Winning Hungary's election hasn't stopped false claims about Péter Magyar
It's not even been two weeks since Péter Magyar won Hungary's elections, and the incoming prime minister is still facing a deluge of misinformation. Misleading claims circulating on X have targeted Magyar's...
It's not even been two weeks since Péter Magyar won Hungary's elections, and the incoming prime minister is still facing a deluge of misinformation.
Misleading claims circulating on X have targeted Magyar's immigration policies and suggested the prime minister-elect endorsed his rival and outgoing prime minister, Viktor Orbán, as president of the European Commission or the European Council.
One post, which amassed thousands of likes, claims that one of Magyar's policies after he won Hungary's parliamentary elections on 12 April is to ensure "All Ukrainians and other immigrants from outside the EU will lose their work permits starting June."
It goes on to say that all non-EU guest workers in Hungary will be forced to leave the country after this date.
But this isn't accurate.
Magyar focused on the issue of non-EU guest workers in Hungary in a New Year's Eve speech delivered on 31 December 2025.
In the speech, he said that, from 1 June 2026, his Tizsa party would "allow no non-Hungarian guest workers outside of the European Union," in line with his party's strict stance against migration.
This policy, however, does not target Ukrainians and other non-EU migrants that are already inside Hungary before this date.
Moreover, Magyar, unlike what the posts claim, did not repeat this policy plan in a wide-ranging press conference given after his victory, although he did touch on tightening restrictions for foreign companies that employ very few Hungarian workers.
Did Magyar suggest Orbán replace Ursula von der Leyen?
Another misleading claim about Magyar has racked up thousands of views combined on X, Facebook and TikTok.
The posts attach a video clip of Magyar asking the question, "What if Viktor Orbán was the European Commission or Council's President?"
It has been spread online with the caption that Magyar has pushed for Orbán to take on the role of European Commission president, replacing Ursula von der Leyen, who has held the position since 2019.
However, these posts are misleading. This interview is actually from 2024, when Magyar gave an interview to independent Hungarian outlet, Telex.
In it, he does indeed ask the question about Orbán becoming president of one of the European institutions, but in a purely hypothetical sense.
He then goes on to acknowledge Orbán as a strong political figure, telling the interviewer that "he has a vision," before saying that "most people in Hungary probably don't agree with it."
Unlike what the posts claim, it is not an endorsement of Orbán to run for the European Commission or the European Council presidency.
It's not clear who is behind these posts about Magyar.
Although there is no evidence that they are connected to pro-Kremlin disinformation networks, researchers say Magyar was targeted in the run-up to the Hungarian election by a Russian disinformation campaign known as Storm-1516.
This campaign used fabricated reports from legitimate sources to spread false claims about Magyar.
