The End of the Empire? Fidesz Contemplates Its Own Demise

Sixteen years of unbroken dominance ended not with a gradual decline, but with an absolute political earthquake. After losing to Péter Magyar’s upstart Tisza party in April, Hungary’s ruling party Fidesz finds itself staring into an existential abyss. Poll numbers tell a brutal story: Tisza commands nearly 70 percent of voter support, while Fidesz has cratered to below 20 percent. For a party that spent decades shaping Hungarian statehood and balancing complex East-West realpolitik while defending its conservative values, the immediate question is whether the machinery can function without the levers of state power.

The internal fallout has been swift. Viktor Orbán himself surrendered his seat in the National Assembly after 36 years of parliamentary service, opting to retreat from the immediate line of fire while retaining the party leadership. An internal questionnaire leaked over the summer laid bare the strategic disorientation. Members were asked to weigh radical options: structural renewal, founding a brand-new conservative movement, or the outright dissolution of Fidesz.

Spokesperson Bertalan Havasi pushed back against the idea of self-destruction, remarking that I personally find it unimaginable that Fidesz should not exist, and should not exist as Fidesz, calling any attempt to discard the party’s accumulated capital the greatest madness. Yet the exodus of senior figures suggests a deeper structural erosion. Former foreign minister Péter Szijjártó departed for a corporate post at Chinese carmaker BYD, parliamentary leader Gergely Gulyás stepped down citing future election restrictions, and former minister János Lázár resigned his mandate entirely following a constituency assessment tour.

Corruption allegations surrounding Orbán's inner circle—from high-profile real estate acquisitions to vast construction fortunes—continue to hang over the party’s internal debate. While former ministers like Tibor Navracsics have launched internal initiatives like the Civic Democrats to promote voter dialogue, Orbán’s personal political future remains frozen until a party congress scheduled for next May.

In Brussels, the impact has been surprisingly muffled. The party retains its position within the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament. Flemish MEP Gerolf Annemans dismissed speculation of marginalisation, stating that there is a feeling of solidarity with the fight Fidesz will now put up. Yet with Orbán stripped of his seat at the European Council, replaced as the group's voice by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Fidesz’s international leverage has indisputably shrunk. Whether a smart, highly pragmatic apparatus can reinvent itself without its central architect remains the ultimate unanswered question in Budapest.

Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com