Article by Viory
Thousands of people gathered in Budapest on Sunday night to celebrate after opposition leader Peter Magyar declared victory in Hungary’s parliamentary election, bringing an end to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule.
Footage shows crowds waving Hungarian flags, sounding car horns and chanting slogans associated with Magyar’s Tisza movement as they celebrated the result.
Magyar campaigned on pledges to revive the economy, tackle corruption and rebuild relations with the European Union.
Orban, who ran on a platform focused on sovereignty and energy security, had pledged to keep Hungary out of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and prioritise national interests over those of Kyiv and Brussels.
After early results showed Magyar in the lead, Orban conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent.
With 98.89 per cent of votes counted, Tisza secured 53.21 per cent, compared with 38 per cent for Fidesz, according to preliminary results.
Hungary’s National Assembly has 199 seats, with 106 elected in single-member districts and 93 through party lists. A minimum of 100 seats is required to form a government, while 133 seats would secure a two-thirds majority.
The campaign was dominated by allegations of election meddling. Orban’s government accused the EU and Ukraine of repeated interference in an attempt to install a more pro-Brussels and pro-Kiev administration, following rows over energy and funding.
Most notably, Hungary and Slovakia accused Ukraine of halting supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline from Russia for political reasons – while Kiev claimed it was blocked due to ‘Russian strikes’ – and Orban subsequently blocked the latest 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine from the bloc.
Budapest also claimed Kiev tried to funnel millions in cash and gold bars to Tisza after shipments were seized from Ukrainian couriers, which Magyar called a ‘smear campaign’. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky was even accused of threatening Orban’s life, after he suggested he would give the PM’s ‘address’ to his armed forces.
Last week, on a trip to Hungary, US Vice President JD Vance called Zelensky’s death threat ‘completely scandalous’ as well as ‘preposterous and unacceptable’ – and said EU meddling in the election was “one of the worst examples of foreign interference I’ve ever seen”. The European Commission suggested it would raise its comments with the US through ‘diplomatic channels’.
Article by Viory
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