Swiss diaspora divided after Orbán’s fall in Hungary election

Péter Magyar, winner of the Hungarian general election on the evening of 12 April 2026. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Among the 2,267 Swiss citizens living in Hungary, many had supported Viktor Orbán’s policies. Yet the overwhelming victory by Péter Magyar's Tisza party, which ended the nationalist prime minister’s 16 years in power, appears not to have unsettled them too deeply. For months, the community had sensed that change was in the air.

“I opened a bottle of sparkling wine at midnight to celebrate the results. I don’t even stay up that late on New Year’s Eve,” says 64-year-old Anita Szász. A Swiss national and outspoken critic of Orbán, Szász followed the parliamentary elections of April 12 closely.

“In my Budapest neighbourhood, turnout was high, especially among young people,” says Markus Kretz, 72, president of the Swiss Gourmet Club of Hungary. The calm atmosphere on election Sunday, he says, gave way on Monday to “jubilation among Budapest’s residents” as the results came in.

Markus Kretz fell in love with Hungary in 1982. courtoisie

However, the enthusiasm generated by the victory of opposition leader Péter Magyar, who won 53% of the vote and whose party secured 138 of the 199 parliamentary seats, is not shared by many members of the Swiss diaspora living in Hungary.

Kretz, who remains in close contact with other Swiss citizens, describes a largely conservative community. “Older people and those with close political ties to Switzerland are very disappointed,” he says, noting that several phone calls he received after the results conveyed “deep discontent”.

He estimates this group at about 30% of the diaspora. Another 30%, he says, are taking a wait‑and‑see approach, while 40% welcome the change.

A conservative diaspora

Grégory Leutert, 38, deputy delegate to the Council of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), points out that many Swiss in Hungary hold dual nationality. Often, they are people who fled Hungary as children with their families during the 1956 uprising and later returned to spend their retirement there after spending their working lives in Switzerland.

“Most of them are pro‑Fidesz,”, he says, referring to the Christian nationalist political party led by Orbán. “It’s a conservative community that hopes Péter Magyar will be as conservative as he claims.”

According to Leutert, the sense of political renewal has been growing for several months. “Many Hungarians saw in Péter Magyar a credible alternative to Fidesz,” he explains.

Kretz believes the shift began several years ago. Both men agree, however, that the decisive moment came just weeks before the election, following the scandal involving Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.

During talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, revealed by a consortiumExternal link of independent media, Szijjártó allegedly promised to hand over a confidential European document to Russia.

Against that backdrop, none of the three Swiss interviewees was genuinely surprised by Tisza’s victory – though all were taken aback by its scale.

Anita Szász has been living in Hungary with her husband since 2018. courtoisie

Strains on daily life

For Szász, the election outcome also reflects Hungary’s “worrying social situation”, particularly rising poverty and the deterioration of healthcare and education.

“I don’t know a single Swiss person who goes to the doctor here – everyone goes back to Switzerland for treatment,” she says. In the Lake Balaton region, she and her Swiss club have organised collections to provide equipment for local schools.

Living in a more rural area than Kretz or Leutert, Szász says she witnesses daily precarity. “In [supermarket] Aldi, many elderly people can afford only a few discounted items,” she laments – a direct consequence, in her view, of Orbán’s policies.

Corruption and favoritism

Kretz shares that assessment. “In recent years, the prime minister seemed more focused on international politics than on his own citizens,” he says. “Huge sums went into pointless projects – and yes, you really do have to bring your own toilet paper if you’re hospitalised here.”

Originally from Lucerne, Kretz has lived permanently in Hungary since 2020 and has visited regularly since the early 1980s. Over time, he says, corruption and favouritism have become systemic.

Leutert offers a more mixed judgment. Living in Hungary since Orbán returned to power in 2010, the Geneva native – who ran for the Swiss House of Representatives in 2023 for the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) – says that “Fidesz did a lot of good for many years” and that he agrees with Orbán on several policy points.

Kretz concurs – up to a point. “At the beginning, it suited me too,” he says. “But Orbán went too far with the excesses.” He adds that he knows the former prime minister’s family personally.

A conservative alternative

While Magyar represents the opposition, he is himself a conservative figure.

Grégory Leutert is the son of a diplomat and has lived in many countries. UDC

“He should maintain the same migration policy as his predecessor,” argues Kretz. Leutert likewise believes that Magyar’s success owes much to his stance on immigration.

Both Hungarians and the European Union have placed high hopes in the change of leadership. But those expectations may clash with Magyar’s positions, Leutert cautions. “It remains to be seen whether he can reconcile these pressures. If he leans too far towards the EU, the coalition he has built may not hold.”

Szász, for her part, hopes the new prime minister will tackle corruption at the highest levels of the state and redirect public funds towards rebuilding the country. “But that will take time,” she says. “More than the four years he has.”

Change or departure

For Szász and her husband, the election had immediate personal implications. “If Viktor Orbán had stayed in power, we probably would have left Hungary,” she says.

Now, her husband – born in Switzerland to Hungarian parents – plans to reclaim his Hungarian citizenship. Szász intends to apply as well, so she can take an active part in the country’s political future.

Edited by Samuel Jaberg/Translated from French by AI/sb

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