Fidesz brands anyone unwilling to cooperate as traitors, he added. DK maintains its view that people without an address in Hungary should not have the right to vote.

But rather than stripping ethnic Hungarians of this acquired right, DK would level the playing field by applying the same voting rules for all Hungarian citizens who live abroad, he said, referring to Hungarians with an address in Hungary who work abroad but do not have the option of a postal vote.

Fidesz called Ara-Kovács’s remarks “outrageous”, and said that the Hungarian left wing was “being more hateful now than in 2004”, referring back to DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány’s stance as prime minister against extending citizenship to Hungarians living in other countries in a referendum that year.

Fidesz said in a statement that if the opposition were to come to power, Hungary could expect them to “fuel hate, divide and weaken the nation and take in migrants”.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.