'It can't be worse than it is now"

"I took a written test this morning and needed a little break. I saw that this rally was happening and thought I'd come by. I'd never been to Szolnok before." 21-year-old Máté Sziszori, who was born in Sopron and is studying to be a history and geography teacher in Budapest says about how he ended up at Péter Magyar's Monday evening event in Szolnok almost by chance. He was in luck, as his train was only delayed by 10 minutes, so he arrived at the main square of the town on the banks of the river Tisza well before the event started at 6 p.m.

Almost exactly six months before the expected date of the 2026 parliamentary elections, Péter Magyar's 80-day tour around Hungary brought him to a place of strategic importance for the Tisza party. If there is to be a change of government, then the electoral district centered in Szolnok is a must-win for them. In last year's EP elections, they received more votes in the town than Fidesz did, but the first constituency of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County also includes 13 smaller settlements, where things will not be so easy for Magyar and his party.

It is not a hopeless situation though, as many people from the surrounding communities also came to the rally this week, where, an hour before the event kicked off, the organizers wearing high-visibility vests were still the majority. As it turned out, volunteers from all over the country had come to learn what is needed for building the stage, setting up the sound system, and organizing the event in preparation for the campaign events in the coming months.

Two young volunteers from the Csónakos Ifjúsági Tisza Sziget (Tisza's local youth association) in Szolnok, Bánk Bakos and Patrik Balogh, were also helping with the preparations. As they explained, the youth groups organized around the Tisza Party essentially do the same things as the adults: they hand out flyers, man booths, and distribute papers. Their task is to reach out to and mobilize the youth.

One of the biggest problems they see in Szolnok is that young people aren’t staying in the town, but go off to Budapest or Szeged instead as soon as they can. They believe that the reason for this is that there is no university in the town, there are not enough jobs, and there are no decent entertainment venues or community spaces where young people can meet. They are, however, optimistic about the future.

“Péter Magyar is a rock star. After last year's protest organized by the influencers, he was able to channel an energy that had not been there before,”

Bánk Bakos, who is preparing to attend university abroad, says. He sees the president of the Tisza Party as the person who could open the door for Hungary to join the developed countries of Western Europe. “I'm not saying that he will definitely be the one to take us all the way there, but he will be the one to make the first few steps.”

"No matter what anyone says, it can't be worse than it is now. We believe that something will change." This is what a retired lady told us a few steps further; she had come to the rally with her girlfriends. They came to support Péter Magyar, to encourage him not to lose momentum, and to show him that they are behind him. "We can't even list them all, there are so many," one of them replied when I asked what they saw as the biggest problem in the country today. She first mentioned healthcare and the long waiting lists. She said she had been unable to get an appointment at the local hospital for weeks for her rheumatic knee. “We've been paying our health insurance our whole lives, and now if there's a problem, we're supposed to go to a private clinic? And how are we supposed to pay for that? From our pensions?”

They don't expect the potential victory of Péter Magyar to solve everything overnight, but they hope that at least the hatred will cease in the country and they will be able to sit down and talk with Fidesz supporters again. “Fidesz supporters don't want hatred either, they've just obviously been brainwashed.”

While the crowd kept growing, we also spoke to a retired couple who had not yet decided whether to vote for Péter Magyar. "We always check out several candidates before every election, and then make our decision in the privacy of the voting booth," they said.

This was their first time attending a rally of the Tisza Party, but they had in previous years gone to hear Ferenc Gyurcsány speak in Szolnok too, and decades ago they had even listened to Viktor Orbán speak live. Before the change of regime, they had high expectations of Fidesz, but "they didn't deliver what we expected." As they say: "Now, for example, the government wants to trick pensioners by giving them a 30,000 forint (77 euros) voucher. While they give their children more pocket money for just one day." Their primary expectation from Péter Magyar is for him to deliver on his promises.

And there was no shortage of promises in Szolnok either, once the president of the Tisza Party arrived a good quarter of an hour late and walked to the stage waving a Hungarian flag, high-fiving participants, while the music familiar from his rallies played. As he took to the stage, Magyar found the time to lecture the reporter of Hír TV. He began his speech by saying that although the water level is currently low in Szolnok, the Tisza is on the rise throughout the country, referencing the survey published on Monday by the 21 Research Center, showing Tisza ahead of Fidesz by 53 to 35 percent among those certain to vote in next April's parliamentary elections.

According to Magyar, those at the Prime Minister’s office are also seeing the latest poll results, and are aware that it is over, that they have lost their magic.

“My message from here, from the beautiful town of Szolnok is that it's over, comrades, it's over.”

Opera singer Andra Rost, who lived in Szolnok for a few years during her childhood, also spoke at the forum and shared several memories with the audience. The organizers handed out torches to the participants, and Magyar spoke at length about the situation with child protection, in addition to several well-known points of the Tisza program. "Every day we think that things can't get any worse, that they cannot possibly go any lower when it comes to inhumanity. But they always prove that it is possible." According to him, after the Bicske pedophile scandal, Viktor Orbán threw women under the bus and promised amendments to the Fundamental Law, investigations, and additional resources for child protection, but nothing has happened to this day. And then came the case of Szőlő Street.

