Hungarian Premier Péter Magyar: 'Our Country Was a Hostage State'
Hungarian Premier Péter Magyar 'Our Country Was a Hostage State' After 16 years of Viktor Orbán's rule, it looked to many as though democracy in Hungary was dead. But not to Péter Magyar. DER SPIEGEL spoke with him...
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Auf internationaler Bühne bahnt sich eine bedeutende Geschichte an. Hungarian Premier Péter Magyar 'Our Country Was a Hostage State' After 16 years of Viktor Orbán's rule, it looked to many as though democracy in Hungary was dead. But not to Péter Magyar. DER SPIEGEL spoke with him about how he managed to boot out the autocrat.
Interview Conducted by Jan Puhl 08. 29 Uhr Zur Merkliste hinzufügen X. com Facebook E-Mail Link kopieren Weitere Optionen zum Teilen X.
Die Einzelheiten
com Facebook E-Mail Messenger WhatsApp Link kopieren SPIEGEL bei Google bevorzugen Bild vergrößern Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar: "For voters to believe you, you have to go to them, look them in the eye, you have to listen to them. " Foto: Jens Gyarmaty / DER SPIEGEL Sie können den Artikel leider nicht mehr aufrufen. Der Link, der Ihnen geschickt wurde, ist entweder älter als 30 Tage oder der Artikel wurde bereits 10 Mal geöffnet.
DER SPIEGEL: You started out two years ago as a political nobody and have now managed to defeat none other than Viktor Orbán, the longest-serving head of government in the European Union, a leader who hollowed out democracy in his own country. Was there a single moment when you thought: This could actually work? Magyar: I never actually wanted to go into politics.
I was once a member of Orbán's party, Fidesz, but I then fell out with the system. In February 2024, I gave an interview to the online outlet Partizán. Nearly 3 million people watched it, which genuinely surprised me.
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A month later, I organized a demonstration against corruption and cronyism – and 50,000 people showed up. Just three weeks after that, it was 200,000. Maybe that was the moment.
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Alternatively, you can sign up for a SPIEGEL+ subscription below. DER SPIEGEL: And yet Orbán's people controlled the bulk of the media and the state apparatus… Magyar: I was always very skeptical about whether you could actually win against such headwinds, let alone with the kind of majority we ultimately achieved. I only became truly optimistic in the second half of 2025.
Die Entwicklung hat international große Aufmerksamkeit erregt; diplomatische Kreise verfolgen sie genau.
