Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Vladimir Putin and backed by Donald Trump, has conceded defeat to opposition challenger Péter Magyar after early returns showed his party trailing badly.
Orbán congratulated Magyar as results came in.
With 53.45% of votes counted, projections showed Magyar’s Tisza party winning 136 seats in Hungary’s 199-member parliament. Orbán’s Fidesz party was projected to win 56 seats. If those numbers hold, the result would end 16 years of Orbán’s rule.
Turnout reached 77.8%, up from the previous election, with long lines reported at polling stations in Budapest.
“We are optimistic,” Magyar said as early results came in.
Orbán closed the campaign focused on the war in Ukraine and Hungary’s role in it, warning voters against deeper involvement.
“We don’t give our children, we don’t give our weapons and we don’t give our money,” he told supporters.
Magyar urged voters to push back against what he described as sustained pressure from the current government.
“Do not give in to pressure and blackmail,” he said.
The fallout is already visible outside Hungary. U.S. Vice President JD Vance traveled to Budapest to campaign for Orbán in the final days. Orbán has maintained close ties with Moscow and has been described by the pro-EU press as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally inside the European Union.
Orbán blocked a 90 billion euro aid package for Ukraine, a move that angered other European governments.
“This was the last straw that broke the camel’s back,” one EU diplomat said.
Officials across Europe have grown frustrated with Hungary’s use of its veto on Ukraine and sanctions policy.
At home, rising costs and corruption concerns weakened support for Orbán and opened space for Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who drew support from both opposition voters and disaffected conservatives.
Final results were not yet certified at the time of publication, but the margin and Orbán’s concession pointed in the same direction. After 16 years in power, Hungarian voters shut it down.
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