On the 18th of May 2025, Romania’s Presidential election was finalised in the second round. It was between George Simion a Far Right guy who has a history of hateful acts against Hungarians, and Nicușor Dan a pro-Western guy with no history of hateful acts against Hungarians.
This is important because there is a sizeable Hungarian minority in Romania — 1 million people and 6% of the total population. How they are treated is naturally of interest to many Hungarians.
Simion’s worst act was that of his supporters jumping on the graves of Hungarian soldiers at the military cemetery in Valea Uzului (Úzvölgye) back in 2019. He used anti-Hungarian comments to help grow his support among Nationalists, which is grotesque.
Hungarians — especially those living in Transylvania — have not forgotten, nor forgiven
But, it seems, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has forgotten and/or forgiven.
Nothing is sacred when it comes to staying in power, right?
Just before the run-off elections in Romania, Orbán made a speech at the Tihany Abbey that was widely interpreted as a tacit endorsement of Simion’s candidacy. Orbán expressed “complete agreement” with Simion’s vision for a Christian, sovereign Europe.
Simion then used a photo of Orbán and an Orbán quote (“The Romanians can rely on Hungarians…”) in his campaign materials, reinforcing the connection between the pair.
Why? Simion needed the votes of Hungarians (well, well, well) and Orban’s support was meant to help him get them.
It was meant to work seamlessly. Orbán has always been popular in Transylvania, so throwing his support behind Simion was meant to flip Transylvanian votes.
It was a misstep. Why?
Number 1, it revealed that Transylvanians have independent thought and don’t just blindly follow what Orbán says.
Number 2, it was seen as a shocking betrayal of Transylvanians and this does not “fit” into the image Orbán has tried to maintain of being the ultimate pro patriot.
Number 3, Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar immediately jumped on the betrayal and started a 300-kilometre march from Budapest to Nagyvárad (Oradea) across the Romanian border to show Hungarian solidarity.
Thankfully, Nicușor Dan ended up winning the Presidential election with the support largely of the Bucharest region (where he was Mayor) and the Transylvanian areas.
Check out the map below. The green was won by Dan; the orange by Simion. The percentage shows the rate of the win for the respective candidate.
The green you can see stretching from the middle of the map to the top left covers areas where many Hungarians live. The high turnout among Hungarians for Dan was pivotal to his success.
That’s not all, in the areas where many Hungarians specifically live, the votes for Dan where utterly overwhelming:
- Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc) — 96% for Dan
- Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) — 86% for Dan
- Gyergyószentmiklós (Gheorgheni) — 91% for Dan
- Sepsiszentgyörgy (Sfântu Gheorghe) — 89% for Dan
In total, Dan won 53.6% of the vote.
Nicușor Dan was extremely gracious in his victory, thanking his various constituents including saying in Hungarian “Együtt sikerülni fog!” which means “Together, we will succeed!”
Simion losing is another huge blow for Orbán. It shows that Transylvanians might be willing to vote against him in the April 2026 Hungarian elections.
Given Orbán is trailing in the polls in Hungary, this feels like yet another nail in Orbán’s coffin.
And then there’s Peter Magyar. While Orbán was seen to be betraying Transylvanians, Peter was walking through villages and fields, carrying a Hungarian flag, talking to people from all walks of life.
Putting one foot in front of the other.
Every day, he walked about 20-30 kilometres with the walk taking him 10 days altogether.
It was a slowish pace because hundreds — and sometimes maybe even a thousand — people trail behind him.
People stop him to take selfies, or to give him water or baked treats or fruit or a shot of palinka.
All the while the walk is live streamed by thousands and you can see him interact with anyone who happens to walk beside him. It might be a group of kids or an elderly person or a man in his 50s. Anyone. Everyone.
On one of the days, he walked in the rain. Relentless. Unstoppable. Happy.
The walk presents him as agile — it was his own idea to do the walk within days of Orbán’s incendiary comments. Such a walk is unprecedented among any politician in Hungary, and you can scarcely imagine any of them doing it even if an aide had proposed the idea.
It, again, shows him as present in regional Hungary — something he has been doing via numerous regional tours.
It shows him as fit and energetic. You can’t image Orban doing a 10-day walk.
It shows him as brave — afterall you couldn’t be sure what his reception would be in the tiniest villages where Fidesz has always done well, and in Romania.
It shows him as willing to get down and dirty. You see him walking in dusty fields and along muddy roads. Shaking hands and kissing anyone who comes over. You can’t imagine the Fidesz elite doing this — you’re more used to seeing them in designer clothes or on the stairs of private jets.
It shows him as popular. People wave at him from their front gates. People run up to him to hug him and give him little mementos. People sing him folk songs to welcome him to their town. You can’t imagine a single Fidesz politician talking unvarnished to The People for 10 days straight. They’d be too afraid of their reception.
The walk also helps build community among his support base as they can walk together and bond over this shared experience. They probably spent the time scheming about how they will go home and try to win more votes.
And, it’s a long-form tour — not one where he parachutes in and out of towns or cities by car. In this way, he can interact with people who he would never otherwise be able to connect with in person. I’m sure it was the talk of the various towns that the Peter train was coming through — it creates a buzz in places where not much happens and politicians almost certainly never visit.
Already, there’s talk about him doing more walks around the country as it seems clear that it’s a winning formula.
AND, all the while it’s great social media content with incredible images and videos going viral meaning the reach is far and wide.
I live in Australia, and my neighbour came running over saying he heard about “my” Peter’s march on Australia’s ABC news.
At one point, as you can see in the photos below, he held his weekly “Magyar Info” press conference while literally sitting peacefully in the grass. He was also pictured “riding” on a gémeskút (a type of well that is symbolic of rural Hungary) showing him as quite childlike and fun.
When you contrast the two photos below with Orban at a stadium in Hungary launching his “Fight Club”…well it’s obvious who looks more peaceful and relatable.
Peter Magyar arrived in Romania on Saturday morning after 10 days of walking. He wore a traditional blue vest specific to a region in Transylvania and his speech was largely about the importance of unity and peace.
There were a handful of Hungarian protestors, which reporters later said were workers for a company close to Fidesz (Viastein Kft), but on-the-whole it all seemed to go smoothly and uneventfully. The Romanian police were very professional in keeping the rag tag protestors at bay.
Although there was no grand welcoming (perhaps 200-300 people in the audience), which would have been nice to see as a Tisza supporter, it’s important to note: Why would there be?
Transylvanians have been loyal to Orbán but have also probably been focussed on their own lives and own elections. The ins-and-outs of Hungarian politics is probably not top of mind for most.
But, to win a vote, the first thing you have to do is create a break between the voter and the person they’ve historically supported.
You have to get them wondering “Hold on, will I still support this same person next time?” And maybe the answer will be Yes, and maybe the answer will be No, but to have any chance of switching their vote you have to at least get them to ask.
Orbán’s comments about Simion represent a chink in that armour. Peter’s symbolic walk to Romania another.
Now the battle for Transylvanian votes is on, and Peter has showed he’s willing to march right over to Romania to grab them.
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