On 11th February in Bicske, Hungary, Tisza Party leader and prominent politician Péter Magyar kicked off his 2026 election campaign. Magyar’s Tisza Party is the only viable opposition to the currently governing Fidesz, led by Viktor Orbán. Magyar gained momentum in 2024 after a quick and severe succession of corruption, clemency, and child abuse scandals. Back then, Magyar seemed to be the voice of reason against a government whose reign crippled the country financially and rendered countless young people in foster care extremely vulnerable. Fidesz’s reputation is at its worst, and people are beginning to put their faith in Magyar. This, however, should not protect him from scrutiny when he accuses Filipino guest workers of eating “ducks” and “goldfish” in zoos.
The two-hour-long event was live streamed on his official YouTube channel. In his speech, he addressed some of Hungary’s most controversial and problematic current affairs. In general, he spoke in his usual, measured, tasteful, yet unflinchingly critical tone. He addressed corruption, the government’s failure to protect children in foster care, and János Lázár’s blatant anti-Roma racism.
Needless to say, all these issues deserve discourse at the very least, considering that Fidesz is failing not only in legal retaliation or meaningful action, but also in the simple act of transparently addressing their wrongdoings. In light of Fidesz’s governance (and lack thereof), I expected better from the opposition. However, at approximately fifty minutes into the livestream, Magyar made an extremely controversial statement.
Magyar expressed dissatisfaction about the ratio of Hungarian to Ukrainian and Filipino employees in the Göd Samsung plant. For context, I recommend this English-language summary of Telex’s in-depth investigation of the environmental pollution and workers’ mistreatment at the plant. Considering Fidesz’s extreme anti-migrant rhetoric, the country has an interesting history of employing Filipino guest workers, predominantly in the agricultural and industrial sectors. This matter is by no means uncontroversial, meaning Magyar’s statement invited the criticism of Telex journalist Ferenc Barkó-Nagy. In his short-form ‘Zacc’ [equivalent of ‘Satire’] article, he quotes the politician (translated by me):
“All the employees at the Samsung plant in Göd live in a workers’ hostel in Budapest. They have been brought here from the Philippines without food or money. When hundreds of Filipino workers were brought here and allocated to these Budapest hostels without money or provisions, then the next day, a lot of ducks had disappeared from the Budapest Zoo. So have the goldfish.”
He then continues,
“Because these people were starving, and that’s what they did. Don’t get me wrong, this is not about anti-foreigner prejudice; there is nothing wrong with these labourers. The problem is that it is not the citizens of our country who get to be prioritised when a company generously funded with our money, our taxes, does not employ Hungarians.”
Magyar has no evidence to substantiate his claims about ducks and goldfish disappearing. What we have is a rather uncomfortable parallel between him and President Donald Trump’s outrageous statement about migrants “eating dogs and cats”.
A politician as prominent and influential as Péter Magyar has no excuses for this statement. As a party leader running for Prime Minister this year, it is his undeniable duty to stay up to date with domestic and international affairs, as well as recognising the impact of inflammatory and racist claims made by the most powerful political figure in the world. I cannot express how deep my disappointment is in hearing his ignorance and negligence. Even if we set Trump aside, Magyar simply cannot make such incendiary and false accusations without any evidence to back him up.
Furthermore, he demonstrates complete ignorance of the greater class-based injustice embedded in this mistreatment. Employers must be paid a livable wage, and must be housed in proper accommodation, irrespective of their race, citizenship, or ethnicity. They deserve the same degree of dignity as any Hungarian worker.
Magyar mentions that the plant receives generous funding, even for developmental projects that never materialised. However, instead of criticising high-earning senior employers at the plant, he attacks the working class. The inadequate pay and insufficient job opportunities for Hungarian labourers have nothing to do with other working-class people joining the Hungarian workforce. It is the upper classes who decide on the wages.
It is time we stop scapegoating the working class, especially if they are as marginalised as guest workers in Hungary. Magyar’s inflammatory rhetoric stands out to me because it is far from being the only instance of abuse and mistreatment migrant workers face. If he seeks to become Prime Minister, we must expect him to take action against the very discriminatory rhetoric and policies he currently appears aligned with. Working people in Hungary must be protected, no matter their ethnicity.
I struggle to see how his rhetoric is not indicative of anti-foreigner or racist sentiments. He would have had a wonderful opportunity to criticise the discriminatory and unjust classist and racist systems at play. Yet, he chose to alienate Filipino workers further and articulate unsubstantiated claims based on harmful stereotypes.
I expected better from the man who is supposed to break the 16-year-long reign of Fidesz. As ever, I must readjust expectations of privileged conservative white leaders.
