Viktor Orbanʼs party lost the parliamentary elections to former ally Peter Magyar. Hereʼs how Magyar began his political career (archive footage)

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On February 10, 2024, Hungarian President Katalin Novak resigned amid public protests. The reason for the Hungariansʼ outrage was that Novak pardoned the former head of an orphanage in Bízka, a suburb of Budapest: the court found him a rapist who abused underage boys.

Endre K. — as the convicted person is described in the media — received 3 years and 4 months in prison, of which he has already served more than 2.5 years. But Novak decided to pardon him in honor of the Popeʼs visit to Hungary.

The Hungarian government usually does not react to public outrage — for example, rallies for judicial freedom or against the partyʼs usurpation of the media field did not lead to personnel changes. Orban focuses only on conservative Hungarians, calling such actions the machinations of George Soros or Brussels — and continues his policy.

However, the pedophilia scandal also outraged his target audience — after all, Orban constantly emphasizes the importance of family and traditional values. The Prime Minister said that defenders of pedophiles have no place in power. This was a clear signal that Katalin Novak should go.

Until 2024, Novák was a star in Hungarian politics, a male-dominated environment. Cultivating the image of a caring “mother of the nation,” she was popular in the country and was considered one of Orbán’s favorites to succeed him as prime minister.

Another favorite was Justice Minister Judit Varga. Strict and straightforward, she was supposed to be the face of Hungary in the European Parliament elections, leading the pro-government group of candidates. However, by signing the order to pardon Endre K., Varga also paid with her position. In this way, Orbán hoped to resolve the political crisis. But instead, he got even more problems.

The reason was not Novak or Varga: they resigned humbly and remained silent. On the evening of February 10, Judit Vargaʼs ex-husband, 43-year-old Peter Magyar, a lawyer and long-time “Fidesz” member, spoke up. On his Facebook page, where until then rare posts had garnered a couple of hundred likes, Magyar wrote that he was leaving the boards of directors of two state-owned companies — the road operator and the bus operator. He is also leaving his position at a semi-state bank.

“I do not want to remain part of a system where real actors hide behind women’s skirts for even a minute,” wrote Magyar. He added that the perpetrators of the events are now “joyfully rubbing their hands, not thinking about those who have never worked for material gain, but only for the sake of their fellow citizens and the country”. Peter said that the authorities’ statements are just powdered sugar on the mechanism for accumulating power and property. And he urged Hungarians not to be afraid, because “nothing lasts forever”.

This post has received over 30 000 likes. It is accompanied by a photoshopped photo of a Magyar — strong, young, determined. So Orbán has a new competitor. More dangerous than the others, because he comes from the ranks of “Fidesz” and knows a lot about the inner workings of the government.

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Already on February 11, Magyar appeared on the air of Hungaryʼs most popular opposition YouTube channel “Partizan”.

“I joined the party in 2002. It’s a family story, my ancestors were nationalists. The left now says that I was a beneficiary of this system. The right says that I bite the hand that feeds me. But I think the story is deeper. Recent events have shown me that this cannot continue,” he said.

On the air, Magyar spoke warmly about his ex-wife. He said that they had problems in 2020, but within a few months they had resolved their differences. He repeated that Judit Varga was a wonderful mother, and she "fell into politics like a star from the sky, without years in the youth organization of the party".

At the same time, he laid the foundation for his political career, stating that Hungary under Orbán has turned into a family business. Magyar criticized the government for aggressive propaganda and the consolidation of significant wealth in the hands of dozens of people. The main thesis put forward by Magyar is that the “Fidesz” party must change, but this will not happen while Orbán is in power.

“Change has to start from within — and one day, when the prime minister resigns, ʼFideszʼ will transform. [...] Look at Slovakia, look at Poland. The system can break down in a matter of hours, in a week,” he said on “Patrizan”.

And he also publicly threatened his former associates with compromising information. Although Magyar stated that he did not want to threaten anyone, he hinted that he had insider information about the Hungarian authorities. And in order for the country to move in the right direction, he would do "anything".

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The hint of compromising material became the most popular segment of the broadcast, which has now been viewed over 2.4 million times, despite the fact that the entire population of Hungary is 9.7 million people. The authorities could not leave this unanswered. The pro-government press called for the protection of the state from “unscrupulous opportunists” and drew attention to the €3 000 watch on the Magyar’s wrist.

The politician did not remain in debt: he recalled that he bought this watch in Brussels, where he was on a business trip with Viktor Orbán. Who then, according to Magyar, gave one of his assistants a €500 banknote with a request to buy some special tea for his daughter. Peter also wrote about Orbánʼs son-in-law Istvan Tiborc.

They say, how can a person at 37 own so many hotels, banks and office premises that the state rents even though they are unfinished? He recalled how, with the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, he donated half a million forints to a local hospital, and received an unofficial reprimand, because by doing so he signaled that the state could not properly provide for hospitals.

But he said that after the start of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he sheltered a family from Transcarpathia — and at first the authorities were against it, and then Orban wanted to come with TV cameras and publicize himself on the kindness of a fellow party member. Upon learning of this, the refugees did not want to go public and left.

