Hungarian voters on Sunday ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, rejecting the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement that he embodied in favour of a pro-European challenger in a bombshell election result with global repercussions.
Election victor Péter Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist who campaigned against corruption and on everyday issues like health care and public transport, has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s relationships with the European Union and NATO — ties that frayed under Orbán. European leaders were quick to congratulate Magyar.
It’s not yet clear whether Magyar’s Tisza party will have the two-thirds majority in parliament to govern without a coalition. With 77 per cent of the vote counted, it had more than 53 per cent support to 38 per cent for Orbán’s governing Fidesz party.
It’s a stunning blow for Orbán, a close ally of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Orbán conceded defeat after what he called a “painful” election result.
“I congratulated the victorious party, Orbán told followers. “We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition,” he said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, right, conceded an election defeat to rival Péter Magyar on Sunday. (Leonhard Foeger, Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)
Magyar posted his gratitude on X as thousands of his supporters thronged the banks of the Danube in Budapest, chanting “We got it! We did it!”
“Sixteen years ago, I voted for Orban’s party and I was so happy that they won with two-thirds, and ever since it has been a struggle to keep the hope up,” Emőke Csernus told CBC News.
“This was 16 years in the making, and we made it happen.”
Some in the crowd praised Magyar’s Tisza party for its historic win and others calling for Orbán to be imprisoned.
Orbán, the European Union’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, has travelled a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired today by the global far-right.
During his tenure, many Hungarians grew increasingly weary of Orbán, 62, after years of economic stagnation and soaring living costs as well as reports of oligarchs close to the government amassing more wealth.
The landslide victory of the Tisza party is also expected to mark a turning point for Hungary which under Orbán battled with its E.U neighbours, while developing closer ties with the Kremlin.
As the swelling crowd of voters celebrated by singing traditional Hungarian songs, they also repeatedly chanted, “Russian go away.”
Mark Szekeres, 22, had Hungarian flags painted on his face, but waved a large blue and gold EU flag by his side.
“This election was about a clash of civilizations. Either you belong in a Western-type democracy or an Eastern-type dictatorship.”
Historic turnout
Turnout by 6:30 p.m. local time was over 77 per cent, according to the National Election Office, a record number in any election in Hungary’s post-communist history.
The parties of both Orbán and Magyar said they had received reports of electoral violations, suggesting some results could be disputed by both sides.
People line up inside a Budapest polling station on Sunday. (Denes Erdos/The Associated Press)
“I’m asking our supporters and all Hungarians: Let’s stay peaceful, cheerful, and if the results confirm our expectations, let’s throw a big, Hungarian carnival,” Magyar said.
Mark Radnai, Tisza’s vice-president, also called for reconciliation after a tense campaign. “We can’t be each other’s enemies. Reach out, hug your neighbours, your relatives. It’s the day of reunification.”
‘Choice between East or West’
The EU will be waiting to see what Magyar does about Ukraine.
Orbán has repeatedly frustrated EU efforts to support Ukraine in its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion, while cultivating close ties to Putin and refusing to end Hungary’s dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports.
Recent revelations have shown a top member of Orbán’s government frequently shared the contents of EU discussions with Moscow, raising accusations that Hungary was acting on Russia’s behalf within the bloc.
People gather near Hungary’s parliament building in Budapest on Sunday. (Marton Monus/Reuters)
Orbán occupied an outsized role in far-right populist politics worldwide.
Members of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement are among those who see Orbán’s government and his Fidesz political party as shining examples of conservative, anti-globalist politics in action, while he is reviled by advocates of liberal democracy and the rule of law.
After casting his vote, Magyar told reporters that the election was “a choice between East or West, propaganda or honest public discourse, corruption or clean public life.”
Casting his ballot in Budapest, Marcell Mehringer, 21, said he was voting “primarily so that Hungary will finally be a so-called European country, and so that young people, and really everyone, will do their fundamental civic duty to unite this nation a bit and to break down these boundaries borne of hatred.”
Voters in traditional Hungarian dresses fill out ballots at a polling station in Veresegyhaz on Sunday. (Peter Kohalmi/AFP/Getty Images)
During his 16 years as prime minister, Orbán launched harsh crackdowns on minority rights and media freedoms, subverted many of Hungary’s institutions and has been accused of siphoning large sums of money into the coffers of his allied business elite, an allegation he denies.
He also heavily strained Hungary’s relationship with the EU. Although Hungary is one of the smaller EU countries, with a population of 9.5 million, Orbán has repeatedly used his veto to block decisions that require unanimity.
Most recently, he blocked a 90-billion euro ($145 billion Cdn) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid.