Respect And Freedom Party

The Respect and Freedom Party ( , TISZA), commonly referred to as the Tisza Party ( ), is a centre-right political party in Hungary that was founded in 2020. It rapidly gained in prominence when former Fidesz party member Péter Magyar joined; members of his non-party movement "Stand up Hungarians Community" occupied the majority of places to contest the 2024 European Parliament election, and on 9 June 2024, the party won 7 seats in the European Parliament.

History

Formation

The party was founded in 2020 and planned to contest the elections the next year in 2022. The party rejected state funds and instead relied on donations and personal wealth of its members. While it collected 222,000 forints, the party could not run in the elections that year.

The name ''Tisza'' was formed as a portmanteau with the first letters of ''tisztelet'' (respect) and ''szabadság'' (freedom) spelling out the name of Hungary's second-largest river.

Péter Magyar's involvement

The party remained relatively inactive until 2024. Péter Magyar, the former Fidesz politician and ex-husband of a former justice minister Judit Varga, came onto the political scene after the pardoning scandal in which President Katalin Novák pardoned a man who tried to cover up pedophile crimes. Varga, as Minister of Justice, also had to sign the pardons and was therefore complicit in the scandal. Magyar organised his first protest on 15 March, the anniversary of the beginning of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. Events were also held by both the government and the traditional opposition parties, but his demonstration attracted the largest crowds.

After this, Magyar proceeded to cause yet another scandal for the government, as he published a recording relating to the Schadl-Völner corruption case involving two senior officials. In the recording, his ex-wife—the Minister of Justice at the time—admitted that documents relating to the trial had been altered at the orders of the government. As he presented this information to the jury, a protest crowd of around one thousand gathered outside, demanding the resignation of the government.

In March 2024, Magyar announced he wished to contest the 2024 European parliament election. However, he could not found his own party due to election deadlines and registration processes. Prior to the announcement of which party Magyar would join, pollsters like the government-aligned Nézőpont Institute suggested that a Magyar-led list could win multiple seats and 13% of the vote. Eventually, in April, it was announced that Magyar would join TISZA. He was elected as one of the party's vice presidents, as well as the top candidate on TISZA's EU parliament list. The party came second, with almost 30% of the vote and 7 seats; this performance was characterised by the media as a challenge to the ruling Fidesz of Viktor Orbán. Magyar initially did not take his seat and had said he would not do so during the election campaign. He decided to put it up to a vote on the party's website: over 75% voted in favour of him taking a seat, and as such he was one of the 7 TISZA MEPs.

In July 2024, Magyar then assumed the leadership of the party from founder Attila Szabó, who was instead given the title of "honorary president".

Grassroots support

Following the European parliament result, TISZA began to build up a membership and a local base, as the party had not had much success prior to Magyar's involvement. In order to build up a base across the country and be able to effectively contest more rural constituencies in the 2026 Hungarian election, the party set up 'TISZA islands', a network of local supporters and potential candidates. As of January 2025, analysis of social media suggested that there were 208 'islands', with over 20,000 members in total.

Moreover, Magyar conducted press stunts such as walking across the country with supporters.

'Voice of the nation'

In March 2025, Magyar announced that he would launch an informal 'referendum' questionnaire, asking people 13 (12+1) questions. The questionnaire could be filled out online or in person, and would inform the party's policy.

There were 1,137,266 responses to the questionnaire. Most questions saw over 90% of respondents vote in favour, though the final (+1) question on Ukraine's position in the EU was more contested, with 58% in favour. The full results are as follows:

Ideology and policy

The Tisza Party is a centre-right political party and a member of the European People's Party Group. Tisza has been described as a 'centrist anti-establishment party', as it has an ideologically and geographically heterogeneous voter base.

Magyar chose Tisza due to similarities in views about an ideologically neutral centrist grassroot organization. He often spoke about creating a "third political force" in Hungary to abolish the System of National Cooperation, which Fidesz uses to maintain control over society at large. He defended free speech after multiple members were fired from their civil jobs after appearing at demonstrations.

Corruption

Magyar hosted multiple protests against the "mafia state". The party ruled out cooperation with the opposition since it regards them as complicit with the government. It also proposed to declassify the agent files from the Communist era to shed light on personal wealth gains during the rapid privatization period in the 1990s.

The Tisza party supports the Fidesz government's position against sending weapons or troops to support Ukraine after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Election results

European Parliament

General Assembly of Budapest

See also

*List of political parties in Hungary

References

External links

* {{official website

Political parties established in 2021
2021 establishments in Hungary
Conservative parties in Hungary
Member parties of the European People's Party
Political parties in Hungary
Centre-right parties in Europe