{"id":526558,"date":"2026-04-12T08:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T08:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526558\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T08:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T08:43:08","slug":"hungarians-vote-in-hard-fought-election-that-could-oust-viktor-orban-after-16-years-hungary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526558\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungarians vote in hard-fought election that could oust Viktor Orb\u00e1n after 16 years | Hungary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hungarians are heading to the ballot boxes to vote in a hard-fought parliamentary election that could oust Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a> after 16 years in power and potentially reshape the central European country\u2019s relations with the EU, Moscow and Washington.<\/p>\n

In the campaign, Orb\u00e1n \u2013 the EU\u2019s longest-serving leader \u2013 has trailed in the polls<\/a> as he faces an unprecedented challenge from P\u00e9ter Magyar, a former elite member<\/a> of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s Fidesz party.<\/p>\n

The challenge to Orb\u00e1n\u2019s power has sent rightwing leaders from across the globe scrambling to rally behind him. This week, JD Vance turned up<\/a> in Budapest for a two-day visit, the US vice-president telling reporters that his aim<\/a> was to \u201chelp\u201d Orb\u00e1n win.<\/p>\n

The US president, Donald Trump, has also repeatedly endorsed Orb\u00e1n, most recently on Friday, when he vowed on social media that he would bring US \u201ceconomic might\u201d to the country if Orb\u00e1n is re-elected. Months earlier, leaders including Italy\u2019s Giorgia Meloni and Israel\u2019s Benjamin Netanyahu also made it clear<\/a> that they were backing Orb\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

The result is an election that has played out on both the global and domestic stage, as Orb\u00e1n argued that the country\u2019s biggest threat is the war in Ukraine and he alone is capable of keeping the peace, while Magyar focused on domestic issues, with pledges to crack down on corruption, repair the strained relationship with the EU and funnel funds to the country\u2019s crumbling public services.<\/p>\n

After Magyar and his centre-right Tisza party crisscrossed the country, holding as many as six rallies a day, most polls have put his party<\/a> in the lead. Analysts have expressed caution, however, as undecided voters and Hungarians abroad could still sway the result, as could alleged vote-buying<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For many in Hungary, Sunday\u2019s vote will also be a test of how deeply Orb\u00e1n\u2019s political system is embedded, after the rightwing populist leader spent more than a decade working to transform Hungary<\/a> into a \u201cpetri dish for illiberalism\u201d: rewriting election laws to his party\u2019s benefit, manoeuvring to put loyalists in control of an estimated 80% of the country\u2019s media and clamping down<\/a> on dissenting voices.<\/p>\n

The result will be closely watched by the Maga movement and the global far right, many of whom have long cited<\/a> Orb\u00e1n as an inspiration and sought to follow his playbook.<\/p>\n

Questions have also swirled<\/a> over Orb\u00e1n\u2019s government and its relationship to Moscow amid allegations of Russian interference in the ballot, as well as audio that appeared to suggest a minister had shared<\/a> confidential EU information with the Russian government.<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n\u2019s government has cited the leaks \u2013 including a transcript in which Orb\u00e1n reportedly told<\/a> the Russian pesident, Vladimir Putin, \u201cI am at your service\u201d \u2013 as evidence of foreign interference.<\/p>\n

At a Friday night rally for Orb\u00e1n in Sz\u00e9kesfeh\u00e9rv\u00e1r, a city of about 100,000 people in central Hungary<\/a>, hundreds of people turned up, eagerly waving flags and cheering as cameras panned over the city where the first kings of Hungary were crowned and buried. \u201cI\u2019m so happy to be here,\u201d gushed Cec\u00edlia, 78. \u201cHe\u2019s the best leader in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday was set to be the fifth time since 2010 that she had voted for Orb\u00e1n \u201cViktor Orb\u00e1n will win, of course, with a supermajority,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Others were more circumspect. \u201cWhen it comes to polls, it depends on who does them, but the situation does seem tense. I\u2019m worried for him,\u201d said S\u00e1ndor, 69. \u201cHe seems tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scattered among the crowd were also a handful of Magyar supporters. \u201cI was curious to hear the prime minister speak,\u201d said Rich\u00e1rd, 27.<\/p>\n

What he had heard, he said, hinted at a fundamental difference between the two leading parties. \u201cFor 16 years, Fidesz has been campaigning on hatred and fear,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile Tisza has been trying to express hope at all of their events.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hungarians are heading to the ballot boxes to vote in a hard-fought parliamentary election that could oust Viktor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-526558","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}