led by former Fidesz member Péter Magyar. Fidesz lost over 15%p of its vote from 2022, while its seat count was more than halved, to 52 seats. Most polling by pro-Fidesz outlets projected a fifth consecutive term for Orbán, while independent pollsters universally projected a Tisza win. Orbán did not take up his seat in Parliament. Gergely Gulyás became the leader of Fidesz's parliamentary group, but resigned from that post in July and was replaced by János Bóka, citing the seventeenth amendment to the Fundamental Law. The amendment bars MPs from future elections who have reached the twelve-year term limit, affecting most Fidesz–KDNP MPs. Former Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó resigned his seat, saying he received "a highly prestigious offer" from the Chinese company BYD.

Ideology and policies

Fidesz's position on the political spectrum has changed over time.

Early years

At its inception as a student movement in the late 1980s, the party was positioned on the centre-left on the political spectrum, and it advocated for liberalism and libertarianism. It was strongly committed towards anti-clerical and secular policies. As the Hungarian political landscape crystallized following the fall of Communism and the first free elections in 1990, Fidesz moved to the right four years later. Although Fidesz was in opposition to the Hungarian Democratic Forum's national-conservative coalition government from 1990 to 1994, Fidesz became the most prominent liberal-conservative political force in Hungary by 1998. It adopted nationalism, national-liberalism, and Christian democracy in the early 2000s. It was positioned on the centre-right, although it moved more to the right as the decade progressed.

Contemporary

Since the late 2010s, Fidesz has increasingly been described as far-right. The party is national conservative while favoring interventionist policies on economic issues like handling of banks, and has a strong conservative stance on social issues, a soft Eurosceptic vision towards European integration, and has been described as right-wing populist. Its ruling style has also been variously described as "soft fascism", "soft dictatorship", and "soft autocracy". The Fidesz party has denied such accusations and distanced itself from the extreme right, criticizing such accusations as politically motivated opposition to its anti-immigrant policies and pursuit of illiberal democracy.

Illiberal democracy

Orbán and other Fidesz politicians have prominently described their model of government as a Christian illiberal democracy.

Orbán has described liberal democracy as having undemocratic characteristics because of "being intolerant of alternative views" and being incompatible with and antithetical to Christian democracy (saying: "Christian democracy is, by definition, not liberal: it is, if you like, illiberal."). Orbán has praised Turkey, Russia, China, and Singapore as successful examples of illiberal states.

The 17th Amendment to the Hungarian Fundamental Law, enacted by the Tisza Party majority on 13 July 2026, was harshly criticized by the Fidesz opposition as an intolerant violation of democratic values, e.g. the immediate removal of the sitting President Tamás Sulyok. Sulyok called it "a dark day for Hungarian democracy". János Boka explained, that because the removal of Sulyok is illegitimate, Fidesz boycotts the election and inauguration of András Baka as the new president in the parliament, which is "equally illegitimate".

Clientelism plays a central role in Fidesz's governance strategy. Fidesz uses European Union and Hungarian state monies to support an extensive network of infrastructure projects, commercial enterprises, nonprofits, academic or para-academic institutions (e.g., Mathias Corvinus Collegium), and religious and cultural institutions—including the established churches like the Catholic and Reformed Churches—both within Hungary and in the diaspora. Fidesz uses this network to attempt to create and preserve an ethnic Hungarian national bourgeoisie or "Establishment" with strong financial, ideological, and familial ties to the party leadership. In return, the party expects these groups' overt or tacit political support. In Hungary, this governance strategy is (originally descriptively, but now primarily pejoratively) called the System of National Cooperation (Nemzeti Együttműködés Rendszere, NER).

Economy

Like the Hungarian right in general, Fidesz has been more skeptical of the neoliberal economic policies than the Hungarian left. According to researchers, the elites of the Hungarian left (the Hungarian Socialist Party and the former Alliance of Free Democrats) have been differentiated from the right by being more supportive of the classical liberal economic policies, while the right (especially extreme right) has advocated more economic interventionist policies. In contrast, on issues like church and state and family policies, the liberals show alignment along the traditional left–right spectrum. In the past, Fidesz has implemented several economic liberal policies, including an income flat tax, reductions in the corporate tax rate, restrictions on unemployment benefits, and privatization of state-owned land.

