On the verge of a summit

Nehammer also meets Orbán’s rival in Budapest

Péter Magyar got off to a flying start after his break with Viktor Orbán's Fidesz.(Bild: APA/AFP/Attila KISBENEDEK)

Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer will also meet his rival Péter Magyar on the fringes of the top-level meeting of European heads of state and government in Budapest, to which Hungary's head of government is invited as the current EU Council President. Like the ÖVP, the opposition leader's TISZA party belongs to the European People's Party.

According to the Federal Chancellery, the exchange with the opposition politician will focus on strengthening cooperation, the fight against irregular migration and increasing Europe's competitiveness. "I look forward to the dialog and future cooperation in the EU Parliament. Péter Magyar's impressive success in the EU elections underlines his growing popularity and his significant influence in both Hungarian and European politics," emphasized Chancellor Nehammer.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer will not only meet Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, but also his fiercest rival.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

A serious challenger for Orbán?
The 43-year-old Magyar, ex-husband of Hungary's former Justice Minister Judit Varga, only became widely known in February when he publicly broke away from the regime of Hungary's head of government Orbán and his Fidesz party. He took over the inactive provincial party TISZA and managed to win 30 percent of the vote and seven seats in the European Parliament from a standing start. The latest polls now put TISZA neck-and-neck or even just ahead of Fidesz, which has held a two-thirds majority since 2010 and has been completely overpowering until now.

Magyar at a memorial event in Vienna
Magyar had only visited Vienna two weeks ago, but did not meet with ÖVP politicians there. Instead, the focus was on a meeting with sympathizers and a ceremony commemorating the 1956 Hungarian uprising. 

Orbán's Fidesz party left the EPP in 2021 after a long period of estrangement. In the summer of 2024, it founded a new European parliamentary group called "Patriots for Europe". The FPÖ is also a member of this third-largest group in the European Parliament - alongside other major right-wing populist parties in Europe, such as the French Rassemblement National and the Italian Lega.