Peter Magyar’s decisive win will reshape Hungary’s relations with both East and West
Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar has pulled off a stunning victory, with his Tisza party beating Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s FIdesz by more than 16 points. The result is set to dramatically change Hungary’s relations with the EU, Russia, and Ukraine.
Just over an hour after polls closed on Sunday, Orban called Magyar to congratulate him on his win. With 92% of ballots counted on Sunday night, Tisza was leading with 53.72% of the vote, ahead of Fidesz with 37.67% – a result in line with opposition-friendly pre-election polls.
Magyar campaigned on ending corruption, funding public services, and restoring ties with the EU. Orban promised to continue his program of tax breaks for citizens and levies on corporations, all while pledging to keep Hungary out of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. His campaign cast Magyar as a tool of the EU, who would cut off Hungary’s access to cheap Russian energy and back Brussels’ escalatory policies toward Moscow.
A record 77.8% of eligible Hungarians voted, the highest turnout in any election in Hungarian history. Thanks to this unprecedented level of participation, “the democratic mandate of the next National Assembly will be stronger than ever before,” Gergely Gulyas, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, told reporters.
“What the result means for the fate of our country and the nation, and what its deeper or higher meaning is, we do not know now, time will decide,” Orban told supporters in Budapest. “No matter how it turns out, we, as opposition, will serve our country and the Hungarian nation.”
