Currently serving as Hungary’s prime minister is politician Viktor Mihály Orbán. He is an expert in both law and political science and was born and reared in Hungary. He began his political career as the leader of the Alliance of Young Democrats, also known as “Fidesz.” After being elected to the “National Assembly,” he turned “Fidesz” from a left-leaning organization into a center-right national conservative one. When his party won the legislative elections in 1998, Orbán was appointed prime minister. But in the following two elections, “Fidesz” fell to the “Hungarian Socialist Party,” and Orbán took over as head of the opposition. Later, a speech by the leader of the “Socialist Party” whose tape was released caused that administration to fall. Soon, Orbán and his party secured a resounding victory in the elections. Significant constitutional and legislative changes were made under his regime. His political stances are decried as “illiberal,” and authoritarianism is frequently leveled against his administration. While his government’s nationalist, protectionist tactics during the immigration issue received a lot of praise, some of its reforms faced harsh criticism. In the elections of 2014 and 2018, his party kept its supermajority. The third-longest-serving Hungarian prime minister is Orbán. He is wed to Anikó Lévai, and the two of them have five kids together.
Early Childhood & Life
Gyz Orbán and Erzsébet Sipos welcomed Orbán into the world on May 31, 1963, in Székesfehérvár. His mother was a speech therapist and special educator, and his father was an agronomist and businessman. His rural middle-class family had three sons, the oldest of whom was him. Gyz Jr. and Ron, his younger brothers, were his childhood playmates.
He attended elementary school while growing up with his family in the Fejér County towns of Alcstdoboz and Felcst. Orbán attended the “Blanka Teleki High School” in Székesfehérvár when the family relocated there in 1977. His graduation was in 1981. He served in the military for two years before earning his law degree from Budapest’s “Eötvös Loránd University.”
Admission to universities back then required participation in the communist youth organization (KISZ). He thereupon joined the “KISZ” in his secondary grammar school and rose to the position of secretary. His opinions shifted throughout his military service, and he stopped supporting the communist government.
He spent two years as a sociologist at the “Management Training Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food” in Budapest after completing his studies there in 1987.
In 1989, he received a fellowship from the “Soros Foundation” to study political science at “Pembroke College” at the “University of Oxford.”
Career of Viktor Orbán
The ‘Fiatal DemoKraták Szövetsége,’ also known as the ‘Alliance of Young Democrats,’ or the ‘Fidesz’ party, was founded by Orbán. He quickly rose to the position of party spokesperson once the party was established in March 1988. Orbán gave a speech at Budapest’s “Heroes’ Square” for the reburial of former premier Imre Nagy and other martyrs of the 1956 “Hungarian Revolution.” He gained a widespread reputation for this speech, which he gave on June 16, 1989, in which he demanded open elections and the disbanding of the Soviet army.
The first democratic parliamentary elections in Hungary were held in 1990, ending nearly 50 years of communist rule. Orbán was chosen to lead Fidesz’s parliamentary group after being elected as a member of parliament (MP) from the “Pest County Regional List.”
‘Fidesz’ was formerly controlled by the national board’s collective leadership, but on April 18, 1993, Orbán was elected as the party’s first president. During the 1994 parliamentary elections, he won a seat as a member of parliament from the “Fejér County Regional List.” He presided over the parliamentary committee on issues related to European integration during this tenure. Because of the party’s underwhelming results, Orbán forged partnerships with center-right organizations and gradually transformed the party from a radical liberal student organization into a center-right party. The organization was divided, and he encountered hostility.
With coalitions, “Fidesz” won the 1998 parliamentary elections with 42% of the vote total and joined forces with other parties to create a coalition. The second-youngest prime minister of Hungary is Orbán, who is 35.
He made adjustments and executed reforms in state administrative ministries to move the nation toward a free-market economy. He presided over Hungary’s ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’ (NATO) membership in 1999. His administration eliminated university tuition prices and provided free maternity leave. During his administration, inflation fell. Hungary joined ‘NATO’ in March 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Poland.