The Fidesz government has embraced some government schemes, including "public works job program, pension hikes, utility bill cuts, a minimum wage increase and cash gifts for retirees." It has also implemented a national public works program aimed in particular at assisting neglected rural communities. It has sought national control of key economic sectors while assuming a cautious stance on economic globalization.

Foreign policy

During the NATO-led bombing of Yugoslavia, Orbán refused the requests of the United States and Great Britain to invade the northernmost territory of Serbia in order to hinder the intervention of Serbian forces in Kosovo. However, he expressed concern about the situation of the Hungarian minority in Serbia and allowed NATO forces to use Hungarian airspace.

Fidesz opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and Hungarian participation in it, questioning the international legitimacy of the invasion.

Despite the conflict with the European People's Party and European Union (EU) institutions, Fidesz and the Orbán government have claimed to be not in conflict with, but purportedly in line with pan-European values. As he struggled to maintain rapport with the EPP, Orbán began forming a right-wing populist alliance to electorally challenge the conservative EU establishment despite voicing a desire for Fidesz to remain a member. Orbán and his government have clashed with the EU over the handling of the 2014–2016 European migrant crisis and the death penalty, which is prohibited by EU rules.

Hungary was the only EU member state to vote against financial aid for Ukraine during its conflict with Russia-sponsored separatists, and has been a vocal critic of EU sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine. The main cause is that since 2017, relations with Ukraine rapidly deteriorated over the issue of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. Hungary has been obstructing Ukraine's integration efforts in the EU and NATO, even though Hungary has also been continuously helping and supporting Ukraine, with an exceptional attention to Transcarpathia. Orbán has strongly criticized EU sanctions against Russia but abstained from vetoing them. The Fidesz government joined the UK-led diplomatic offensive after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, expelling Russian embassy officials. Orbán has hailed Russia as an exemplary case of illiberal democracy.

During his prime ministership, Orbán has been described as drawing closer to Russian president Vladimir Putin. The closer relationship between the two leaders and nations has however largely been motivated by a tighter economic relationship, part of the government's "Eastern Opening" strategy, announced in 2011.

The Fourth Orbán Government initially strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, aligning the country with NATO and the European Union on the matter: Orbán announced that Hungary would be sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but declined to send military equipment. President János Áder (also a Fidesz member) strongly condemned the Russian invasion, comparing it to the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary. However, Fidesz soon realigned with its formerly pro-Russian position: the party repeatedly opposed sanctions against Russia, prompting international press to describe Orbán as "a key Putin's ally". Orbán has called for Russia and the United States to negotiate a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, stating that the Ukrainians could not win the war militarily.

Nativism and immigration

Fidesz adopted anti-immigration stances and rhetoric in the mid-2010s in the context of the European migrant crisis. However, starting in the early 2020s, the Orbán government began admitting increasing numbers of foreign guest workers into Hungary due to a labor shortage resulting from strong economic growth, native population decline, and rising wages.

Fidesz is opposed to multiculturalism. In a 2018 address, Orbán said: "We must state that we do not want to be diverse and do not want to be mixed: we do not want our own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed with those of others. We do not want this. We do not want that at all. We do not want to be a diverse country." Orbán has "often expressed a preference for a racially homogeneous society." The government has modified the country's Constitution to make it illegal to "settle foreign populations in Hungary."

Despite a very low fertility rate that has led to a demographic deficit, the Fidesz government has remained steadfastly opposed to economic immigration that has been harnessed by other European countries to relieve its worker deficits. Instead, the government announced pecuniary incentives (including eliminating taxes for mothers with more than 3 children, and reducing credit payments and easier access to government-subsidized mortgages), and expanding day care and kindergarten access. The Fidesz government's child incentive program also offers a 10-million-forint government-subsidized zero-interest loan to married couples who are willing to have a baby after 1 July 2019.

Propaganda

The communication of Fidesz has been widely described as populist propaganda.

