Orbán’s government has been rocked by multiple child abuse scandals in recent years.
Published December 13, 2025
Tens of thousands of Hungarians took to the streets in Budapest to demand Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s resignation over his inaction over repeated child abuse scandals in the country.
Since returning to power in 2010, Prime Minister Orban has promised to prioritize child protection in Hungary, but several major child abuse scandals have rocked his government in recent years.
Saturday’s protests, led by opposition TISZA leader Peter Magyar, came after new allegations surfaced in September about juvenile detention centers in the capital Budapest. Footage from the center’s security camera showed the director of the Sholo Street Juvenile Detention Center kicking the boy in the head.
Four staff members were detained earlier this week, and the government announced that all such children’s facilities would be placed under direct police supervision.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters walked through Budapest’s freezing streets with banners reading “Protect our children!” He called on the government to take further action against the perpetrators. Some carried stuffed animals and torches in solidarity with victims of physical abuse in incidents from several years ago.
On Friday, Magyar also released a previously unpublished official report for 2021, which found that more than a fifth of children in state-run care facilities were abused.
“We should be outraged by what is being done to the most vulnerable children,” Zuza Zarai, a 73-year-old pensioner who took part in Saturday’s protest, told AFP news agency.
Orbán’s government insisted it was taking action against allegations of child abuse.
The prime minister, who faces the toughest challenge to his 15-year rule in elections likely to be held in April, also condemned the abuses in an interview with news outlet Mandiner, calling them unacceptable and criminal conduct. He added:[even] Young offenders should not be treated this way. ”
But demonstrators on Saturday said Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s response was insufficient.
“Normally, when something like this happens, the government would collapse,” 16-year-old David Kozak told AFP.
Last year, the country’s President Katalin Novak also bowed to public pressure and resigned after pardoning the deputy director of the National Children’s School, who was found guilty of covering up sexual abuse by the director.
“The problem for them is not that the abuse happened, but that the abuse was exposed,” Kozak added.
