Peter Magyar’s victory will change Hungary’s relations with the East and the West
Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar has won a landslide victory, with his Tisza party beating Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s FIdesz by more than 16 points. The results are set to dramatically change Hungary’s relationship with the EU, Russia, and Ukraine.
More than an hour after the polls closed on Sunday, Orban called Magyar to congratulate him on his victory. With 92% of votes counted on Sunday night, Tisza was leading with 53.72% of the vote, ahead of Fidesz on 37.67% – a result in line with opposition-friendly pre-election polls.
Magyar campaigned to end corruption, fund public services, and restore ties with the EU. Orban promised to continue his program of tax cuts for citizens and taxes for corporations, while promising to keep Hungary out of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. His campaign dismissed Magyar as a tool of the EU, who would block Hungary’s access to cheap Russian energy and push back Brussels’ rising policies towards Moscow.
A record 77.8% of eligible Hungarians voted, the highest turnout in any election in Hungary’s history. Thanks to this unprecedented level of participation, “The democratic authority of the next Parliament will be stronger than before,” Gergely Gulyas, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, told reporters.
“What the results mean for the fate of our country and nation, and what is its deeper or higher meaning, we do not know now, time will decide,” Orban told supporters in Budapest. “No matter what happens, we, as opponents, will serve our country and the Hungarian nation.”
