The Respect and Freedom Party, commonly known by its Hungarian abbreviations Tisza Party and TISZA, is a conservative, centre-right, pro-European, and populist political party in Hungary. It has been the governing party since the 2026 general election.
Tisza was founded in 2020. It was a minor, extraparliamentary party until 2024, when former Fidesz member and political activist Péter Magyar joined the party in the wake of the Katalin Novák presidential pardon scandal (). Tisza became the electoral vehicle for Magyar's "Stand Up Hungarians Community," members of which assumed a majority of positions in the party's presidium and elected Magyar president in July 2024.
Tisza contested the 2024 European Parliament election, netting 7 seats, and the 2026 general election, in which it won a two-thirds supermajority, sufficient to amend the Fundamental Law without the support of other parliamentary parties and ending 16 consecutive years of Fidesz government. Eszter Lakos and Andrea Bujdosó serve as Tisza's leaders in the European Parliament and the National Assembly, respectively.
A member of the European People's Party Group, the party has been described as conservative, liberal-conservative, conservative-liberal, and populist. It is pro-European and atlanticist, favoring closer ties with the European Union and NATO and adoption of the Euro. Tisza supports anti-corruption measures and is critical of the "System of National Cooperation" ( or NER), the governance strategy of clientelism and institutional capture developed by Fidesz. Tisza accordingly supports increased judicial independence, Hungary's rejoining the European Public Prosecutor's Office, the popular election of the President of the Republic, and term limits for prime ministers and members of the National Assembly.
History Formation and name The party was founded in Eger on 23 October 2020 by local politicians and entrepreneurs Attila Szabó and Boldizsár Deák, and planned to contest the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election. 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.
"Tisza" is a portmanteau of the first syllables of the Hungarian words (respect) and (freedom). This is a play on words: the Tisza, Hungary's second-longest river, is a well-known motif in Hungarian literature and national symbology. The name is used as a theme in party campaigns, with current leader Magyar often referencing it. For example, in reference to the frequency with which the Tisza floods the Great Hungarian Plain, "the Tisza is flooding!" () has become a popular chant at Magyar's rallies.
Péter Magyar's involvement The party remained relatively inactive until 2024. Péter Magyar, the former Fidesz politician and ex-husband of former justice minister Judit Varga, came onto the political scene after the pardoning scandal in which President Katalin Novák pardoned a man who attempted to cover up child sexual abuse. As Minister of Justice, Varga 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 garnered much more attention.
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 court, 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 in Hungary; 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. 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 European Parliament list.
In the European Parliament election in May 2024, Tisza 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.
Run-up to the 2026 parliamentary election
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.
In July 2024, Magyar assumed the leadership of the party from founder Attila Szabó, who was instead given the title of honorary president. In July 2025, Tisza launched Tiszta Hang (meaning "Clear Voice"), which the party said was a newspaper that would be delivered by volunteers in an attempt to reach rural voters. The first copies, of which they printed almost one million, were delivered from the 8–10th August. After reading the first copy, 444.hu claimed that Tiszta Hang was more of a programme booklet than a newspaper.
"Voice of the nation" In March 2025, Magyar announced that he would launch an informal referendum questionnaire, asking people 13 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: +NumberQuestionResultYes %No %1Do you agree with introducing a Pensioner SZÉP Card with a maximum annual value of 200 thousand forints, which can be used for food, medicine and health care?92.37.72Do you agree with reducing the VAT rate on medicines to 0 percent?92.57.53Do you agree that the state should not use budget resources to support private healthcare investments and should provide at least 500 billion forints of extra resources annually for the development of the state healthcare system?98.31.74Do you agree with spending the recovered national wealth on education, healthcare, and rural development?99.30.75Do you agree that the VAT rate for healthy foods should be a maximum of 5 percent?98.41.66Do you agree with a universal reduction in personal income tax to 9 percent?81.918.17Do you agree with the re-introduction of the kata taxation system [one in which business-owners could pay one simplified tax, instead of multiple taxes] in the former areas?90.79.38Do you agree with the imposition of an extra tax on assets above 5 billion forints?96.13.99Do you agree with Hungary remaining a member of the European Union and NATO?98.71.310Do you agree that a Prime Minister should only be able to hold office for two terms, for a maximum of 8 years?96.53.511Do you agree that local governments should regain their powers, institutions and resources in the fields of education, healthcare and social services?98.81.212Do you agree that the Prime Minister's monthly salary should be a maximum of 2.5 million forints and that the income of members of parliament should be reduced by half?92.17.913 (+1)Do you support Ukraine becoming a member of the European Union?58.241.8
2025 Nagykanizsa conference On 12 July, the party held its second congress, in Nagykanizsa. The event was attended by several thousand people. At the congress, the party announced that they would hold closed primaries for all their constituency candidates, with members choosing, in rounds, 1 out of 3 approved candidates. Magyar declared that the party would run independently without any other party. During Magyar's speech to the congress, he set out his plans for if Tisza were to win the 2026 election, saying they would need to act immediately to kickstart the country, with the motto of this work being "System change, peacefully, responsibly." Magyar labelled this plan the "Hungarian New Deal", and it primarily focused on what they would invest the money he argues they can reclaim from the EU on. Much of the policy built upon that voted on in the "voice of the nation" questionnaire. Magyar also announced that the party would hold more events in the countryside, as Tisza is less strong there. He said that he would be touring the country in 80 days, and doing many tours up until the election next year. Reporting a few days after the conference, on 14 July, the BBC said that Tisza had about two million supporters, rivalling the roughly equivalent core base of Fidesz.
2025 partisan primary After a call for candidates in 2024, the party selected 103 of its 106 future candidates for the 2026 parliamentary election in a two-round primary in late 2025. The party put forward 3 nominees in each district (except the district of leader Péter Magyar and 2 other seats) and in the first round all Tisza Island members above the age of 16 could vote. Voting took place via a modified Borda count. In the second round, voting was opened also to all resident citizens above 18 who could vote for either of the two advancing candidates. Winners were announced on 28 November 2025.
2026 parliamentary election During the campaign for the 2026 election, the party adopted the slogan "Now or never!" (), a famous phrase from Sándor Petőfi’s Nemzeti dal, a poem Petőfi wrote to inspire the 1848 uprising against the Hapsburgs. In latter stages of the campaign, signs appeared with "or never" crossed out to convey urgency.
Tisza ended Orbán and Fidesz's 16-year tenure in a landslide, winning a two-thirds supermajority in the National Assembly. In so doing, it acquired the power to amend the Constitution of Hungary without the need for support from other parties. Tisza was assured of at least 136 seats, and ultimately won 141 seats after votes from the Hungarian diaspora were counted. In terms of percentage of the Assembly controlled, it is the largest mandate that a Hungarian party has won in a free election. The result closely tracked independent polling that showed Tisza leading Fidesz for almost two years by wide margins, while pro-government pollsters predicted a Fidesz win.
Ideology and policy
Prior to Magyar, Tisza was a minor conservative party, which defined itself as being "ideology-free". Under Magyar, Tisza Party has become a centre-right political party and a member of the European People's Party Group (EPP Group). Tisza, described as "synonymous with Magyar himself", has been described variously as a "centrist anti-establishment party", conservative, liberal-conservative, conservative-liberal, or national conservative. The party has avoided taking clear ideological positions to appeal to the widest electoral coalition possible.