PM Orban in Kotcse: Hungarians Face a Choice Between Two Competing Worldviews

At Sunday's event in Kotcse, the Prime Minister outlined the choices for Hungarian voters to choose from in next April's elections. Analyst Bank Levente Boros told Magyar Nemzet that the difference between the two options is vast, with no middle ground. He added that while Viktor Orban, in his speech, positioned Hungary within the international arena, his primary rival Peter Magyar, under growing pressure, walked straight into his own trap.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Communication Department/Zoltan Fischer)

From a current politics perspective, Viktor Orban's speech in Kotcse, contrasted sharply with Peter Magyar’s remarks given just a few hundred meters away, both in quality and content—“the difference is night and day,” Bank Levente Boros told Magyar Nemzet. The director of political analysis at the Nezopont Institute recalled that Mr. Orban gives three plus one major speeches each year that he urges everyone to listen to: the annual State of the Nation address, the Tusvanyos speech— usually a broader, long-term presentation dealing with international or global political trends—, the Kotcse address— traditionally marking the start of the autumn political season— , and the economic season-opening speech, which is more policy-focused.

Viktor Orban presented his victory plan in Kotcse (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Office Communications Department/Zoltan Fischer)

This year, Orban’s Kotcse speech was broadcast publicly for the first time, whereas it had traditionally been delivered behind closed doors. The prime minister himself acknowledged that addressing a broader audience imposes certain limits. Yet Boros argued that in substance and depth, it was fully in line with his previous Kotcse speeches presented behind closed doors.

Two worldviews

According to the analyst, what was politically important—indeed campaign-defining—was that Viktor Orban clearly laid out Hungary’s place in the international order, the challenges we are facing, and what choices voters will have in April 2026. He explained the two competing worldviews and socio-economic philosophies: those shaping Western politics, the EU and Europe, and how they translate into Hungary’s domestic party politics. The analyst considers this the key message of the Kotcse speech.

The Prime Minister, he said, articulated what the national-conservative side and the governing parties represent, how they address short-term challenges and what long-term vision they offer to voters. 

Conversely, just as earlier with the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), today the Tisza Party represents the exact opposite: a leftist-liberal worldview with its corresponding social philosophy.

According to Mr. Boros, by making all this clear, Viktor Orban has also defined the course and content of the campaign for the future. The analyst also noted that this reminded him of the first free elections in 1990, when Fidesz's campaign poster read: "Go and choose!"

Orban offers voters a clear choice, now too, this is what Fidesz is offering, this is what the opposition is offering: these are the options you can and should choose between - “It’s your choice,” 

the analyst pointed out, adding there is no middle ground between the two. It is black and white, despite the vehement denials by Peter Magyar at the moment. He noted that since Zoltan Tarr's words at a Tisza rally, we know why they are not talking about this.

The analyst emphasized: 

a national-conservative worldview stands opposite a leftist-liberal, globalist, “United States of Europe” vision. 

In his view, the latter poses risks to both Hungary and Europe in terms of security, society and sovereignty, while the nation-minded side offers a sustainable model, built over 15 years on Hungarian sovereignty, family policy, social philosophy and national interests.

With the Tisza Party’s tax plans now public, it has become even clearer, Boros noted, that Peter Magyar belongs firmly on the other side, whatever he may admit or refuse to admit.

Peter Magyar in His Own Trap

The sharp contrast between the speeches of Orban and Magyar, according to the analyst, stemmed from several factors. Orban consistently demonstrates the intellectual depth of governance—both in philosophy and in political practice. The PM's vision is grounded in theoretical and practical policy thinking,

while Peter Magyar has, over the past year and a half, set a trap for himself by relying on protest sentiment.

That is why, the expert argued, Magyar avoids debates and refuses to give clear answers on key strategic issues such as migration, gender, or war and peace in Ukraine—or on Hungary’s place in global politics. 

He does this because if he revealed his actual position, aligned with his European leftist-liberal allies (like party member Zoltan Tarr recently did), voters would clearly see what he represents,

emphasized Bank Levente Boros, remarking it would also become clear that everything the Prime Minister said about the Tisza Party in his speech was true.

This, Boros continued, is why party chief Peter Magyar cannot give a substantive speech: the moment he tries, it becomes evident that “the emperor has no clothes.” It's a catch 22 in his campaign, a trap of his own making that he now fell into. Time is no longer on his side.

With elections approaching, pressure will only grow on him to take positions on weighty issues and to present a coherent program.

Giving the impression of an unserious, unprepared and temporary politician is not a path to winning elections. Peter Magyar is perpetually evading questions and stirring conflict to avoid scrutiny, and to avoid revealing what awaits the populace if the Tisza Party came to power, the analyst concluded.

Cover photo: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Communication Department/Zoltan Fischer)