Magyar began adding the hashtag #neféljetek — “don’t be afraid” — to each of his posts on social media, and even changed his name on Facebook: he is now Peter “Don’t be afraid” Magyar.

The state media began to accuse Peter of “betraying” the government. In response, he wrote a long post, which he summed up with the phrase: “Was von Stauffenberg a traitor for trying to kill Hitler?”

Seeing the support, the politician became more and more radical. He posted a photo from a meeting with oppositionists. He boasted that the governmentʼs disinformation campaign against him, worth 50 million forints, had ended in nothing.

And on March 15, the Hungarian national holiday Revolution Day, he organized a mass street rally and wrote several slogans on social networks: "State propaganda or honesty? Public transportation by bus for state money or self-organization? Voters from the register or citizens?"

The rally gathered tens of thousands of people. In return, the authorities finally found compromising material on Magyar — information appeared in pro-government media that Judit Varga left her husband because he beat her.

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On December 29, 2020, an argument broke out between Varga and Madyar. The parties do not say what caused it, but Peter allegedly used force against his wife and her bodyguard.

There was definitely an argument: this is evidenced by a police report found by journalists. Varga claims that Peter beat and physically threatened her and her children. Madyar claims that the day before, his wife got drunk at a party with friends, and on December 29, she began to insist that she would take the children out of town and began to pack their things.

Peter objected, because they allegedly agreed to celebrate the New Year holidays together — but, according to him, he did not let go. Madyar says that he learned about the content of Vargaʼs police report only after March 15, 2024, when it fell into the hands of the press. And he sees blackmail by the authorities in everything.

"Dear Judith! As the mother of my children, I have constantly protected you from the state. I donʼt know why you are now being blackmailed and doing this to our children. Our marriage was unsuccessful, but now we both have a chance at a happy relationship," Magyar wrote.

Varga has long refused to comment or give interviews, saying she doesnʼt want to discuss her personal life. Her Facebook page has been silent for over a month. Peter said his wifeʼs silence was orchestrated by Antal Rogan, Orbánʼs chief of staff, who is responsible for government propaganda. Varga finally spoke out on March 26.

“I gave him countless chances to start a new relationship after years of horrific sexual abuse — with love and hope. I look at his cocky face, hear his voice in recent interviews — and a chill runs through me. He lies and manipulates. It turns my stomach,” she wrote.

Varga remembered one night in January 2023: she was spending time with her sister, Peter was having fun somewhere else. Judith came home first, went to bed, and woke up at two in the morning when Magyar arrived.

“He came into the bedroom angry, turned on the light, and I heard him swearing in a drunken voice that I had embarrassed him in front of his friends by not answering the phone. I used a method I had developed over many years: at such times it was better to be silent and not move. But he did not stop. Screaming, Peter pulled books from the shelf above the bed and threw them at my back. Some of them fell right on me and on the floor in front of me — I remember picking one of them up in the morning. Then he took off his pants and threw them at me along with his belt. I felt the belt buckle hitting my back. Trying to endure everything to the end, I imagined a pleasant melody. I had often had to do this in my life,” the former minister claims.

Varga says she was already planning to leave Magyar at that point. The couple soon filed for divorce, although they continue to raise their three sons together.

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It is probably no coincidence that Judit Varga wrote this post on March 26. That morning, Magyar published a two-minute audio recording of a conversation between him and Judit. They calmly talk about the high-profile Szadl-Felner anti-corruption case.

György Szadl, the former head of Hungary’s bailiffs’ department, allegedly regularly paid the country’s former state secretary, Pál Felner, from 2019 to 2021 to help appoint “the right people”. The total amount of bribes exceeded €200 000. This case has been under investigation for over a year, and the defendants are in custody, but they cannot be charged.

In a recorded conversation that took place in January 2023, Varga said that the suspects were being wiretapped, that people close to Orbán had secured the removal of several fragments from the case so as not to frame “their” people, and that the prosecutor general was pressuring his subordinates not to pay attention to some of the details.

Such interference in justice is still unthinkable in Hungary and, according to independent media representatives, the information should lead to political responsibility regardless of how to treat Peter Magyar or Judit Varga.

After publishing this recording and giving testimony to the prosecutor’s office, Magyar announced a rally against lawlessness that same evening. About 40 000 people came to it — about twice as many as have gathered for Orbán’s pro-government rallies recently.

Magyar, of course, claims that Varga wrote the post about violence on the orders of the government and "under the dictation" of Antal Rogan. He emphasizes her words at the end of the post that she is grateful to Viktor Orban and remains a supporter of Hungarian politics. This, Peter assures, is additional evidence of the pressure the authorities are putting on his ex-wife.

Within a month and a half, Magyarʼs political star had risen: 13% of Hungarians who had heard of him would support him in the upcoming elections. Magyar decided to seize the moment and reported that he would create a new center-right party. Which, unlike “Fidesz”, would not oppose the EU and NATO, and would support freedom of the press and a strong civil society.

Magyar assured that he will take part in the European Parliament elections on June 7-9, 2024. And in April he will call the next rally — “the largest in the last 14 years”. And he promises more recordings soon — if he finds them, of course. According to Magyar, he hid them in different places for security purposes and now he does not know where any of them might be stored.

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