\n<\/p>\n
BUDAPEST, Hungary — <\/span>Hungarian voters on Sunday ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a> after 16 years in power, rejecting the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement that he embodied in favor of a pro-European challenger in a bombshell election<\/a> result with global repercussions.<\/p>\n It was a stunning blow for Orb\u00e1n \u2014 a close ally of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin \u2014 who quickly conceded defeat after what he called a \u2033painful\u2033 election result<\/a>. U.S. Vice President JD Vance had made a visit to Hungary<\/a> just days earlier, meant to help push Orb\u00e1n over the finish line.<\/p>\n Election victor P\u00e9ter Magyar, a former Orb\u00e1n 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 \u2014 ties that frayed under Orb\u00e1n. European leaders quickly congratulated Magyar.<\/p>\n His victory was expected to transform political dynamics within the EU, where Orb\u00e1n had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions, prompting concerns he sought to break it up from the inside. <\/p>\n It will also reverberate among far-right movements around the world, which have viewed Orb\u00e1n as a beacon for how nationalist populism can be used to wage culture wars and leverage state power to undermine opponents. <\/p>\n It’s not yet clear whether Magyar\u2019s Tisza party will have the two-thirds majority in parliament, which would give it the numbers needed for major changes in legislation. With 93% of the vote counted, it had more than 53% support to 37% for Orb\u00e1n\u2019s governing Fidesz party and looked set to win 94 of Hungary’s 106 voting districts. <\/p>\n \u201cI congratulated the victorious party,\u2033 Orban told followers. \u201cWe are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition.\u2033 <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n \u201cTonight, truth prevailed over lies. Today, we won because Hungarians didn\u2019t ask what their homeland could do for them \u2014 they asked what they could do for their homeland. You found the answer. And you followed through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n On the streets of Budapest, drivers blared car horns and cranked up anti-government songs while people marching in the streets chanted and screamed.<\/p>\n Many revelers chanted \u201cRuszkik haza!\u201d or \u201cRussians go home!\u201d \u2014 a phrase used widely during Hungary\u2019s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, and which had gained increasing currency amid Orb\u00e1n\u2019s drift toward Moscow. <\/p>\n Turnout in the election was nearly 80%, according to the National Election Office, a record number in any vote in Hungary\u2019s post-Communist history.<\/p>\n Orb\u00e1n, the EU\u2019s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, traveled a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired today<\/a> by the global far-right.<\/p>\n The EU will be waiting to see how Magyar changes Hungary’s approach to Ukraine. Orb\u00e1n repeatedly frustrated EU efforts to support the neighboring country in its war against Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion, while cultivating close ties to Putin and refusing to end Hungary\u2019s dependence on Russian energy imports.<\/p>\n Recent revelations have shown a top member of Orb\u00e1n’s government frequently shared the contents of EU discussions with Moscow, raising accusations that Hungary was acting on Russia\u2019s behalf within the bloc.<\/p>\n Members of Trump’s \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d movement are among those who see Orb\u00e1n’s government and his Fidesz political party as shining examples<\/a> of conservative, anti-globalist politics in action, while he is reviled by advocates of liberal democracy<\/a> and the rule of law.<\/p>\n In Budapest, Marcell Mehringer, 21, said he was voting \u201cprimarily 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 break down these boundaries borne of hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n During his 16 years as prime minister, Orb\u00e1n launched harsh crackdowns on minority rights<\/a> and media freedoms<\/a>, 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. <\/p>\n 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, Orb\u00e1n has repeatedly used his veto to block decisions that require unanimity.<\/p>\n Most recently, he blocked a 90-billion euro ($104 billion) EU loan<\/a> to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid.<\/p>\n Magyar, 45, rapidly rose to become Orb\u00e1n’s most serious challenger. <\/p>\n A former insider within Orb\u00e1n’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<\/a> in a campaign blitz that recently had him visiting up to six towns daily.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Associated Press<\/a> earlier this month, Magyar said the election will be a \u201creferendum\u201d on whether Hungary continues on its drift toward Russia under Orb\u00e1n, or can retake its place among the democratic societies of Europe.<\/p>\n Tisza is a member of the European People’s Party, the mainstream, center-right political family with leaders governing 12 of the EU’s 27 nations.<\/p>\n Magyar faced a tough fight. Orb\u00e1n’s control of Hungary’s public media, which he has transformed into a mouthpiece for his party, and vast swaths of the private media market give him an advantage in spreading his message. <\/p>\n The unilateral transformation of Hungary’s electoral system and gerrymandering of its 106 voting districts by Fidesz also will require Tisza to gain an estimated 5% more votes than Orb\u00e1n\u2019s party to achieve a simple majority. <\/p>\n Additionally, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries had the right to vote in Hungarian elections and traditionally have voted overwhelmingly for Orb\u00e1n’s party. <\/p>\n Russian secret services have plotted to interfere and tip the election in Orb\u00e1n’s favor, according to numerous media reports including by The Washington Post. The prime minister, however, accused neighboring Ukraine<\/a>, as well as Hungary’s allies in the EU, of seeking to interfere in the vote to install a \u201cpro-Ukraine\u201d government. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press journalists B\u00e9la Szandelszky, Marko Drobnjakovic, Ivan L. Nagy, Florent Bajrami in Budapest, Hungary, and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n