Hungarian Prime Minister Orban ejected after 16 years in European electoral earthquake

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungarian voters on Sunday (April 12) ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orban after 16 years in power, rejecting the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement that he embodied in favour of a pro-European challenger in a bombshell election result with global repercussions.

It was a stunning blow for Orban — a close ally of both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — who quickly conceded defeat after what he called a "painful" election result. 

US Vice President JD Vance had made a visit to Hungary just days earlier, meant to help push Orban over the finish line.

Election victor 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. 

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.

It's not yet clear whether Magyar's Tisza party will have the two-thirds majority in parliament, which would give it the numbers needed for major changes in legislation. 

With 93 per cent of the vote counted, it had more than 53 per cent support to 37 per cent for Orban's governing Fidesz party and looked set to win 94 of Hungary's 106 voting districts.

"I congratulated the victorious party," Orban told followers. 

"We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition."

Jubilation erupted along the Danube

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 revelers 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 Orban's drift toward Moscow.

Turnout in the election was nearly 80 per cent, according to the National Election Office, a record number in any vote in Hungary's post-Communist history.

'Choice between East or West'

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 breakdown these boundaries borne of hatred".

Strained relationship with the EU

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 euro (S$134 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid.

His challenger came from the inside

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 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, centre-right political family with leaders governing 12 of the EU's 27 nations.

Uphill election battle

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 required Tisza to gain an estimated five per cent 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.

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