Thousands march in Budapest demanding Orbán’s resignation over juvenile abuse scandal

Tens of thousands of Hungarians braved the winter chill on Saturday, marching through the streets of Budapest to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s offices on Castle Hill, in a powerful show of outrage over a deepening child abuse scandal at a state-run juvenile detention centre.

Led by rising opposition figure Péter Magyar, the demonstration – organized under the Tisza Party banner – amplified calls for Orbán’s immediate resignation, framing the crisis as symptomatic of systemic failures under his 15-year rule.

Protesters, estimated by local media at between 20,000 and 30,000 strong – with around 27,000 having pre-registered on social media – advanced behind a massive banner proclaiming “Protect the children!” in Hungarian. Many carried plush toys symbolizing the vulnerability of the victims, lit torches against the frosty dusk, and chanted slogans like “Let’s stand together for our children! Enough of Orbán’s inhumane lies and the silence of the president!” The peaceful procession wound from the Danube River embankment to the government’s executive headquarters, where Magyar addressed the crowd, declaring: “We came here today in tens of thousands to talk about child protection centres and the children who live there.”

One participant, Judit Vörös, a mother of two from the capital’s suburbs, captured the mounting frustration: “More and more revolting things keep surfacing on a daily basis, which I did not think were possible in this country.”

The rally was sparked by explosive video footage, leaked earlier this week and independently verified by international outlets, showing staff at the Bicska Juvenile Correctional Institution in Budapest physically assaulting minors – including beatings with belts and forced exercises as punishment. The clips, dating back several years, have ignited widespread horror and demands for accountability. Hungary’s prosecutor’s office announced on Wednesday, December 10, that seven individuals, including current and former employees, had been detained on suspicion of physical abuse. Investigations, ongoing for months, now center on the facility’s former director, Endre K., who is in custody accused of orchestrating a prostitution ring involving inmates, money laundering, human trafficking, and subjecting minors to both physical and sexual violence.

The revelations were first amplified by opposition activist and former lawmaker Péter Juhász, whose published video prompted the immediate resignation of the center’s acting director on Tuesday.

In a swift but criticized response, Orbán’s government announced earlier this week that all five of Hungary’s state-run juvenile correctional institutions would fall under direct police oversight pending a full probe, a move the prime minister described as essential to rooting out “unacceptable and criminal” behavior. In an interview with the pro-government outlet Mandiner, Orbán condemned the abuses as “revolting” and vowed thorough investigations, stating they had no place in modern Hungary.

Opposition leaders, however, dismissed the measures as superficial, pointing to a leaked government report cited by Magyar alleging that “every fifth child in state care is officially subjected to abuse” – a claim Orbán’s office has vehemently denied.

Magyar, drawing parallels to prior scandals, accused the administration of complicity, asking the crowd: “Twenty-two months ago, a country put a question to the Hungarian government: Can it change and improve the situation of children, or will it remain an accomplice of child abusers?”

This is not the first such crisis to rock Orbán’s inner circle. In February 2024, President Katalin Novák – a close Orbán ally – resigned amid massive public backlash after granting a controversial pardon to a deputy police chief convicted of helping cover up child sexual abuse at a state orphanage in Kecskemét. The director there, János K., had been sentenced to eight years for abusing at least 10 boys between 2004 and 2016, with the pardon recipient pressuring victims to recant their testimonies. Justice Minister Judit Varga, who countersigned the pardon, also stepped down, exposing rifts in the Fidesz party’s “family values” facade.

That episode, which prompted rare street protests and eroded Fidesz’s image, now serves as a grim prelude to the current uproar, with critics arguing it reveals entrenched patterns of impunity in state institutions.

Mounting pressure ahead of the 2026 elections

The timing of the scandal could not be more precarious for Orbán, whose Fidesz-KDNP alliance has dominated Hungarian politics since 2010 but now confronts its sternest test in the parliamentary elections slated for 12 April.

Recent independent polls show Magyar’s center-right Tisza Party – which surged to prominence in the 2024 European Parliament elections with 29.5% of the vote – leading Fidesz by a margin of 42.8% to 36.9%, a reversal fuelled by voter fatigue over economic stagnation, corruption scandals, and democratic backsliding.

Tisza, affiliated with the European People’s Party from where Fidesz was ousted, has branded itself as a bulwark against Orbán’s “illiberal democracy,” promising to restore judicial independence, media pluralism, and EU alignment while dismantling cronyism.

Hungary’s electoral system, heavily skewed toward the incumbent, amplifies these stakes: A plurality of just 35-40% can secure a supermajority in the 199-seat National Assembly, as Fidesz has done repeatedly by gerrymandering districts and controlling media narratives.

Yet vulnerabilities abound – from declining living standards amid a third year of economic malaise to international isolation over Orbán’s pro-Russia stance amid the Ukraine war. In a recent speech, Orbán warned that the 2026 vote would be “the last election before the EU goes to war,” framing it as a binary choice between his nationalist vision and a “globalist” threat.

With Reuters, edited by g.g.

Caption: Chairman of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar (5L), Vice Chairman of Tisza Party Agnes Forsthoffer (6L) and opera singer Andrea Rost, the party’s parliamentary candidate for Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok County Constituency 1 (4TH R) walk behind a banner reading “Let’s protect children” during the Tisza Party demonstration in support of abused children in Budapest, Hungary, 13 December 2025. EPA/ROBERT HEGEDUS