Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban has conceded defeat in election after 16 years in power where he has become an ally of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump
Vladimir Putin has been dealt a major blow with his ally Viktor Orban ousted from power after 16-years in Hungary.
Voters on Sunday rejected the authoritarian policies of the prime minister in favour of a pro-European challenger in a bombshell election result with global repercussions.
Winner Peter 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.
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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% of the vote counted, it had more than 53% support to 38% for Orban’s governing Fidesz party.
It’s a stunning blow for Orban, a close ally of Donald Trump as well as Putin, and he conceded defeat after what he called a “painful” election result. “I congratulated the victorious party,” Orban told followers. “We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition.”
“‘Thank you, Hungary!” Magyar posted on X, as thousands of his supporters thronged the banks of the Danube in Budapest, chanting “We got it! We did it!”
Orban, the EU’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, who 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.
The EU will be waiting to see what Magyar does about Ukraine. Orban 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 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.
While at the same time 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.
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.”
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.
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 euro ($104 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid.
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.
Magyar previously said the election will be a “referendum” on whether Hungary continues on its drift toward 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, center-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 swaths of the private media market give him an advantage in spreading his message.
Russian secret services 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, has 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.
