A man waves a Hungarian flag as he celebrates in the streets after the announcement of partial results of the Hungarian parliamentary election in Budapest, Sunday, April 12.Denes Erdos/The Associated Press
Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been swept from power by an upstart opposition movement that tapped into the country’s desperate desire for change and growing discontent with corruption.
With nearly all of the votes counted from Sunday’s election, the Tisza movement was on course to win in a landslide; taking 137 seats in the 199-seat parliament, compared with 55 for Mr. Orban’s Fidesz Party.
The final tally won’t be known for a few days, but the result marks a seismic shift in Hungarian politics, and a setback for the global right-wing populist movement Mr. Orban is aligned with. It’s also a remarkable win for Peter Magyar, the 45-year-old ex-diplomat who founded Tisza two years ago after breaking with Fidesz.
Hungarian voters have ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power.
The Associated Press
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“We did it,” Mr. Magyar told thousands of cheering supporters from a stage on the banks of the Danube across from the parliament buildings. “Hungarians won this election, not by a little, but by a lot. Together, we’ve thrown out Orban’s regime, together we’ve taken back our country.”
Mr. Magyar waged a high-energy campaign that took aim at Hungary’s rampant corruption, the sluggish economy and ailing public services.
As the results poured in, crowds of Tisza supporters flooded on to the streets of Budapest in celebration. In one central square, several hundred people watching the results on a giant television started singing and chanting “the Tisza is overflowing,” a reference to the party’s name, which takes after a tributary of the Danube.
“We are so happy,” said Sara Toth. “It’s really difficult to believe that it’s come to an end. I’m 30 years old and I’ve grown up with this regime. I thought my future was gone, but we have hope that it will be better yet for us.”
Mark Horvath, 30, was almost speechless as he watched constituency after constituency fall to Tisza. “I’m just living this moment,” he said after hugging his friends. “This is amazing for me and for our generation.”
Supporters of the pro-European conservative TISZA party celebrate in Budapest after the general election in Hungary, on April 12.FERENC ISZA/AFP/Getty Images
In sign of growing frustration with Mr. Orban, voter turnout hit nearly 80 per cent, a record high and up from 69 per cent in the last election in 2022. Tisza is expected to win 54 per cent of the popular vote, compared with 38 per cent for Fidesz.
Mr. Orban, 62, has ruled Hungary almost unchecked since 2010, implementing a social conservative agenda and drawing the country ever closer to Russia. He’s transformed almost every government institution into instruments of Fidesz and become a guiding light for populist movements across Europe.
His sound defeat will be felt by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who have both been vocal supporters of Mr. Orban. Last week U.S. Vice-President JD Vance spent three days in Budapest campaigning for Fidesz.
“The responsibility for and the opportunity to govern were not given to us,” Mr. Orban told dejected supporters Sunday night. “We never give up, this is one thing people know about us, we never give up. The days ahead of us are for us to heal our wounds.”
Hungary’s complicated voting system – there are 106 directly elected MPs and another 93 seats determined by the proportion of votes each party receives – means the final seat totals could change marginally. But Mr. Magyar is expected to have more than a two-thirds majority in parliament, a key threshold which will allow his government to enact sweeping reforms and remove Mr. Orban’s appointees from key government posts.
“It’s a very massive and increasingly proud and open rejection of the government,” said Peter Kreko, head of Political Capital, an independent Budapest consultancy. Tisza’s win “could even mean that corruption cases of the last years of the government can be investigated by the prosecutor’s office, which could lead to the end of the political career of Viktor Orban.”
Peter Magyar waves the Hungarian flag following the announcement of the partial results of the parliamentary election, in Budapest, Hungary, on April 12.Denes Erdos/The Associated Press
Brussels will be breathing a sigh of relief at Sunday’s result. Mr. Orban had become a thorn in the side of the European Union for his constant blocking of initiatives including support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. The EU has taken the extraordinary step of freezing nearly €20-billion ($33-billion) in funding because of Mr. Orban’s moves to undermine the country’s democratic institutions.
Mr. Magyar signalled loudly on Sunday that Hungary’s place “is in Europe” and he planned to visit Warsaw, Vienna and Brussels to demonstrate the country’s ties to the EU and NATO.
“Hungary has chosen Europe,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Europe has always chosen Hungary. Together, we are stronger. A country reclaims its European path. The Union grows stronger.”
Several European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also were quick to offer their congratulations.
Mr. Orban framed the election campaign as a battle against Brussels and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, blaming both for almost every problem facing the country. Up until Sunday, Fidesz was telling voters; “Do not allow a Ukrainian-friendly government to be formed in Hungary.”
Sunday’s results show that voters largely tuned out that message and focused more on pocketbook issues.
Hungary’s economy has stagnated over the past three years while prices for food, housing and other goods have soared. The national debt is running at 75 per cent of the gross domestic product, the highest in Eastern Europe.
Mr. Magyar has promised to tackle corruption and boost spending on health care, education and infrastructure. He has also vowed to limit prime ministers to two terms in office.
But he faces huge challenges. Even with a massive majority he could still face push-back from Fidesz appointees. The sorry state of the country’s public finances will also restrain him, said Mateusz Urban, a senior economist at London’s Oxford Economics who specializes in Hungary.
Mr. Magyar will not likely fundamentally break with many of Mr. Orban’s policies, Mr. Urban added. The Tisza leader had been relatively silent throughout the campaign on social issues such as LGBTQ rights and media freedom. Although on Sunday he said Hungarians should not be discriminated against for “what they believe or who they love.”
“There’s not going to be a complete about-face and suddenly Hungary will become the most pro-EU country,” Mr. Urban said. But Mr. Magyar will be far more open to Brussels in order to unlock the funds frozen by the EU. Mr. Magyar “really needs that EU money,” Mr. Urban said.
Marc Loustau, a Hungary-based fellow at the Central European University, said Mr. Magyar “promised Hungarians Orbanism without Orban.”
Viktor Orban salutes to supporters at the Balna centre in Budapest during a general election in Hungary, on April 12.ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images
“He’s certainly more acceptable to the EU, primarily because what he’s promised; an end to favouritism and corruption and an end to Russian influence in the country,” Mr. Loustau said. “He’s going to be just as stout and just as determined and perhaps even aggressively confrontational with EU leaders, but the big difference is that he’s not going to be a puppet for Vladimir Putin.”
Some Fidesz supporters were struggling to come to terms with Mr. Orban’s defeat.
Fidesz was “providing a lot of benefits and incentives to the young people, to the old Hungarians, which I think many times is not being recognized or is forgotten,” said Bea Panko, who lives in Budapest and works in the oil sector. Mr. Magyar “is saying big words, but without any content, without any meaning.”
She believes Fidesz ran into trouble during the campaign because of the economy and the war in Ukraine. When asked about Hungary’s future without Mr. Orban in charge, she scowled and said: “God will need to teach us something and we need to learn the lesson. This is life. You cannot be all the time up.”