Orbán and challenger Magyar summon rival rallies in show of strength before Hungary's April election

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his main political opponent, Péter Magyar, each drew throngs of their supporters to the streets of Hungary's capital on Sunday for a show of strength before the two men face off in pivotal elections just four weeks away.

The rival rallies in Budapest, which drew hundreds of thousands of people in support of Orbán's nationalist Fidesz party and Magyar's center-right Tisza, are being viewed as a barometer for which side commands more support as the campaign enters its final month.

In power since 2010 and looking for his fifth consecutive election victory, Orbán, 62, faces a more competitive race than at any time in the past two decades as Magyar has shot to prominence and challenged what once seemed an unshakable grip on power by the pro-Russian populist.

Addressing a crowd of at least 100,000 on Budapest's Heroes' Square, Magyar charged Orbán's government with turning Hungarians against one another through propaganda and divisive policies, and of steering the country away from its rightful place among Western democracies.

“Our homeland is part of the West, our homeland is part of the European community, our country is part of NATO. And not because of treaties or charters, but because it is written in our destiny,” Magyar said.

“Our ancestors left us the inheritance of where we belong,” he continued. “We’re not afraid. We have learned from our ancestors that nothing lasts forever.”

In the lead-up to the election, Orbán has relied increasingly on an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign that alleges Kyiv, the European Union and Tisza are part of a conspiracy to oust his government and install one that would financially support Ukraine and send soldiers to fight in its war against Russia.

The election's stakes, he has claimed, are whether or not the war in Ukraine bankrupts Hungary and sends its youth to their deaths on the front lines.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of Orbán supporters marched across a bridge over the Danube and toward Hungary's parliament, where the prime minister delivered a speech to the crowd which filled a sprawling square. A banner at the front of the march read, “We won’t be a Ukrainian colony!”

In his speech, Orbán painted a dark picture of the future filled with the dangers of war and mass migration, but promised he would “preserve Hungary as an island of security and tranquility even in such a turbulent world.”

He described the elections as a “crossroads” for the country's future, and repeatedly took aim at the EU and Ukraine, comparing them to invading forces from Hungary's history.

“We will be here even if hundreds of parachutists from Brussels fall from the sky,” he said, referring to the EU's de facto capital in Belgium. “We will round them up, dust off their pants and send them back, some to Brussels and some to Kyiv.”

During the march, supporter Anikó Menyhárt said Orbán’s appeal could be summed up in three words: “God, homeland, family.”

“Only this government is able to secure these three things for the future,” she said.

Hungary's stagnating economy, deteriorating public services and a cost of living crisis — compounded by increasingly salient allegations of government corruption — have helped fuel growing dissatisfaction with Orbán and his autocratic methods.

While the long-serving leader has centered his campaign around what he says are the threats to Hungary posed by a dangerous outside world, Magyar, a 44-year-old lawyer and one-time Fidesz insider who broke with the party in 2024, has focused his message on improving conditions for ordinary Hungarians.

Through relentless campaigning across Hungary's rural countryside, traditionally an Orbán stronghold, Magyar has spread the message that he will restore Hungary's democratic institutions that have eroded under Orbán and steer the country back toward its Western partners — and off its drift toward Moscow.

“On April 12, we will achieve a victory that will be seen not only from the moon, but also from the Kremlin," he said.

Tisza holds a lead over Fidesz in most independent polling, and in a February survey by pollster Medián published by the news site HVG, Magyar's party was at a 20 percentage point advantage among decided voters.

But the outcome of the election remains far from certain as Fidesz has sought to engage its broad support in many rural areas and leverage its control over public broadcasters and a vast web of loyal media outlets to deliver its message.

As part of his campaign, Orbán has also used public funds to cover the country in billboards featuring an AI-manipulated image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flashing a sinister smile. The caption reads: “We won’t let Zelenskyy have the last laugh!”

One Tisza supporter, Attila Tóth, 51, said he believes a Tisza government would improve education, healthcare and transportation, and break with Orbán’s practice of using public spaces for political messaging.

“(Tisza) won’t brainwash people, and you won’t feel sick when you walk down the street and see 15 posters every 100 meters (328 feet) telling you who the enemy is at the moment,” he said.