Orbán resigned as party leader in 2000 when the party congress agreed to separate the position of party head from that of prime minister. In the past, “Fidesz” had joined the “Liberal International,” and in 1992, Orbán was made vice chairman. Fidesz, however, quit the Liberal International in 2000 and merged with the European People’s Party.
The nation experienced a very heated climate during the 2002 legislative elections. ‘Fidesz’ was defeated by ‘Magyar Szocialista Párt,’ also known as the ‘Hungarian Socialist Party’ (MSZP). Orbán thus lost his position as premier. Later, in October 2002, he was chosen to serve as the “European People’s Party”‘s vice president. In 2003, he was once more elected to lead “Fidesz.” ‘Fidesz’ won 12 of Hungary’s 24 seats in the 2004 European Parliament elections, while the incumbent ‘MSZP’ lost.
When ‘Fidesz’ lost the ‘MSZP’ in the 2006 legislative elections, there were calls for his resignation. ‘Socialist Party’ leader Ferenc Gyurcsány gave a speech in September 2006 that was broadcast in the media. The premier acknowledged to deceiving the electorate and using profanity in his address. This only served to increase public skepticism toward the “Socialist Party.” “Fidesz” won the municipal elections in October 2006. In May 2007, Orbán was chosen to lead ‘Fidesz’ for a second term. In the 2009 elections for the European Parliament, the party obtained 14 of the 22 seats in Hungary.
‘Fidesz’ gained the majority of seats in the parliament by a resounding two-thirds margin in the April 2010 elections. For the second time, Orbán was appointed prime minister. With a supermajority, the ruling party might amend the constitution. The centralized legislative and executive powers and the new judicial reforms that lessened the independence of the judiciary were both targets of protests in response to the constitution’s recent changes. The Orbán administration modified the proposed media law that would have given them power over the press in response to domestic and international criticism and protests. The number of parliamentary seats decreased from 386 to 199 due to election reform.
His government asked electricity firms to lower family rates while announcing higher levies on banking and several other industries in 2013. The party benefited from these measures most likely in the upcoming elections. 133 of the 199 seats in the so-called “National Assembly” were gained by Orbán’s party in the parliamentary elections of 2014. He served as premier for an additional term.
On advertising revenue, his government just imposed a new levy. Most people thought that the government was trying to limit media freedom by doing this. Unexpected inspections of NGOs took place because, in Orbán’s opinion, those receiving foreign funding were foreign agents who needed to be watched. But his administration also increased the number of jobs created, the standard of life for working people, and the nation’s standing abroad.
Orbán was involved in a number of issues during his second term, including the one brought on by his remark about “liberal democracy.” He declared in July 2014 that his government aimed to create an “illiberal” “workfare” society. The opposition and outside observers protested as a result of this. There were a number of demonstrations against “Fidesz,” one of which was the demonstration in November 2014 against the envisioned “internet tax.”
Orbán started taking action against the influx of refugees and illegal immigration. In order to prevent the admission of illegal immigrants and make it easier to register all migrants entering from Serbia, he authorized the construction of a barbed-wire barrier at the Hungary-Serbia border during the European migrant crisis of 2015. Like other Eastern European governments, he refused to accept mandatory quotas for redistributing immigrant settlements throughout the “European Union” member states.
The ruling coalition of “Fidesz” and its allies (the “Christian Democrats”) won 133 of the 199 seats in the April 2018 legislative elections, maintaining its supermajority of two-thirds of the seats.
Individual Life of Viktor Orbán
In 1986, lawyer Anikó Lévai and Orbán got married. They have a son named Gáspár who is a retired footballer, as well as four daughters named Ráhel, Sára, Róza, and Flóra. They have two grandchildren and are also grandparents.
He is passionate about sports, especially football, and played professionally for the Felcst FC football team. In order to develop new football players in Hungary, he also assisted in building a cutting-edge football academy.
Viktor Orban’s Net Worth
Viktor is among the wealthiest and most well-liked world leaders. Viktor Orban has a net worth of $5 million, according to our analysis of data from sources like Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.