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Hungary: Orban Rival Claims ‘Russia-Style’ Blackmail over Sex Tape as His Party Leads in Polls

Peter Magyar calls the alleged sex video a 'Russia-style' smear to blackmail him as he leads polls in a high-stakes election against Viktor Orban's ruling party.

  • On Thursday, Peter Magyar, leader of the centre-right opposition Tisza party, said individuals linked to Viktor Orban's camp prepared a Russia-style smear and his party leads most polls ahead of April.
  • A website posted a room image with a 'Coming soon' notice and the date August 3, 2024, while still images circulated in Hungarian media and Reuters could not verify the site's origins.
  • Magyar released a Facebook video, said he committed no wrongdoing, acknowledged consensual sex in an apartment, and denied drug use, rejecting blackmail attempts.
  • The government denied involvement and offered limited comment, with Gergely Gulyas saying `I cannot comment on something that I know nothing about` on Thursday, and the site remains unpublished, Reuters reported.
  • Magyar's rise positions him as a major challenger, having founded Tisza in 2024 and tapped into anger over the cost-of-living crisis and corruption; the episode drew notice as Marco Rubio will travel next week after President Donald Trump endorsed Orban last week.
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11 Articles

Lean Right

The Hungarian election campaign has long since begun. And it's not pretty.

·Denmark
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Lean Left

Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar said he was secretly taped having sex with his former partner in 2024, preempting a potential release of a video that he called a “Russia-style” attempt to blackmail him before pivotal elections in April.

·United States
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The Hungarian electoral campaign is intensified, entering a stage marked by growing tensions. It is only two months before parliamentary elections scheduled for 12 April. The opposition leader, Peter Magyar, accused the government party Fidesz, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, of preparing an attempt at sanctions against him on the basis of a video recording of an intimate nature, says Euronews. Magyar, whose party leads into the polls, decla…

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Bloomberg broke the news in United States on Thursday, February 12, 2026.
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