Since Fidesz–KDNP's 2010 landslide victory, government-critical media was removed one-by-one through legal and financial means, while oligarchs close to the government have acquired outlets. Hungary's public service broadcaster and other television channels and radio stations are united under the Media Services Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA). Meanwhile, 476 media outlets – 80% of all Hungarian media – are operated by the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA), filled with Fidesz loyalists. The media policy of the Orbán regime is based on limiting access to financial resources, undermining the independence of regulatory bodies, and hindering access to information of public interest. As a result, Hungary experiences two parallel media systems: one directly or indirectly controlled by the government, and the other being independent. Paid for by taxpayer money, Fidesz uses bought-up outlets, its social media empire, and outdoor advertising to spread manipulative and hostile disinformation.

During the 2015 European migrant crisis, a smear campaign was launched by Fidesz against George Soros, and his alleged "Soros Plan" of uncontrolled migration. Billboards across the country claimed that he wanted to settle millions of Africans and Middle Easterners in Hungary. Meanwhile, the Orbán regime portrayed itself as the ones who are defending Hungary's national interests. Migrants were depicted as terrorists who spread lethal diseases, threaten local culture, and rape women. This campaign led to the 2016 migrant quota referendum, the 2017 National Consultation about the "Soros Plan", and the 2018 Stop Soros laws. The "weak West", the EU, the UN, and "the globalists" were accused of orchestrating a population exchange, and were later blamed for exposing children to woke ideology, the promotion of homosexuality, and dangerous sex-change surgeries. In 2021, the anti-LGBTQ law was enacted, a referendum was held next year about "sexual propaganda" in schools, and Pride parades were banned in 2025.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Fidesz's communication falsely accused the opposition, Brussels, European countries, and NATO members of dragging Hungary into war by seeking to send weapons and soldiers to Ukraine. Painting Ukraine as the source of danger instead of Russia, Fidesz claimed that the opposition conspired with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to interfere with Hungarian elections. The regime's rhetoric divides Hungarians into peace-lovers and warmongers, and oppositional figures and organizations are labelled "pro-war". The 2024 and 2026 elections were portrayed as a choice between World War III and peace. Numerous Russian-style hostile smear campaigns were launched against Péter Magyar, leader of the Tisza Party and Orbán's main rival. Tisza was accused of increasing taxes, and accounts and organizations close to Fidesz released AI-generated videos discrediting him.

Social policy

Changes passed by the Fidesz government have given citizens the right to use arms for self-defense on one's own property. Fidesz has passed legislation criminalising homelessness. Fidesz has opposed proposals supported by Jobbik and LMP to require nightclubs in Budapest to close after midnight.

Orbán has on multiple occasions emphasized upholding Christian values as central to his government, and has described his government as creating a Christian democracy. Hungarian Catholic bishop András Veres described some of Fidesz' policies, such as providing free IVF treatment for couples at state-run clinics, as being at odds with some Christian denominations, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, which opposes IVF. Orbán is a member of the Reformed Church in Hungary. However, the party has been described as taking a more secular position on abortion, the role of the church and education than its ally, the Christian Democratic People's Party.

Fidesz is opposed to an abortion ban, instead preferring to promote natalism. However, the Fidesz government has introduced a requirement for women seeking abortions to listen to a pulse generated by the ultrasound monitor before making their decision.

The Fidesz government has introduced loan subsidies for married couples that have three or more children and a personal income tax exemption for women that have four or more children.

Other

The party is anti-communist. In May 2018, the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker attended and spoke at a celebration of the deceased Karl Marx's 200th birthday, where he defended Marx's legacy. In response, MEPs from Fidesz wrote: "Marxist ideology led to the death of tens of millions and ruined the lives of hundreds of millions. The celebration of its founder is a mockery of their memory."

The Fidesz government spokesman Zoltán Kovács justified the government's controversial policies as an effort to "get rid of the remnants of communism that are still with us, not only in terms of institutions but in terms of mentality."

During the party's rule, statues of communists regarded as traitors have been removed with Fidesz politicians in attendance. In December 2018, Hungarian authorities removed a statue of Imre Nagy for renovation. Nagy was a Hungarian reformist communist politician who led the failed anti-Soviet 1956 Hungarian Revolution and was later executed for his role in the uprising; the statue was replaced with a memorial dedicated to the victims of the short-lived 1919 Hungarian Soviet Republic.

