Viktor Orban’s 16-year grip on Hungary is over. The Hungarian Prime Minister had conceded the election in a phone call with Peter Magyar, the leader of the main opposition Tisza Party.
“The election result is painful but clear, I congratulated the winning party,” Orban said from his election headquarters in Budapest.
The result is a resounding rebuke to a government marked by authoritarianism and corruption, and by closer ties with Beijing, Moscow and Donald Trump’s Washington over Brussels.
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Hungarians turned out in record numbers to deliver it: 77.8 per cent by 6.30pm – 30 minutes before polls closed – according to the national election office, 10 points higher than in 2022 and the highest since the fall of communism.
“This time around, people, even in the smallest villages, could see that this inhumane power will lose and Hungary will become free again,” Magyar said shortly after polls closed as he hailed the impressive turnout numbers.
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Tisza is expected to secure 136 seats while Orban’s Fidesz party is expected to win 56 seats, based on 53.45 per cent of the votes counted. The far-right Mi Hazank party will enter the parliament, too, with seven seats.
