Budapest (AFP) – Congratulations from across Europe poured in Monday for Hungarian political newcomer Peter Magyar, who defeated nationalist Viktor Orban in elections seen as a blow to right-wing populism worldwide. Orban, a self-described “thorn” in the EU’s side and defender of “illiberal democracy” endorsed by US President Donald Trump, lost Sunday’s elections after 16 years in power as Hungarians fed up with corruption gave Magyar a decisive victory.
Magyar’s party, Tisza, won a thumping majority in the parliamentary elections, which drew record turnout and sent tens of thousands of jubilant supporters into the streets to celebrate as car horns sounded in the capital, Budapest. Leaders across the EU welcomed Magyar’s win, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who hailed a victory for the “values of the European Union,” and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who called it a “heavy defeat” for “right-wing populism.”
With Orban the EU’s most Russia-friendly leader, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday Moscow hoped for “pragmatic” relations with Hungary’s new leadership. Crowds of Magyar supporters celebrated into the early morning hours outside his party’s election headquarters on the banks of the Danube River and in Budapest’s streets, waving Hungarian flags and dancing. “I feel fantastic!” Zoltan Sziromi, a 20-year-old student celebrating in the crowd, told AFP. “We’ve finally got rid of that system, and it was about time.”
Magyar told the cheering crowd that voters had “liberated Hungary,” calling his party’s win a “miracle” in the central European country of 9.5 million people. “Today, the Hungarian people have said ‘yes’ to Europe,” the 45-year-old conservative told supporters, promising to “restore the system of checks and balances…, guarantee the democratic functioning of our country” and put Hungary “back on track.” An almost complete vote count showed Tisza secured a two-thirds majority, with 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament on 53 percent of the vote, according to official election results. Orban’s Fidesz took 55 seats on 38 percent of the vote. Turnout in the election reached a record 79.6 percent.
As first results came in earlier Sunday, Orban, 62, conceded defeat, saying the results were “clear and understandable.” “For us, they are painful but unambiguous,” Orban told reporters. Orban, who was seeking a fifth straight term, has transformed his country into a model of “illiberal democracy,” clashing with the EU over rule-of-law issues, as well as over support for war-torn Ukraine. Magyar, a former government insider, burst onto the scene just two years ago, promising to fight corruption and offering better public services. He drew support against a backdrop of economic stagnation, and despite an electoral system skewed in favor of Orban’s Fidesz party.
Ahead of the vote, both Orban’s and Magyar’s camps had alleged foreign interference in the campaign. US Vice President JD Vance visited Hungary days ahead of the vote to rally with Orban, attacking the alleged interference in Hungary of EU “bureaucrats.” Trump had promised to bring US “economic might” to Hungary if Orban’s party won.
The vote results “could mark a real turning point for Donald Trump’s culture war in Europe,” with association with that becoming “more of a liability than an asset” and providing “confidence for pro-European forces across the continent,” according to Pawel Zerka, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank. Orban, who has blocked EU decisions in support of Ukraine as the neighboring country fights off Russia’s invasion, had focused on making the issue the central topic of his campaign, portraying Kyiv as “hostile” to Hungary.
Ukraine on Monday lifted an official recommendation to its citizens against travel to Hungary, imposed last month after Hungarian authorities arrested seven Ukrainian bank employees as they were transporting cash from a bank in Austria. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged to work with Magyar — who opposes sending military aid to Ukraine and a quick EU accession for the country — “for the benefit of both nations, as well as peace, security, and stability in Europe.”
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