| Welcome to the weekend issue of Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. Join us on Saturdays for deeper dives from our bureaus across Europe. Prime Minister Viktor Orban is confronting a new political reality – assuming the role of underdog ahead of next year’s Hungarian election. Until recently, Orban, who led his Fidesz party to four landslide wins since 2010, has dispensed advice about electoral success to fellow right-wing leaders in Europe and the United States. No longer. Polls show that the recently-formed Tisza party is ahead by double-digits. Its leader, Peter Magyar, is an Orban supporter-turned critic who is currently a member of the European Parliament. He is also the ex-husband of the former high-profile justice minister and Orban loyalist Judit Varga.
In an interview with a pro-government daily this week, Orban attributed the rise of Magyar to his social media skills, deriding Tisza as a “digital movement.” Magyar is currently on an 80-day tour of the nation — including by canoe through the country's famous Tokaj wine region — sounding out locals about their problems. In May, he trekked from Budapest to Romania with a backpack and a Hungarian flag. Magyar, 44, has vowed to continue his campaign until next year’s elections that are likely to take place in April.
 Peter Magyar, leader of the Tisza Party, in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, in November 2024. Photographer: Petar Santini/Bloomberg With Magyar’s events across the country often dwarfing Orban’s gatherings, there’s a growing sense that the nationalist leader is not just losing on social media. Attempts at suppressing dissent are also failing. Orban banned the annual Pride parade, but Hungarians poured out by the hundreds of thousands in defiance earlier this month. To some extent, Hungary has seen this playbook before. Similar optimism flourished among Orban opponents around Péter Márki-Zay, who ran in the 2022 election at the helm of a loose opposition alliance but failed to dislodge Fidesz.
Magyar, whose Tisza party came second in last year’s European elections, appears to be a bigger threat. This week Orban addressed the question of succession — a taboo within Fidesz, which the nationalist leader has dominated since the late 1980s. In the interview this week, he called it a “myth” that only he could be the party’s leader. Few expect him to step aside before the next election but he may have no other choice if Fidesz loses.
— Zoltan Simon | 