According to Magyar, it was with the strong support of the authorities and the political elite that "a monster" was appointed as head of the Szőlő street juvenile detention center. Everyone in professional circles knew about the things the former director was doing, and they knew that he “did not belong at the head of a juvenile detention center, but in prison." However, Viktor Orbán's ministry chose to decorate Péter Pál Juhász, to praise him, and they held him up as an example to be followed for other professionals.

"Almost every Fidesz MP has a photo of themselves smiling next to this monster. Perhaps even the representative of the city of Szolnok has a photo with Péter Pál Juhász. Do you have a photo, madam representative?” Magyar asked, addressing Mária Kállai, the local Fidesz representative in the National Assembly, right before moving on to Zsolt Semjén, who has not said a word about the victims and who is unaware of the conditions in children's homes. "You may choose not to know about it, or you can come to the temporary shelter in Szolnok and see for yourself what the conditions are like here," Magyar told the KDNP president and deputy prime minister.

An August report by RTL revealed that fights, theft, drug use, and suicide attempts were commonplace at the children's home in Szolnok. Footage was also released showing an approximately 18-month old boy tied to a radiator with a scarf, a five-year-old child with cuts on his wrists, and teenagers sleeping on dirty mattresses. Since then, eight proceedings related to the abuse have been initiated.

Magyar promised that under the Tisza government, the child protection budget would be completely transparent, and said that immediately after the change of government, the salaries of those working in child protection would be increased by 25 percent while the budgetary resources available for daily expenses in these institutions would go up by 20 percent. He also said that by the end of the term, the most necessary renovations would be carried out in all children's homes across the country.

According to Magyar, in addition to child protection, the government has also neglected public safety. Szolnok is a good example of this, as the mayor sent an open letter to Interior Minister Sándor Pintér during the summer, requesting more police officers after a mass brawl had broken out in the town. "I can tell everyone in Szolnok that the Tisza government will help," Magyar said, promising to support the police, tax authorities, prosecutors, “and everyone who works to protect people.”

We spotted Mihály Györfy, the MSZP-member (Hungarian Socialist Party) mayor of Szolnok who was elected last year, in the crowd. When we asked him about recent developments in the town, he said that public safety in the city had improved significantly over the past two months. He believes that his unique style and the letter he had sent led to more police officers being sent to Szolnok. Of course not everyone is happy about this, as it also means that even minor offenses, such as crossing the solid white line, are more likely to be punished. According to him, the next step will be to improve public cleanliness. “We will clean up the city. We will start here, and on April 12, we will clean up the country as well.”

In his opinion, right now it's everyone's duty to work for a regime change, and being a member of the MSZP, he would of course welcome a cooperation among the opposition parties and a coalition government, but based on the current political reality, he expects that Tisza will be able to do this on its own. As mayor, he would expect a future Tisza government to restore the resources and rights of local governments.

“I was elected as mayor, but if the Orbán government continues in this vein, I will finish my term as a chairman of the local council – he said, using a term reminiscent of the time of the communist regime in Hungary.”

After the forum, Magyar promised to work with all mayors for the benefit of the country and its residents, whether they be members of Fidesz, the opposition, or independents. However, in response to a question from us, he later said that he was not preparing to cooperate with the mayors along party politics lines, but is happy to talk to everyone.

At the end of his speech, as usual, several people were allowed to ask questions. After 10-year-old Zolika, the former soccer player Zoltán Polonkai took to the mike. His friend András Törőcsik, who died three years ago, was famous for breaking Diego Maradona's dribbling record. Polonkai presented Magyar with a soccer ball signed by Törőcsik, who promised to donate it to charity.

Polonkai said that he would soon be appearing on a television program to talk about how Orbán and his strongmen treated the prime minister's favorite soccer player, András Törőcsik, and the Hungarian old boys' national soccer team. Polonkai also said that he had been invited to join one of the Digital Civic Circles and to the Fight Club. "I have always tried to live honestly and not sell myself out, and I will continue to keep it that way," he said, being met with loud applause from the audience.

At the end of the rally, the world-famous opera singer, Andrea Rost performed, a little boy played the trumpet, and after the usual selfies were taken, we asked Magyar a few questions. We were primarily interested in how he thought the Tisza Party could overcome its disadvantage in small towns, as the aforementioned survey by the 21 Research Center shows that Fidesz is still in the lead in these areas.

According to Magyar, they have made huge strides in this area over the past year, as at this time last year, Fidesz was still leading by more than 20 percent in small settlements according to the 21 Research Center's survey conducted at that time. But now the difference is only 2 percent. He believes this is primarily due to the tens of thousands of their volunteers who "go to the smallest settlements, even to the last house in a remote village, to meet people who have been neglected for decades." He himself has also been visiting many small towns and villages, and last week he went to places in Ormánság “where no Fidesz politician has ever been before.”

Magyar's 80-day tour of Hungary will conclude on October 23, and in response to our next question, he revealed that they will not be stopping there.

"I'll tell you something surprising: we will continue touring the country, but in a slightly different format. We would like to visit even smaller settlements."

He also said that during the Advent season, they would like to bring gifts to children's homes again and visit retirement homes as well. "We will be amongst the people. And in the meantime, we are continuing to build our team, our candidates, our experts, and we are getting ready, because in six months' time, we will be waking up in a different country."