The Respect and Freedom Party (Hungarian: Tisztelet és Szabadság Párt, pronounced [ˈtistɛlɛt ˈeːʃ ˈsɒbɒt͡ʃːaːɡ ˈpaːrt], TISZA), commonly referred to as the Tisza Party (Hungarian: Tisza Párt [ˈtisɒ ˈpaːrt]), is a centre-right political party in Hungary that was founded in 2021. It rapidly gained in prominence when former Fidesz party member Péter Magyar joined; members of his non-party movement "Stand up Hungarians Community" occupied the majority of places to contest the 2024 European Parliament election,[11] and on 9 June 2024, the party won 7 seats in the European Parliament.[12]
The party was founded in 2021 and planned to contest the elections the next year in 2022. The party rejected state funds and instead relied on donations and personal wealth of its members. While it collected 222,000 forints, the party could not run in the elections that year.[11]
The party stayed quiet for two years, until in 2024 Péter Magyar announced he would be contesting the 2024 European Parliament election with the party. Magyar, ex-husband of former Minister of Justice Judit Varga, came onto the political scene after the pardoning scandal in which President Katalin Novák pardoned a man who tried to force victims of sexual abuse by an orphanage principal to withdraw their court cases. Varga, as Minister of Justice, also had to sign the pardons and was therefore complicit in the scandal. Magyar organised his first protest on 15 March, the anniversary of the beginning of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution, which was symbolic as its goal was to establish an independent, democratic Hungarian state. Events were also held by both the government and the regular opposition, but his demonstration attracted the largest crowds.[13]
After this, he himself proceeded to cause yet another scandal for the government, as he published a recording relating to the Schadl-Völner corruption case involving two senior officials, György Schadl, the president of the Hungarian Court Bailiffs' Office, and Pál Völner, a member of Parliament, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Deputy Minister of Justice.[14] In the recording, his ex-wife — the Minister of Justice at the time — admits that documents relating to the trial had been altered at the orders of the government.[15] As he presented this information to the jury, a protest crowd of around one thousand gathered outside, demanding the resignation of the government.[16]
Magyar had discussed having a political party with him as a leading member contest the 2024 European Parliament election.[citation needed] He could not find his own party as parties founded past a certain deadline could not register to contest the election. Due to this, he would have to find a minor party to cooperate with. Eventually, it was announced that Magyar would join TISZA.[17]
The Tisza Party is a centre-right political party and is a member of the centre-right, Christian democratic and conservative European People's Party Group.[2][3][4][5] The party self-describes one of its goals on its website as to "show that we conservatives, civic democrats, social democrats and liberals are first of all Hungarians".[18] The name Tisza was formed as a backronym with the first letters of tisztelet (respect) and szabadság (freedom) spelling out the name of the second largest river of Hungary. River Tisza has been called "the most Hungarian river", as most of its length is on Hungarian territory.[19]
The party was chosen by Magyar due to similarities in views regarding an ideologically neutral centrist grassroot organization.[20] Magyar spoke numerous times about creating a "third political force" in Hungary to abolish the System of National Cooperation, which is used by Fidesz to maintain control over society at large.[21] He defended free speech after multiple members were fired from their civil jobs following their public appearances at demonstrations.[22]
Magyar hosted multiple protests against the "mafia state" as anti-corruption is a key part of most anti-government parties.[16] He intends to issue an unexplained wealth order to the Orbán-Mészáros-Tiborcz family joint-stock company, which "owns half the country".[23][24] The party ruled out cooperation with the opposition since it regards it being complicit with the government.[25] It also proposed to declassify the agent files from the Communist era to shed light on personal wealth gains during the rapid privatization period in the 1990s.[26]
The party aims to restore the functioning order of the Hungarian state, by joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office in order to effectively supervise the disbursement of EU funding in Hungary, which remains frozen due to rule of law violations. By making the Prosecutor's Office independent, it hopes to clawback large scale transfers of tax funds and national assets to cronies and oligarchs. It also aims to disband the hidden "propaganda" ministry responsible for disinformation, and remove the public broadcasting television from under its control. As its primary focus for a "free, liveable, European" knowledge economy, it plans to establish new education, healthcare, and environmental ministries as the cornerstone of its agenda. By promoting local business competitiveness, giving back authority to local governments, and developing local infrastructure networks, it wants to encourage emigrated Hungarians to return and resettle in the country.[27][28]
Magyar stated that he wants to limit office holding for a maximum of two terms to prevent abuse of power.[29] According to him, there is a moral, political, and economic crisis in Hungary, and politicians manufacture artificial societal divisions to conceal massive kleptocracy. He thus wants to unify Hungarians across a wide spectrum. Despite significant financial support from the EU, Hungary remains the second poorest member state. The demographic decline is due to a lack of stable and predictable environment, and the abysmal state of education and healthcare, which require urgent reforms.[30] The party supports uplifting vulnerable social groups.[31]
The Tisza party supports the Fidesz government's position against sending weapons or troops to support Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian war.[32]