{"id":51958,"date":"2026-04-20T09:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/51958\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:51:11","slug":"swiss-diaspora-divided-after-orbans-fall-in-hungary-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/51958\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss diaspora divided after Orb\u00e1n\u2019s fall in Hungary election"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"a<\/p>\n

P\u00e9ter Magyar, winner of the Hungarian general election on the evening of 12 April 2026. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. <\/p>\n

Among the 2,267 Swiss citizens living in Hungary, many had supported Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s policies. Yet the overwhelming victory by P\u00e9ter Magyar’s Tisza party, which ended the nationalist prime minister\u2019s 16 years in power, appears not to have unsettled them too deeply. For months, the community had sensed that change was in the air.\n<\/p>\n

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April 20, 2026 – 11:08\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Emigration, returning to Switzerland, family, education, pensions, banking, insurance… I care about Swiss people living abroad and inform them about the issues that concern them.
\nPassionate about languages and cultures, my career path took a short turn through marketing and assistant work before crossing the road into journalism, in a job that allows me to converse with people from all over the world. <\/p>\n


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Die Schweizer in Ungarn sp\u00fcrten den Wandel kommen\n <\/p>\n

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En Hongrie, les Suisses avaient senti le changement politique arriver <\/p>\n

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\u201cI opened a bottle of sparkling wine at midnight to celebrate the results. I don\u2019t even stay up that late on New Year\u2019s Eve,\u201d says 64-year-old Anita Sz\u00e1sz. A Swiss national and outspoken critic of Orb\u00e1n, Sz\u00e1sz followed the parliamentary elections of April 12 closely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my Budapest neighbourhood, turnout was high, especially among young people,\u201d 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 \u201cjubilation among Budapest\u2019s residents\u201d as the results came in.<\/p>\n

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Markus Kretz fell in love with Hungary in 1982. <\/p>\n

courtoisie <\/p>\n

However, the enthusiasm generated by the victory of opposition leader P\u00e9ter 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.<\/p>\n

Kretz, who remains in close contact with other Swiss citizens, describes a largely conservative community. \u201cOlder people and those with close political ties to Switzerland are very disappointed,\u201d he says, noting that several phone calls he received after the results conveyed \u201cdeep discontent\u201d.<\/p>\n

He estimates this group at about 30% of the diaspora. Another 30%, he says, are taking a wait\u2011and\u2011see approach, while 40% welcome the change.<\/p>\n

A conservative diaspora<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9gory 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of them are pro\u2011Fidesz,\u201d, he says, referring to the Christian nationalist political party led by Orb\u00e1n. \u201cIt\u2019s a conservative community that hopes P\u00e9ter Magyar will be as conservative as he claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Leutert, the sense of political renewal has been growing for several months. \u201cMany Hungarians saw in P\u00e9ter Magyar a credible alternative to Fidesz,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

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Swiss in Hungary: \u2018We\u2019ve given ourselves a second chance\u2019 <\/p>\n

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Apr 13, 2026 <\/p>\n

Swiss Abroad Zolt\u00e1n Tamassy voted for the Hungarian election winner P\u00e9ter Magyar. Swissinfo accompanied him through an exciting day. <\/p>\n

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Read more: Swiss in Hungary: \u2018We\u2019ve given ourselves a second chance\u2019
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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 P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3.<\/p>\n

During talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, revealed by a consortiumExternal link<\/a> of independent media, Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3 allegedly promised to hand over a confidential European document to Russia.<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, none of the three Swiss interviewees was genuinely surprised by Tisza\u2019s victory \u2013 though all were taken aback by its scale.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Anita Sz\u00e1sz has been living in Hungary with her husband since 2018. <\/p>\n

courtoisie <\/p>\n

Strains on daily life<\/p>\n

For Sz\u00e1sz, the election outcome also reflects Hungary\u2019s \u201cworrying social situation\u201d, particularly rising poverty and the deterioration of healthcare and education.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know a single Swiss person who goes to the doctor here \u2013 everyone goes back to Switzerland for treatment,\u201d she says. In the Lake Balaton region, she and her Swiss club have organised collections to provide equipment for local schools.<\/p>\n

Living in a more rural area than Kretz or Leutert, Sz\u00e1sz says she witnesses daily precarity. \u201cIn [supermarket] Aldi, many elderly people can afford only a few discounted items,\u201d she laments \u2013 a direct consequence, in her view, of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

Corruption and favoritism<\/p>\n

Kretz shares that assessment. \u201cIn recent years, the prime minister seemed more focused on international politics than on his own citizens,\u201d he says. \u201cHuge sums went into pointless projects \u2013 and yes, you really do have to bring your own toilet paper if you\u2019re hospitalised here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Leutert offers a more mixed judgment. Living in Hungary since Orb\u00e1n returned to power in 2010, the Geneva native \u2013 who ran for the Swiss House of Representatives in 2023 for the right-wing Swiss People\u2019s Party (SVP) \u2013 says that \u201cFidesz did a lot of good for many years\u201d and that he agrees with Orb\u00e1n on several policy points.<\/p>\n

Kretz concurs \u2013 up to a point. \u201cAt the beginning, it suited me too,\u201d he says. \u201cBut Orb\u00e1n went too far with the excesses.\u201d He adds that he knows the former prime minister\u2019s family personally.<\/p>\n

A conservative alternative<\/p>\n

While Magyar represents the opposition, he is himself a conservative figure.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9gory Leutert is the son of a diplomat and has lived in many countries. <\/p>\n

UDC <\/p>\n

\u201cHe should maintain the same migration policy as his predecessor,\u201d argues Kretz. Leutert likewise believes that Magyar\u2019s success owes much to his stance on immigration.<\/p>\n

Both Hungarians and the European Union have placed high hopes in the change of leadership. But those expectations may clash with Magyar\u2019s positions, Leutert cautions. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sz\u00e1sz, 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. \u201cBut that will take time,\u201d she says. \u201cMore than the four years he has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Change or departure<\/p>\n

For Sz\u00e1sz and her husband, the election had immediate personal implications. \u201cIf Viktor Orb\u00e1n had stayed in power, we probably would have left Hungary,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Now, her husband \u2013 born in Switzerland to Hungarian parents \u2013 plans to reclaim his Hungarian citizenship. Sz\u00e1sz intends to apply as well, so she can take an active part in the country\u2019s political future.<\/p>\n

Edited by Samuel Jaberg\/Translated from French by AI\/sb<\/p>\n

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Articles in this story <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"P\u00e9ter Magyar, winner of the Hungarian general election on the evening of 12 April 2026. Copyright 2026 The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[101,2489,657,5510,197,2940,29495,334,41,17],"class_list":["post-51958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-article","tag-beat-swiss-abroad-community","tag-corruption","tag-election","tag-europe","tag-immigration","tag-poverty","tag-production-type-adaptation","tag-swiss","tag-switzerland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116436421216517110","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}