Orbán concedes defeat in Hungary as opposition heads for supermajority
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat after calling opposition leader Péter Magyar to congratulate him, Magyar said, as partial election results showed Magyar’s opposition TISZA party on course to win a parliamentary supermajority.
As of 9:30 p.m. local time on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET), Hungary’s National Election Office showed TISZA winning 136 of the country’s 199 parliamentary seats, with national processing at 60%. Orbán’s ruling Fidesz-KDNP alliance was on 56 seats, while the far-right Mi Hazánk party was on 7.
A two-thirds supermajority in Hungary’s parliament requires 133 seats, putting TISZA above that threshold and in position to amend the constitution without support from other parties.
“Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has just called to congratulate us on our victory,” Magyar said in a social media post as the results were still coming in.
PM Orbán has dominated Hungarian politics since returning to power in 2010 and has become one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders. He has repeatedly clashed with Western allies and other European governments over rule-of-law issues, aid to Ukraine and his close relationship with Putin.
His defeat would mark a major political blow for Putin in Europe at a time when Hungary has often broken with the broader European Union and NATO line on Russia. For Western allies, it would raise the prospect of Budapest moving closer to the bloc’s mainstream position on Ukraine and relations with Moscow.
U.S. President Trump had endorsed Orbán ahead of the election, with Vice President JD Vance traveling to Hungary days before the vote to publicly back his reelection bid.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
