Orban and challenger Magyar called rival rallies in a show of strength ahead of Hungary’s April election.

Budapest, Hungary — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his main political opponent, Peter Magyar, called their supporters to the streets of Hungary’s capital on Sunday in a show of strength before the two men face key elections just four weeks apart.

Rival rallies in Budapest, expected to draw hundreds of thousands in support of Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party and Magyar’s center-right Tisza, are being seen as a barometer of growing support as the campaign enters its final month.

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

As crowds gathered on a bridge over the Danube ahead of a pro-government march that would end with a speech by the prime minister, Orbán supporter Aniko Menihart said her appeal could be summed up in three words: “God, homeland, family.”

“Only this government will be able to secure these three things for the future,” he said.

In the days leading up to Sunday’s events, a March 15 national holiday commemorating Hungary’s 1848 revolution against the Habsburg Empire, both Orbán and Magyar stressed the importance of attending to their followers. Many observers were watching to see which party was able to mobilize the most people for its rally, a possible glimpse of how it would fare on April 12.

Magyar supporters planned their own march through central Budapest later in the day. Tisza predicted that it would be Hungary’s “biggest political event”.

Hungary’s stagnating economy, deteriorating public services and a cost-of-living crisis — compounded by increasingly prominent allegations of government corruption — have helped grow discontent with Orbán and his authoritarian style.

While the long-serving leader focused his campaign on what he says is a threat to Hungary from the European Union and neighboring Ukraine, the 44-year-old lawyer and Magyar insider Fidesz, who broke with the party in 2024, focused his message on improving conditions for ordinary Hungarians.

Through relentless campaigning across rural Hungary, traditionally an Orban stronghold, Magyar has spread the message that he will restore Hungary’s democratic institutions, eroded under Orban, and turn the country toward its Western partners and Moscow.

In a video posted to social media early Sunday, Magyar said his party “wants to give back to every Hungarian what the outgoing government took away: our belief in our freedom and the feeling that our homeland truly belongs to every Hungarian.”

Tisza leads Fidesz in most independent polls, and in a February survey by pollster Median published by news site HVG, Magyar’s party had a 20 percentage point advantage among decided voters.

But the outcome of the election was uncertain as Fidesz sought to engage its broad support in many rural areas and use its control over public broadcasters and a vast web of loyal media to deliver its message.

Responding to several media reports that Russian intelligence services are seeking to use a disinformation campaign to tilt the election in Orban’s favor, Magyar has warned his supporters that manipulated recordings could be used to discredit him or his movement.

Orban has relied heavily on an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign that has accused Kyiv, the EU and Tisza of being part of a conspiracy to oust his government and install decisions more favorable to Ukraine.

The central message of Orbán’s pitch was that the new government would bankrupt Hungary by supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression — something they have refused to do — and send Hungary’s youth to their deaths on the front lines. The campaign is full of misinformation and relies heavily on images and videos generated by artificial intelligence.

Further raising tensions, Hungary’s government said this week it would declassify a national security report Orbán claims proves Tisza received illegal financing from Ukraine — a claim Magyar strongly denies.