In addition to regular political advertising, Fidesz directs government organs to use taxpayer money to regularly produce and disseminate two major forms of political propaganda in Hungary: poster campaigns and so-called "National Consultations." These two techniques are meant to influence public opinion about controversial issues outside of the legally demarcated campaign season.

Past poster campaign subjects have included a grinning George Soros while calling on the citizens to oppose his purported support of illegal immigration (many of the posters portraying Soros, who is Jewish, were defaced with antisemitic graffiti); Soros and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker laughing together, with text suggesting Soros controls major European institutions (while also disseminating the accusation by letters sent to all Hungarian citizens); and the "distracted boyfriend" internet meme, retooled to promote family values. These "information campaigns" or "national messaging initiatives," as successive Fidesz governments have called them, have been allocated annual budgets in the tens of millions of euros.

National Consultations, meanwhile, are questionnaires sent to all citizens that survey their opinions on government policy and legislation. By posing loaded questions, Fidesz uses these questionnaires to disseminate Fidesz's ideological positions and agenda. A 2015 Consultation, for example, explicitly referred to a "Soros plan" to "convince Brussels to resettle at least one million immigrants from Africa and the Middle East annually on the territory of the European Union, including Hungary," wrote that this "is part of the Soros plan to launch political attacks on countries objecting to immigration and impose strict penalties on them," and then asked citizens whether they agree. Another questionnaire about family policy used the term "Brussels bureaucrats." On other occasions, such as just prior to elections, the government sent letters notifying citizens that it will reduce their gas payments by €38 and sent pensioners gift vouchers.

Organization

Youth wing

The Fidesz youth affiliate Fidelitas was founded in 1996. In December 2022, Dániel Farkas was elected president, succeeding Boglárka Illés. Fidelitas is a member of European Democrat Students (EDS) and the International Young Democracy Union.

International affiliations

Fidesz was a member of the Liberal International from 1992 to 2000. From 2000 to 2024, it was a member of the International Democracy Union. It is currently a member of Centrist Democrat International.

European Union

Following its ideological turn to conservatism, it joined the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) but was suspended on 20 March 2019. Fidesz MEPs left the European People's Party group in the European Parliament on 3 March 2021, after the EPP changed its rules to allow it to expel a party's entire delegation. It has served with the Non-Inscrits since then.

In July 2021, Fidesz signed a joint declaration with National Rally, Law and Justice, Vox, the League, the Brothers of Italy, the Estonian Conservative People's Party, the Freedom Party of Austria, Belgium's Vlaams Belang, the Danish People's Party, the Finns Party, VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement, Greek Solution, the Romanian Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party and Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance on the future of the EU.

In December 2021, the party participated in the Warsaw summit with Law and Justice, the Estonian Conservative People's Party, the Finns Party, the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party, Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, the Freedom Party of Austria, Vox, National Rally, Vlaams Belang and the Dutch JA21, signing a document outlining new collaboration at the EU level between the parties.

In January 2022, the party participated in the Madrid summit, hosted by Vox, alongside National Rally, Law and Justice, Vlaams Belang, JA21, the Estonian Conservative People's Party, the Freedom Party of Austria, VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement, the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party and Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, signing a joint declaration on policies towards the EU and Russia.

In November 2022, Fidesz MEPs signed a cooperation agreement with MEPs from Sovereign Poland, Vox, Lega, the Freedom Party of Austria and the National Rally to collaborate within the European Parliament.

Criticism

Fidesz has been accused of exhibiting anti-democratic and authoritarian tendencies while in government. The Fidesz-led government has been accused of severely restricting media freedom, undermining the independence of the courts, subjugating and politicising independent and non-governmental institutions, spying on political opponents, engaging in electoral engineering, and assailing critical NGOs. The Fidesz-led government has been accused of engaging in cronyism and corruption. Fidesz has been accused of antisemitism, and the Fidesz-led government has been accused of passing legislation that violates the rights of queer persons. Due to its controversial actions, Fidesz and its government have come in conflict with the EU on multiple occasions.

Election results