BUDAPEST — Veteran Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded defeat in a parliamentary election on Sunday, ending his 16 years in power. He congratulated Péter Magyar, leader of the center-right opposition Tisza party, and called the election result “painful” but “clear.” With nearly all of the votes counted, election officials say Magyar’s Tisza party is set to secure two-thirds of seats in parliament, with many hoping he could reverse some of the controversial changes made by Orbán. It was a stunning blow for Orban – a close ally of both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. US Vice President JD Vance had made a visit to Hungary just days earlier, meant to help push Orban over the finish line. Magyar, a former Orban 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 Orban. European leaders quickly congratulated Magyar. His victory was expected to transform political dynamics within the EU, where Orban had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions, prompting concerns he sought to break it up from the inside. It will also reverberate among far-right movements around the world, which have viewed Orban as a beacon for how nationalist populism can be used to wage culture wars and leverage state power to undermine opponents. With 97.35 percent of precincts counted, Magyar’s Tisza party secured 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament on 53.6 percent of the vote, giving them the two-thirds majority in parliament required to make major changes in legislation. “I congratulated the victorious party,” Orban told followers. “We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition.” In a speech to tens of thousands of jubilant supporters at a victory party along the Danube River, Magyar said his voters had rewritten Hungarian history. “Tonight, truth prevailed over lies. Today, we won because Hungarians didn’t ask what their homeland could do for them – they asked what they could do for their homeland. You found the answer. And you followed through,” he said. On the streets of Budapest, drivers blared car horns and cranked up anti-government songs while people marching in the streets chanted and screamed. Many revellers chanted “Ruszkik haza!” or “Russians go home!” – a phrase used widely during Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, and which had gained increasing currency amid Orbán’s drift towards Moscow. Turnout in the election was nearly 80%, according to the National Election Office, a record number in any vote in Hungary’s post-Communist history. Orban, the EU’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, 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. The EU will be waiting to see how Magyar changes Hungary’s approach to Ukraine. Orban repeatedly frustrated EU efforts to support the neighbouring country in its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion, while cultivating close ties to Putin and refusing to end Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy imports. Recent revelations have shown a top member of Orban’s government frequently shared the contents of EU discussions with Moscow, raising accusations that Hungary was acting on Russia’s behalf within the bloc. Members of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement are among those who see Orban’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. 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”. During his 16 years as prime minister, Orban launched harsh crackdowns on minority rights and media freedoms, subverted many of Hungary’s institutions and 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, Orban has repeatedly used his veto to block decisions that require unanimity. Most recently, he blocked a €90-billion ($104 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid. Magyar, 45, rapidly rose to become Orban’s most serious challenger. A former insider within Orban’s Fidesz, Magyar broke with the party in 2024 and quickly formed Tisza. Since then, he has toured Hungary relentlessly, holding rallies in settlements big and small in a campaign blitz that recently had him visiting up to six towns daily. In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, Magyar said the election will be a “referendum” on whether Hungary continues on its drift towards Russia under Orban, or can retake its place among the democratic societies of Europe. Tisza is a member of the European People’s Party, the mainstream, centre-right political family with leaders governing 12 of the EU’s 27 nations. Magyar faced a tough fight. Orban’s control of Hungary’s public media, which he has transformed into a mouthpiece for his party, and vast swathes of the private media market give him an advantage in spreading his message. The unilateral transformation of Hungary’s electoral system and gerrymandering of its 106 voting districts by Fidesz also will require Tisza to gain an estimated 5% more votes than Orban’s party to achieve a simple majority. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries had the right to vote in Hungarian elections and traditionally have voted overwhelmingly for Orban’s party. Russian secret services have plotted to interfere and tip the election in Orban’s favour, according to numerous media reports including by The Washington Post. The prime minister, however, accused neighbouring Ukraine, as well as Hungary’s allies in the EU, of seeking to interfere in the vote to install a “pro-Ukraine” government. — Agencies
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