Budapest | 23 December 2025 – Hungarian lorry drivers have kept up slow-moving convoys in and around Budapest to protest planned road-toll increases for 2026. Organisers say they will not stop until the government revisits the toll framework and holds substantive talks, arguing that higher charges will filter through to consumer prices and strain smaller hauliers.
Convoys around the capital
Traffic around Budapest has been repeatedly disrupted this week as truck drivers mobilised against higher road charges. The Hungarian news outlet Kárpátmedence reported that the demonstration began on Monday, 22 December, with organisers expecting hundreds of vehicles and possibly up to around 2,000 trucks taking part.
Hungarian news site Telex described kilometre-long congestion near the M3–M0 junction as vehicles moved toward the city, while police communications and live updates pointed to knock-on effects across parts of the ring road network.
“We won’t back down,” organiser says
At the centre of the protest is Tibor Orosz, described in Hungarian reporting as a lead organiser and spokesperson for the action. In an interview published by Index, he argued that truckers would keep protesting until there is a meaningful agreement, including a reconsideration of the toll law and direct talks with the Ministry of Construction and Transport.
Participation estimates differ across reports. Orosz told Index that even a cautious estimate was difficult, suggesting figures in the low thousands, while other accounts cited higher numbers circulating among drivers and observers.
What sparked the protest
According to Kárpátmedence, the immediate trigger was a government decree issued on 1 December that would substantially reshape 2026 toll levels—especially for heavy vehicles using main roads—after many transport contracts for next year had already been negotiated. The same reporting says planned motorway increases would be smaller than the rises affecting lorries on main routes.
The ministry’s public argument, as cited by Kárpátmedence, is that the goal is not simply revenue but to steer heavy traffic toward motorways, easing pressure on smaller towns and villages where trucks often choose cheaper secondary roads.
Costs, contracts and consumer prices
Hauliers warn that toll increases can land fast and unevenly. For operators, tolls are a daily operating cost, while freight invoices are often paid weeks later—an imbalance that can hit smaller firms hardest.
Protest organisers also argue that the wider public will feel the impact. Their claim is straightforward: higher transport costs tend to be incorporated into the price of goods, particularly in food and fuel distribution. How quickly those costs pass through depends on market competition and contract terms, but the sector says the direction of travel is clear.
A European debate in miniature
The dispute also echoes a broader EU challenge: how to pay for road infrastructure while shaping freight traffic in ways that reduce local pollution, congestion and safety risks. The European Parliament has repeatedly debated rules on how countries charge heavy vehicles for road use—an issue summarised in The European Times’ coverage of EU road-charging discussions.
For now, organisers say the protest will continue without a substantive policy rethink and direct engagement with the ministry. With 2026 changes approaching, both sides face a narrowing window: the government must defend the policy’s aims while containing disruption, and hauliers must decide whether negotiations can deliver relief—or whether further convoys will become a recurring feature on Hungary’s busiest roads.
