Swiss In Hungary: 'We've Given Ourselves A Second Chance'

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) After 54 years in Switzerland, Zoltán Tamassy recently moved to Hungary. On Sunday, the dual national was able to vote locally. He says he supported the winning opposition party Tisza because of "corruption, geopolitics and the economy". A reportage from an eventful election night. Select your language

Generated with artificial intelligence. Listening: Swiss in Hungary: 'We've given ourselves a second chance' This content was published on April 13, 2026 - 14:34 7 minutes

Bruno is SWI swissinfo's global democracy correspondent as well as being a long-term foreign correspondent for the Swiss Broadcasting Company, based in Sweden. He is also the Director of International Relations at the Swiss Democracy Foundation, Co-president of the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy and Co-initiator of the International League of Democracy Cities.

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Deutsch de Schweizer in Ungarn:“Diese Wahl ist die Stunde null, wie 1989” Original Read more: Schweizer in Ungarn:“Diese Wahl ist die Stunde null, wie Français fr Un Suisse de Hongrie: ((Cette élection est un nouveau départ, comme en 1989)) Read more: Un Suisse de Hongrie: ((Cette élection est un nouveau départ, comme en 1

The 81st electoral district in the north of Budapest is bustling. Just like the rest of the country on this warm and sunny spring Sunday.

Zoltán Támassy and his wife Orsolya Tamássy-Lénárt are also waiting in the queue outside the school that has been converted into a polling station for the day.

“Everything is different here,” says Zoltán Támassy, 55, a former business journalist. Excited, he checks once again that he has all the necessary documents: his identity card and a certificate of residence.

In Switzerland, where Tamassy was born to a Hungarian father and mother, he voted by post, like almost everyone else.

But now, for the first time, he can have his say in his parents' homeland.“It feels significant, but I'm also a little nervous,” he says. His father came to Switzerland in 1956 after the suppression of the uprising, his mother in the 1960s. Both have since died, and Tamassy moved to Hungary last autumn.

'I have chosen, I have decided'

Then, after waiting patiently for 20 minutes, the couple enter the polling station. A stern-looking older man checks the documents. Finally, a lady with an impressive stamp hands him two A4-sized ballot papers: one for the direct election of a district candidate and one with the names of the eligible parties.

Zoltán Tamassy, one of more than 180,000 first-time voters in this election, disappears behind the blue curtain for a minute.

More More Global elections How direct democracy became part of Orbán's 'illiberal' toolkit in Hungary

This content was published on Mar 31, 2026 Since 2010, Hungarian authorities have channelled public sentiment with a range of direct-democratic tools – including one which even Switzerland's ample repertoire lacks.

Read more: How direct democracy became part of Orbán's 'illiberal' toolkit in Hu

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