summary of incident
On 26 March 2025, in Tök, Pest County, a man verbally and physically harassed a group of TISZA party activists who were collecting signatures for the party’s “Voice of the Nation” campaign.
Details of incident
On March 26th, 2025, activists of the Hungarian opposition party TISZA were collecting signatures for the party’s “Voice of the Nation” campaign, which aimed to gauge the party’s proposals among the public. A man approached the activists, shouted antisemitic remarks by calling them “Jews,” and overturned their desk, breaking mobile phones and glasses in the process. According to TISZA party leader Péter Magyar, the perpetrator was a supporter of the ruling Fidesz party. Two children, aged 3 and 8, also witnessed the man’s aggressive behaviour.
On 27 March, several newspapers reported the incident, citing Magyar’s Facebook post and subsequent police statements. Local authorities confirmed that a criminal investigation into vandalism had been launched, although no suspects had been identified at that time.
Context of incident
TISZA party is Hungary’s main opposition force as of 2024. The party was founded by Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider, and surged in popularity ahead of the 2024 European Parliamentary elections. Following that, TISZA polled even ahead of the ruling Fidesz party, according to most of the reliable pollsters, and won the 2026 elections with a more than two-thirds majority.
The Fidesz party was in power since 2010, with Viktor Orbán serving as prime minister throughout this period. Although Orbán’s government expressed strong support for Israel and officially maintained a policy of zero tolerance toward antisemitism, several experts have noted that the government and its proxies’ communications often employ doublespeak on the issue. Examples include the government’s campaign against philanthropist George Soros and Orbán’s 15 March 2025 speech, in which he referred to pro-EU politicians, judges, journalists, civil society organisations, and political activists as “bugs” and a “shadow army” requiring an “Easter cleaning.”
