Outgoing Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n sent a letter to members of the so-called Digital Civic Circles (DPK), launched during the 2026 election campaign, striking an unexpectedly candid tone regarding the electoral defeat of Fidesz\u2013KDNP and what the future holds for both the party and its supporters.<\/p>\n
Orb\u00e1n opened<\/a> by stating that Fidesz\u2013KDNP suffered an \u2018earthquake-like defeat\u2019 on 12 April, adding that \u2018there is no point in sugar-coating it.\u2019 Highlighting the \u2018hard work\u2019 invested in the campaign, he went on to thank DPK members for standing by him over the past months. \u2018Your commitment will always be remembered with respect in Hungarian political history,\u2019 he stressed.<\/p>\n Orb\u00e1n announced the launch of the Digital Civic Circles<\/a> during his annual speech at the B\u00e1lv\u00e1nyos Summer Free University in B\u0103ile Tu\u0219nad (Tusn\u00e1df\u00fcrd\u0151), Transylvania, Romania, last summer, with the aim of countering the Tisza Party\u2019s dominance on social media. <\/p>\n Similarly to the original civic circles launched by Orb\u00e1n after Fidesz\u2019s 2002 electoral defeat, the initiative is also intended to strengthen cohesion among the party\u2019s core voter base. That earlier network was later regarded as a key component of Fidesz\u2019s landslide victory in 2010, much as the \u2018Tisza islands<\/a>\u2019 (Tisza szigetek) contributed significantly to P\u00e9ter Magyar and the Tisza Party securing a supermajority<\/a> in the 12 April election.<\/p>\n \u2018Orb\u00e1n went on to state that Hungary is now \u201centering an era of arbitrariness and overreach\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n According to estimates, the number of DPKs reached between 100 and 200, with a total membership of around 200,000 nationwide. Following Fidesz\u2013KDNP\u2019s defeat, speculation emerged about their future role. <\/p>\n In his letter, Orb\u00e1n reiterated the need for the reorganization and renewal of the \u2018Hungarian right\u2019, arguing that this process should not originate \u2018from the party itself\u2019, but from \u2018smaller and larger circles where people believe in the national idea\u2019 and \u2018understand that electoral defeat does not diminish the value of the work we have carried out in the past 16 years.\u2019 He argued that DPKs represent such platforms and therefore \u2018play a key role in reorganizing\u2019 the political community he referred to as the \u2018national side\u2019.<\/p>\n