Hungary: The alternative to Orban
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In April 2026, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces fresh parliamentary elections. He has been in power since 2010, and his party's grip on the Hungarian media and civil society means many felt his place in office was permanently secure. However, discontent over allegations of corruption and his brand of "illiberal democracy" has been growing, led by a new challenger, Peter Magyar. His growing party, Tisza, has shown signs of being able to unite wide swathes of Hungary's disjointed opposition, and Orban is suddenly well behind in the polls. Magyar himself is a former member member of Orban's party, Fidesz. Nick Thorpe travels across Hungary meeting activists and voters mobilising for the contest.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:08.6 | I'm Nick Thor, and this is the documentary, the Alternative to Orban, from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:20.8 | In January this year, Hungary's Prime Minister, Victor Orban from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:27.9 | In January this year, Hungary's Prime Minister, Victor Orban, held his annual international press conference. |
| 0:34.8 | It's almost the only time that he takes questions from foreign journalists and critical media in Budapest. |
| 0:40.1 | Elections in Hungary are just round the corner. |
| 0:46.0 | The leader of the opposition, Peter Magyar, a former member of Orban's own party, Fidesz, |
| 0:48.0 | is currently leading in the polls. |
| 0:55.0 | So I thought I'd try to find out how Orban really feels about the man gunning for his job. |
| 1:01.6 | Prime Minister, in the spirit of this season of goodwill, |
| 1:08.8 | please could you tell us the three things that you admire or respect most about Bé de Manya? |
| 1:10.4 | Thank you. Thank you. He left to feed us. That's all. |
| 1:22.4 | Later that day, Peter Madhya held a press conference of his own to match his rival, and I asked him |
| 1:29.5 | what he respects about Orban. |
| 1:32.7 | Having seen Orban's response, he was prepared. |
| 1:38.9 | Madhya said he admired Orban's first term in government from 1998 to 2002, his record on immigration and the fact that |
| 1:48.0 | they both love football. And that evening, he posted the two exchanges on Facebook side by side. |
| 1:55.6 | The video has since had more than a million views. In the comments, Madhya's official account exhorts his followers. |
| 2:03.6 | Share it and feel the difference. |
| 2:08.6 | Since Fides swept to power in 2010, |
| 2:11.6 | no one has posed a serious electoral threat to Victor Orban. |
| 2:16.6 | Voters credited him for a strong recovery from the financial crash and keeping out irregular migrants. |
... |
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