But Orbán remains highly valued by US President
Donald Trump, who has called on Hungarians to "get out and vote" for his "true friend, fighter, and WINNER".Addressing supporters on Saturday night, the
Fidesz leader kept to his main campaign themes of targeting Brussels and
Ukraine. "We don't give our children, we don't give our weapons and we don't give our money," he said.Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesPéter Magyar has appealed to voters not to be tempted to commit electoral fraudHis message resonated with the crowd, who chanted "we won't let that happen". One supporter, Johanna, said she backed his policies on protecting the family and particularly on the war in
Ukraine.Veronika (L) and Johanna were optimistic
Fidesz would win on SundayHe has proved to be a winner four times in a row, but a fifth consecutive victory may be beyond his reach. The economy is struggling, and he has been buffeted by a series of scandals, including revelations that Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó regularly spoke to his Russian counterpart before and after
European Union summits, which he has admitted. Hungary is not just in the EU, it is in Nato too, but Orbán has vetoed €90bn (£78bn) in aid to
Ukraine, angering his European partners.One of the few pollsters that suggests he can still win is
Nézőpont Institute, whose head Ágoston Mráz points to 22 so-called "battleground seats" out of the total 106 constituencies. If
Fidesz were to win those seats, he foresees a potential victory. However, as 5% of the votes in those seats will not be counted immediately, it could take several days for the final result to become clear.He also argues that
Fidesz voters may not be as loud as their Tisza counterparts."Conservative voters are not normally as enthusiastic or their self-confidence is probably limited. They are more hidden voters, they are not ready to answer questions of pollsters, and among the
Fidesz voters there are more, in percentage, blue-collar voters than in the
Tisza Party voter camp."ReutersOrbán became rattled during a speech in late March when he was jeered by protestersIf Magyar is to win, Tisza will need to defeat
Fidesz in some important towns and cities, not least Hungary's sixth-biggest city,
Györ, close to the Slovak border in the north-west.Orbán himself put
Györ on the campaign map last month when he noticeably lost his cool towards booing protesters and accused them of "pushing Ukrainian interests".Conversely, Magyar hosted a very large rally in a central square in
Györ last Thursday.Gergely Németh, a 20-year-old student who said he was going to the square with his mother, explained that as a family they had struggled financially because of government policy.Although mothers with two or more children have increasingly become exempt from income tax under Orbán's pro-family policies, not everyone has benefited.Student Gergely Németh says all the young people he knows want
Fidesz outLike many first-time voters who talked to the BBC, Németh said his main priority was defeating
Fidesz: "I think it's not the man,
Péter Magyar, who's most important. More important is that someone changes these politicians in the parliament."For the past two years
Györ has had an independent mayor and deputy mayor, but
Fidesz still has a majority on the local council."I know what
Fidesz brings, I know what
Fidesz does, I live in it," says Deputy Mayor Roland Kósa, who speaks of an arrogance towards power. "When we got elected, what we faced even before and after is that
Fidesz basically looked through us and said and thought we do not exist - this is still their city, this is still their country."Roland Kósa, deputy mayor in Győr, says
Fidesz squandered huge sums and years of opportunity in his cityKósa believes that the right way to take on
Fidesz has been by breaking out of party politics.Although Magyar forged his political career as a centre-right conservative under Orbán, he dramatically turned on his party two years ago, and now attracts voters from across the political spectrum.