Viktor Orbán, the far-right nationalist prime minister of Hungary who has been in power for 16 years, lost in a landslide to center right Péter Magyar. Orbán gave an unusually gracious concession speech following the opposition party Tizsa’s win of 138 seats, over the ⅔ majority. Many Hungarians have felt dissatisfied with the state of the economy and increased corruption in the government. Magyar’s Tisza has consistently polled ahead by the double digits, most recently by +13 net-support.
Orbán turned the country into what he described as an “illiberal democracy”. According to CPI, Hungary is the 84th most corrupt country on Earth, far behind other European countries. Hungary’s corruption score declined more sharply during Orbán’s term than any other country in Europe.
Orbán has made himself a rare friend of Vladimir Putin, opposing sanctions on Russia following the Ukraine war. Putin has also extended favors to him, offering increasingly bizarre plans leading up to the election. The Washington Post reported that Russian operatives offered to fake an assasination attempt on Orbán late last month, although the plan failed to come to fruition. Russia has also involved itself in Hungarian election interference, conducting “information attacks” on Tizsa.
Orbán was also supported by Donald Trump and his administration. JD Vance recently visited Hungary to rally for Orbán, and Trump joined via call to voice his support. Trump, and other high-ranking members of the American government, have endorsed Orbán despite his crackdowns on democracy in Hungary.
However, Orbán could not survive the will of the people. This election had an unusually high turnout, almost 20% more than the last election. Orbán has previously won in landslides from voters who gave him a mandate to push Hungary out of economic turmoil. Instead, the country has become the poorest in the EU by household welfare, trailing countries like Bulgaria and Estonia.
Magyar, a former insider in Orbán’s Fidesz party, was able to tap into these grievances and create a successful political platform. He is still a conservative, but calls for moving beyond the “old left-right divide” into a Western country with Christian identity. He has promised to end “industrial scale” corruption, make the judiciary independent, and create strong checks and balances. He has promised to rebuild Hungary’s trust with the EU and NATO, although he frames this as a way to unlock the €18 billion in frozen EU funds.
His views on immigration are even more conservative than Orbán’s, and has said he will end the government’s guest worker program. He opposes immigration quotas that many EU countries have supported, and has said he will keep Orbán’s border fence.
Time will tell if Magyar is a successful leader, one who can increase Europe’s economic and relational standings. What is clear is that he is a welcome departure from Orbán’s draconian and undemocratic rule.