This holiday season may be one of the most political celebrations of recent decades for many Hungarians. The rise of Péter Magyar, the first credible challenger to Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule, will surely be on everyone’s lips as families gather to enjoy fisherman’s soup, stuffed cabbage, and poppy-seed bejgli. One issue in particular is guaranteed to dominate conversations. 

Hungary’s child abuse scandal has cut across the political divide, with the government’s voters as outraged as opposition supporters. Not only does it threaten the administration’s standing just four months before elections, but it plays to the strengths of its main challenger. At least one December survey showed a sharp widening in the opposition’s poll lead. 

Child protection has become Magyar’s signature issue. Not only was his political prominence triggered by last year’s presidential pardon scandal that involved pedophilia, but he has since used every opportunity to raise awareness of a corrupted system, stemming from negligence, misuse of power, and political cover-ups. These concerns, dating back years, include cases of abuse against children in state care and juvenile detention facilities. The latest, the so-called “Szőlő Street affair” from a juvenile detention center in the capital, has created a severe political and social backlash. 

In this case, allegations of sex trafficking and forced labor, along with verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, have been reported. Graphic videos have circulated on social media showing employees, including heads of the facility, subjecting children to inhumane treatment as “discipline”. 

These cases are not isolated, the material suggests, but many victims are afraid to speak out because of allegations that the affair reaches close to Orbán’s inner circle. Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén was accused of involvement in a child sexual abuse scandal. Semjén denies this, while Orbán has called the abuse both criminal and unacceptable.  

The latest allegations prompted tens of thousands of protesters to march across Budapest’s iconic Chain Bridge behind a banner proclaiming “Protect the Children.” They gathered outside the Sándor Palace, the official residence of the president, which is located right next to Orbán’s office. Magyar has promised legal and political accountability, along with deeper investigations into child protection cases. He argues that these incidents are not isolated but part of a corrupt system that the government has long been aware of and has continually helped cover up. 

The government’s response has been to deny most of the claims, although it has also placed a number of child institutions under police oversight. Pro-government media have suggested that Britain’s MI6 is somehow linked to the scandal.  

For a government that prides itself on being family-friendly and on protecting children from Western ideological threats such as gender identity and LGBT ideas, these scandals strike a sensitive nerve. They stand in stark contrast to the billboards at Budapest’s international airport, informing visitors in multiple languages that they have just arrived in “Family Friendly Hungary.” 

Child protection, particularly these recent scandals, is dividing Orbán’s electorate and benefiting Magyar, who has waged a savvy campaign to attract disillusioned voters from the prime minister’s camp. A recent poll by the 21 Research Center, a Hungarian survey company, found that more than half of Orbán’s supporters are “strongly critical” of the government’s response and communication regarding the child abuse scandals. 

This theme visibly drives a wedge into Fidesz’s voter base and, if more evidence or scandals emerge, could further solidify Magyar’s lead ahead of the parliamentary elections in April. It is thus no wonder that child protection has become such a key theme for Magyar. From organizing large-scale protests and launching a child protection hotline to bringing Christmas gifts to childcare services, children’s hospitals, and orphanages, this issue clearly transcends existing party preferences. 

Magyar has maintained this focus, and it appears to be one of his strongest cards in drawing voters away from Orbán. The challenge, however, is that undecided voters or those unwilling to state their preference still make up at least one-third of the electorate. There is also a long history of opposition parties that are flattered in the polls, eventually falling at the electoral fence. 

This Christmas brings politics into Hungarian households, as different generations spend time together. Whatever the discussions and arguments at festive family dinner tables this year, one thing is likely to unify Magyar’s younger voters and Orbán’s older supporters — that the child abuse scandal is severe, and that the government has so far failed to find a convincing response.  

Ferenc Németh is a Ph.D. candidate at Corvinus University of Budapest. He has previously conducted research on the Western Balkans in Toronto and Skopje, worked as a research fellow at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, and interned at EULEX Kosovo. His areas of expertise include the Western Balkans, EU enlargement, and regional security. Ferenc was a Denton Fellow at CEPA in 2024.  

Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions expressed on Europe’s Edge are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.

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