BUDAPEST, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Hungary’s main opposition Tisza party has widened its lead over Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz, two polls showed on Wednesday, ahead of an April election in which the veteran nationalist is seeking to retain his 16-year grip on power.
Orban, in power since 2010, is facing a strong challenger for the first time in the April 12 parliamentary vote, with the outcome having major implications not only for Hungary but for Europe and its far-right political forces.
The polls show Fidesz is still struggling to recoup ground despite numerous voter-pleasing measures after three years of economic stagnation.
Tisza, a centre-right party led by former government insider Peter Magyar, has extended its lead over Fidesz to 12 percentage points, up from a 10-point lead in a November survey, pollster Median said in an article published by news website hvg.hu.
Magyar’s party, which was only launched in 2024, had the support of 51% of decided voters, up from 50% in November.
Support for Fidesz dropped to 39% from 40% two months ago, according to the survey conducted between January 7 and 13.
Median researchers said Tisza was mostly luring away voters from other opposition parties, not Fidesz, but the ruling party was failing to lure new voters despite fiscal giveaways and efforts to tap into voter fears about the Ukraine war.
Apart from the two main parties, only the far-right Our Homeland (Mi Hazank) party has a chance to reach the 5% threshold for getting into parliament, the Median survey showed.
A second poll published on Wednesday, conducted by Idea Institute, put support for Tisza at 48% among decided voters, 10 points ahead of Fidesz. That survey was conducted between December 31 and January 6.
Magyar has said he would keep Hungary firmly anchored in the European Union and NATO and seek “pragmatic relations” with Russia, in contrast to Orban, who counts U.S. President Donald Trump among his allies, has maintained cordial ties with Moscow and has often clashed with Brussels.
(Reporting by Anita KomuvesEditing by Gareth Jones)
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