Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
Viktor Mihály Orbán is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 2000 and 2003. His tenure has seen Hungary's government shift towards what he has called "illiberal democracy", citing countries such as China, Russia, India, Singapore, and Turkey as models of governance, while simultaneously promoting Euroscepticism and opposition to Western democracy.
Elections in Hungary are held at two levels: general elections to elect the members of the National Assembly and local elections to elect local authorities. European Parliament elections are also held every 5 years.
LGBT people in Hungary face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality is legal in Hungary for both men and women. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sex is banned in the country. However, households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for all of the same legal rights available to heterosexual married couples. Registered partnership for same-sex couples was legalised in 2009, but same-sex marriage remains banned. The Hungarian government has passed legislation that restricts the civil rights of LGBT Hungarians – such as ending legal recognition of transgender Hungarians and banning LGBT content and displays for minors. This trend continues under the Fidesz government of Viktor Orbán. In June 2021, Hungary passed an anti-LGBT law on banning "homosexual and transexual propaganda" effective since July 1. The law has been condemned by seventeen EU countries so far. Also, in July 2021, the EU Commission has started legal action against Hungary and Poland for violations of fundamental rights of LGBTQI people: "Europe will never allow parts of our society to be stigmatized." Russia had similar laws implemented in 2013.
The Movement for a Better Hungary, commonly known as Jobbik, is a conservative political party in Hungary.
A referendum on revoking some medical and tuition fees was held in Hungary on 9 March 2008. The proposals would cancel government reforms which introduced doctor visit fees paid per visitation and medical fees paid per number of days spent in hospital as well as tuition fees in higher education. All three were supported by a majority of voters. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány stated that the fees would be abolished on 1 April 2008 following the referendum, but that the government had no funds available to replace the income lost for the higher educations institutions and health institutions due to the abolishment of the fees.
A referendum on joining the European Union was held in Hungary on 12 April 2003. The proposal was approved by 83.8% of voters, with a voter turnout of 45.6%. Hungary subsequently joined the EU on 1 May 2004.
The second government of Viktor Orbán or the Government of National Cooperation was the Government of Hungary from 29 May 2010 to 6 June 2014. Orbán formed his second cabinet after his party, Fidesz won the outright majority in the first round on April 11, with the Fidesz-KDNP alliance winning 206 seats, including 119 individual seats. In the final result, they won 263 seats, of which 173 are individual seats. Fidesz held 227 of these seats, giving it an outright majority in the National Assembly by itself.
The third government of Viktor Orbán was the Government of Hungary between 6 June 2014 and 18 May 2018. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán formed his third cabinet after his party-alliance, Fidesz and its coalition partner, Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) altogether won a qualified majority in the 2014 parliamentary election.
A referendum on banning same-sex marriage was held in Slovakia on 7 February 2015. Critics claimed the referendum was pushed by religious and conservative organisations, aiming to block gay couples from gaining more rights.
The 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election took place on 8 April 2018. This parliamentary election was the eighth since the 1990 first multi-party election and the second since the adoption of a new Constitution of Hungary which came into force on 1 January 2012. The result was a victory for the Fidesz–KDNP alliance, preserving its two-thirds majority, with Viktor Orbán remaining Prime Minister. Orbán and Fidesz campaigned primarily on the issues of immigration and foreign meddling, and the election was seen as a victory for right-wing populism in Europe.
A referendum related to the European Union's migrant relocation plans was held in Hungary on 2 October 2016. The referendum was initiated by the government, under the provision of article 8 of the new constitution of 2012. It was commonly referred to as the kvótanépszavazás or kvótareferendum in the Hungarian media.
Momentum Movement is a centrist Hungarian political party founded in March 2017. It came to national prominence as a political association in January 2017 after organizing a petition about the Budapest bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, calling for a public referendum on the matter. The petition, which gathered over 266,151 signatures, was successful, but the government cancelled the Olympic bid before a referendum could have been held. After its establishment as a political party, Momentum quickly built a national following, and presently has approximately 4,000 members. Momentum party candidates appeared on the ballot in most electoral districts in the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election, promoting the replacement of the government of Viktor Orbán and advocating a new generation of political change in the country. The party obtained 3.06% of the votes, failed to reach the 5% threshold and did not get any seats in the National Assembly, but is now widely considered the strongest extra-parliamentary party in Hungary, and is often involved in the organization of political events and demonstrations.
A referendum took place in Romania on 6 and 7 October 2018 regarding the definition of the family in the Romanian Constitution. The referendum asked voters whether or not they approve a change to the family's definition as provided by Article 48 of the Constitution, to prohibit same-sex marriage. At the same time, a name referendum was held in the Olt County for renaming it to "Olt-Romanați County".
Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 3 April 2022 to elect the National Assembly, coinciding with a referendum.
The fourth Orbán government was the Government of Hungary from 18 May 2018 to 24 May 2022, after the 2018 parliamentary elections, led by Viktor Orbán.
The 2019 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from Hungary to the European Parliament was held on 26 May 2019, electing the 21 members of the Hungary delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union.
The Act LXXIX of 2021 on taking more severe action against paedophile offenders and amending certain Acts for the protection of children, often mentioned in English-language media as Hungary's anti-LGBT law are legislative amendments that were approved by the Hungarian Parliament on 15 June 2021, on a 157–1 vote. It was condemned by human rights groups and left-wing Hungarian opposition parties as discriminatory against the LGBT community. The EU and the United States consider the amendments to be discriminatory anti-LGBT restrictions. By contrast, most Eastern European EU countries did not take a public stance, apart from Poland, which supported the Hungarian position.
It has been proposed that Hungary withdraw from the European Union (EU), which is sometimes referred to as Huxit, Huexit, Hunxit and Hunexit. In Hungary, member of the EU since 2004, right-wing populist politicians have tried to create a comparison between the EU and the former Soviet Union (USSR), seen as a past oppressor in the country. Furthermore, democratic backsliding is a phenomenon present in Hungary. For all of this, it has been suggested that Hungary should leave the EU.
The Everybody's Hungary Movement is a Hungarian political movement established to foster independent opposition and alternatives to Fidesz candidates in local elections. The Movement, which does not describe itself as a political party, was founded by Péter Márki-Zay and associates in 2018 as a means of fostering cooperation between Hungary's fractured opposition parties. Márki-Zay won the mayoralty of Hódmezővásárhely in 2018, and in 2021 became the candidate of the United for Hungary to challenge Viktor Orbán in the 2022 parliamentary election, which he lost.
