Hungary's Tisza Party presented its 240-page government programme on February 7, which includes tax cuts for low earners, extending family benefits, reclaiming frozen EU funds, and weeding out corruption and overpricing in procurement procedures. The opposition party plans to increase health spending and has vowed to strengthen ties to the Western alliance while maintaining the southern border fence and rejecting the EU's migration pact. Tisza would launch consultations on euro adoption, with plans to meet the Maastricht criteria by 2030, including reducing the deficit to below 3%. 

The programme titled Foundations of a Functional and Humane Hungary was developed over nearly two years by around 1,000 experts working in 65 policy groups, liberal Hvg.hu writes, adding that the ministerial candidates unveiled the programme in a recorded video, a format chosen to minimise risk.

The former Fidesz cadre-turned-party-founder stressed that Hungary can emerge from its moral, political and economic crisis only if politics returns to its purpose: serving the people. There can be no security without the rule of law, and no growth without planning, he added.

Since the regime change in 1990, the country's political elites have avoided accountability, Magyar said, adding that the new government would represent all Hungarians, restore the rule of law, and ensure mistakes and abuses have consequences. He pledged to recover stolen assets, rebuild Hungary's international standing, and base foreign policy on national interests rather than deference to great powers.

Budget and tax expert Andras Karman, a former state secretary between 2010 and 2011, said the financing of the election promises, which are not in short supply in the programme, will be secured by higher revenues and savings from eliminating corruption, ending overpricing, state propaganda, and unjustified prestige investments. These alone would yield billions of forints in savings annually.

He pledged to reduce the country's high debt service cost, which spiked to a record HUF4.2 trillion (€11.1bn) last year, by restoring investor confidence and outlined measures to reclaim HUF8 trillion in frozen EU funds. This, he argued, would lead to higher economic growth. Every 1pp increase in GDP would lead to a HUF400-500bn increase in state revenues.

Tax reforms would reduce burdens on low-income earners and target a 1% wealth tax on billionaires with HUF1 trillion or more in assets. The party would reduce VAT on healthy food and medicines, simplify tax administration for businesses, and widen access to the flat-rate tax for micro-businesses and SMEs.

To combat corruption, the party would join the European Public Prosecutor's Office, end anonymity for owners of private equity funds used by Fidesz cronies to hide assets, overhaul the system to place trust-based asset managers under state supervision, and require proof of funds for high-value property transactions.

Tisza pledged to keep the 13th and 14th monthly pensions, introduce a pensioner voucher card, double elderly allowances, and raise home-care subsidies. Analysts said these measures are aimed at winning over older voters, a group where Fidesz continues to hold a strong lead among the country's roughly 2.5 million pensioners.

The party's economic and energy expert, Istvan Kapitany, the former VP of Shell, announced plans to expand the utility price-cut scheme, provide affordable clean energy for households and businesses, and renovate 100,000 homes annually. Measures would include reducing VAT on firewood, introducing energy-efficiency subsidies, and banning large-scale employment of foreign guest workers starting in the summer of 2026. He said the party aims to build a knowledge-based, competitive economy.

Kapitany announced a new economic development programme that would boost productivity and domestic value added, phase out dependence on Russian energy by 2035, and review the Paks 2 nuclear power plant project. The share of renewables would double by 2040, with energy storage expanding.

The party plans to review the 35-year road concession contract, awarded to a consortium led by Lorinc Meszaros. The infrastructure programme includes a major upgrade of the railway sector, aiming to halve the average age of rail cars and locomotives within ten years from the current 40-50 years.

In housing, the proposals include launching social and market-based rental housing, a housing cooperative initiative, plans to construct tens of thousands of new rental units, and a state-financed renovation programme. The programme calls for the elimination of what it describes as a "bailiffs mafia," bringing debt enforcement under state control, following a high-profile corruption case involving the former head of the bailiff chamber and the ex-state secretary of the Justice Minister, Pal Volner.

Tisza would seek to strengthen Hungary's position within the EU and NATO, while ensuring real sovereignty, even if this leads to disputes with Brussels, including rejecting the next EU budget in its current form, said foreign policy expert Anita Orban, the nominee for foreign minister.

On immigration, Tisza appears set to follow the current government's policies, promising to strengthen border protection while keeping the southern border fence along the Serbian border. The party rejects migration quotas and the EU migration pact and says it will apply zero tolerance toward illegal immigration and human trafficking. From June 1, 2026, it proposes banning the import of guest workers from outside Europe.

Anita Orban said her goal was to restore Hungarian-Polish relations, revive the V4 cooperation, and negotiate firm bilateral agreements with Slovakia and Ukraine. Tisza opposes Ukraine's accelerated accession to the EU, she added.

Social policy expert Kriszta Bodis said child protection and development would be priorities, pledging to double family and maternity allowances, introduce baby starter packs, and expand support for single-child families and families raising children with disabilities. Tisza would promote gender equality and Roma inclusion. Those who suffered abuses in childcare institutions would receive compensation, she added.

Health policy expert Zsolt Hegedus said the party guarantees free, high-quality healthcare for all, with state health spending increased to 7% of GDP by 2030. Until the target is reached, the government will channel an additional HUF500bn in funding to the sector. Tisza promised to build new hospitals in each of the seven regions of Hungary.

Agricultural policy expert Szabolcs Bona said Tisza aims to make Hungarian agriculture the backbone of the national economy by increasing support for environmentally sustainable farming and high-value-added food production. The 35-year waste management concession won by MOL subsidiary Mohu will be reviewed and replaced by a "cheaper, fairer, more transparent system" to reduce costs for businesses.

On defence, Hungary would gradually raise military spending to meet the 5% Nato benchmark by 2035, in line with economic capacity. The programme calls for a review of the recent privatisation of defence industry assets to eliminate national security risks. Tisza would mitigate Hungary's demographic decline by bringing back 200,000 Hungarians living abroad within eight years.

Fidesz has not published an election manifesto since sweeping into power with a supermajority in 2010, and while most voters will probably not read Tisza’s programme, it represents a major milestone and demonstrates the party’s readiness to govern, as Szabolcs Dull said in a blog post.

In his latest post, he recalls a shift in Orban’s communication, in which the prime minister described the election race as an open battle and said Fidesz was not performing 100% in half of the districts (53 out of 106). In mid-2025, Orban was confident that Fidesz would win 80% of the individual seats, securing a fifth consecutive supermajority victory. These measures are aimed at Fidesz's core to mobilise voters, as the party continues to communicate that, according to its internal polls, it will win the election. Most independent polls, however, show a massive lead for Tisza.

In a recent television interview with ATV, Peter Magyar said his party holds a "significant lead" in most constituencies and that in no district does Fidesz's advantage exceed 3%. He did not signal the number of these constituencies, but they are located in rural areas.