BUDAPEST — An Arctic wave swept across Hungary in early January, dumping more snow than the country had seen in more than a decade. The temperature lingered below freezing, and people struggled to keep warm in rural villages, where many homes still rely on wood-burning stoves.
Help arrived at one remote location in the middle of the storm. But it didn’t come from the government, which since 2010 has been led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Donald Trump’s top ally in Europe.
It came from Péter Magyar, Orbán’s chief political rival. Magyar showed up in Nógrád County, Hungary’s poorest region, with free firewood, snow shovels, and volunteers from the party he leads, known by its Hungarian initials, Tisza. The name—derived from the Hungarian for “Respect and Freedom”—is an unsubtle riposte to Orbán’s signature concept, “illiberal democracy,” and the corruption that has allegedly crept into his government.
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