On April 10, Hungarian native and 21-year-old student Sara Uzonyi boarded a plane to take her from the Netherlands back to Budapest, her stomach in knots. This was no ordinary visit home.
“I didn’t go home because I had no other option to vote in the Netherlands where I lived,” Uzonyi told Old School Catalyst. “I went home because I wanted to experience this very important election that decided if we will gain back our democracy, or lose it forever.”
After 16 years, Viktor Orbán’s presidential reign of Hungary has ended. On April 12, Péter Magyar of the Tisza party won by a landslide, altering the course of Hungary’s history and shattering voter turnout records. 74 percent of registered voters, or about 5.9 million voters cast their ballot on election day.
Magyar, a former member of Orbán’s Fidesz party, focused his campaign on anti-corruption in the Hungarian government, a plan of action that resonated with many voters fed up with the country’s high unemployment rates. Magyar also campaigned on repairing Hungary’s precarious relationship with its Western allies in the wake of Orbán’s allegiance to Russia and Hungary’s reliance on Russian oil. Magyar addressed young people by the hundreds on the evening of the election in Budapest, prompting them to take the reins of their own future.
This dedication to voter advocacy was on full display in Budapest’s Heros Square on April 10, two days before election day, where over 10,000 people gathered for a rally and concert featuring more than 50 bands. The seven-hour “system breaking” concert expressed anger toward Orbán’s party.
“The crowd, largely made up of young people, frequently broke into anti-government chants, including ‘Ruszkik haza!’ or ‘Russians go home!’” AP News reported. “It was a refrain from Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution that has taken on renewed significance as Orbán has forged increasingly close relations with Moscow.”
On the way to the voting booth alongside her mother, Uzonyi recalled feeling hopeful. As early as 7 a.m., crowds had gathered around polling places. She said there was a man standing near the entrance of one polling place who chanted, “Hungary is flooding.”
Tisza is the second largest river in Hungary and the namesake of Magyar’s party, which he started six years ago.
“This was the symbol of the opposition,” Uzonyi explained. “Every demonstration, all the manifestations included this sentence, this word in Hungarian, that the river is flooding. And that means that the people are rising off, that we are taking over the power. Such a really beautiful symbol.”
Rising water has been a longstanding symbol of revolution in Hungarian art. “The Sea is Rising,” written by famous Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi in the early-to-mid 1800s, represents the will of the people as a tumultuous ocean, tossing about ships and sinking those in power: “Though on top is the boatman / and down below the water, / Still, the water rules!”
Meanwhile, another 21-year-old student, Dorka Pinczes, was boarding a busy tram to a hotel near the Hungarian embassy in the Hague. Pinczes and her other Hungarian friends were going to vote for the first time in Hungary’s election. Immediately, she noticed that everyone waiting on the packed tram was speaking Hungarian.
“It was such a proud moment and it made me feel like I’m part of the change,” Pinczes told Old School Catalyst. “When you realize how many Hungarians have been let down by this government, have moved away from home, and are now still willing to take this step for their home. That’s really beautiful.”
The Hague is the only place in the Netherlands where Hungarian citizens can vote within the country. According to Pinczes, about 200 people stood in the line for her district, and about 500 more stood in the line to vote for Budapest county.
Pinczes brought two pens to the booth, checking multiple times that she properly sealed her envelope. After voting, she and her friends split a bottle of wine and toasted in celebration.
Back in Hungary, Uzonyi and her mother agonized over their ballots, ensuring that every circle and line was exactly in place to be counted.
Hungary does not have exit polls, and according to Uzonyi, the wait was excruciating.
“One of my friends just said, no, she cannot bear this, she’s going to go home, because if we lose, then the city’s going to have a revolution,” Uzonyi recalled.
The first results to come out were from rural areas, who typically endorsed Orbán, exacerbating the panic for people like Uzonyi and Pinczes.
When the election results were finalized, Pinczes and her friends were crying and cheering.
“I remember the day after [the election], I came to school, and I was like, no more crying,” Pinczes laughed. Pinczes walked into her exam that day and saw two Hungarian classmates. “We’re not that close, but we shared that moment, and I just looked at them and we started crying and hugging.”
Young Hungarians played an especially crucial role in the outcome of this election. Many young voters have never known a Hungary not led by Orbán.
“I genuinely could not believe it,” Pinczes said. “For the majority of our lives, when someone asks you, ‘Who’s your prime minister?’ You have one name in your head. You have one party that rules everything with disgusting propaganda for years and years.”
On the night of the election, thousands of young people celebrated in the streets, waving flags and blasting music written by Orbán’s outspoken critics. According to Uzonyi, the city was like a festival. The streets flooded with cars honking and people cheering. People danced on top of tram stations and lit bon fires in celebration. People tore down old political posters from billboards and lampposts.
Uzonyi confided that while studying politics in the Netherlands, she had been ashamed to share where she was from: “I never had this experience before that I was proud to be Hungarian.”
“In recent years, it has gained a dual meaning associated with the government party,” she continued. “But this time, I waved Hungarian flags proudly all throughout my journey back home. And I feel like that’s a beautiful thing.”
An opinion piece based on this article was published in the Orlando Sentinel on May 3, 2026.