Opposition leader Peter Magyar, center, waves a flag during a march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Opposition leader Peter Magyar, center, waves a flag during a march in Budapest, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Opposition leader Peter Magyar, center, addresses his supporters during a march in Budapest, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban march through Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses his supporters during a march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses his supporters during a march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban attend a pro-Orban march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban attend a pro-Orban march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

A supporter of Prime Minister Viktor Orban holds a placard reading "Stop the War" during a march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

President of the opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks during a campaign stop in Velence, Hungary, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP)

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban take part in a march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban take part in a march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Voters in Kazakhstan headed to the polls Sunday for a referendum on a new constitution that would strengthen President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s grip on power in Central Asia’s largest country.

The proposal merges the Kazakhstani parliament’s two chambers into one and gives the president the right to appoint key government officials, including the restoration of the ​post of vice-president.

“The transition to a single-chamber parliament will not necessarily strengthen democracy, especially as the proposed amendments broadly expand presidential powers,” Mario Bikarski, Senior Eastern Europe and Central Asia Analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, told The Associated Press. “There is growing public demand for greater political accountability and justice, which these reforms are unlikely to address.”

If the constitutional changes pass, a new body, the People’s Council, will be created alongside parliament, empowered to initiate legislation and initiate referendums. Its members will be appointed entirely by the president.

This second constitutional change in four years was initiated by Tokayev. Analysts say it could pave the way for him to retain power after his term expires.

The 72-year-old Tokayev, a former Soviet official and Kazakhstani diplomat who previously served at the U.N., is currently limited to one seven-year term until 2029. Analysts believe Tokayev could use the referendum to reset presidential term limits.

“If the transition of power doesn’t go as Tokayev would like ... then he will be able to say that with the adoption of the new Constitution, we have reset presidential term limits,” analyst Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told The Associated Press. “The new constitution could provide Tokayev with a loophole for reelection to another term.”

Leaders of several former Soviet republics, including Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, have previously used new or amended constitutions to revise statutory term limits.

The proposed new constitution also stipulates that marriage will no longer be a union of two people, but rather a union of a man and a woman. Analysts say this provision was introduced in the new constitution as a follow-up to a law banning what authorities view as “propaganda” of LGBTQ+ relations.

“What we previously saw in the Russian Constitution has migrated to the Kazakhstani one. This trend toward visible and ostentatious ‘traditionalism’ demonstrates a certain bias toward which the Kazakhstani political regime will likely drift in the future,” Umarov said.

Tokayev, who has maintained a delicate balance between Moscow and the West since the imposition of sanctions against Russia, explains the constitutional changes as a response to the need to make quick decisions in a rapidly changing world.

“This step is of exceptional importance, especially in the current period, when the geopolitical situation is unstable and challenges and threats to national security are becoming increasingly tangible,” Tokayev said at a forum in Astana on Thursday.

The opposition in Kazakhstan is not represented in government structures and, in the month since the referendum was announced, has failed, or “simply hasn’t had time,” to significantly influence public sentiment, analysts say.

“There’s no formally formed opposition in Kazakhstan,” said analyst Umarov. “There are opposition-minded politicians and civil society activists. They’re trying to demonstrate their discontent in some way, trying to hold various protests, calling for voting in a certain way.”

The vote is taking place at a difficult time for Kazakhstan, where inflation reached 11.7% in February and tax increases have fueled public discontent.

Analysts say economic problems could trigger a new wave of protests akin to nationwide unrest in 2022, triggered by hikes in fuel prices, in which dozens of protesters and police were killed — something Tokayev is trying to contain by consolidating power in his own hands.

“Preventing a repeat of the 2022 unrest remains a key priority for Tokayev,” said Bikarski. “Kazakhstan is the highest-risk Central Asian country on our predictive Civil Unrest Index, reflecting the increased incidence of industrial action, particularly in oil-producing regions.”

Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia, and Morton reported from Thessaloniki, Greece.

In this photo released by Kazakhstan's President Press Office, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev casts his ballot at a polling station during a referendum on a new constitution, in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sunday, on Sunday, March 15, 2026. (Kazakhstan's President Press Office via AP)

A man poses for a photo as he casts his ballot at a polling station during a referendum on a new constitution, in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sunday, on Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo)

In this photo released by Kazakhstan's President Press Office, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev walks to cast his ballot at a polling station during a referendum on a new constitution, in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (Kazakhstan's President Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Kazakhstan's President Press Office, a woman casts her ballot at a polling station during a referendum on a new constitution, in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (Kazakhstan's President Press Office via AP)

FILE - Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addresses the plenary session of the Russia–Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum in Uralsk, Kazakhstan, via videoconference during a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)