Hungarians turned out in record numbers to vote Prime Minister Viktor Orbán out of office Sunday, delivering the defeat of a key European ally of President Donald Trump and ending his consecutive 16 years in power.
Orbán, 62, conceded the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election to his former ally-turned-opponent Péter Magyar, 45, telling his supporters, “In any case, we will serve our homeland even in opposition,” the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. Magyar’s party, Tisza, which formed in 2020 and was virtually dormant until 2024, is projected to win about two-thirds of the Hungarian National Assembly’s seats, according to Reuters.
Close to eight in 10 eligible voters cast ballots, marking one of the highest turnouts of a recent Hungarian election, WSJ reported.
Orbán has served a combined 19 years as Hungary’s head of government, leading the Central European country for the majority of the time since it ended communist rule in 1989. He headed into the election with the distinction of being the longest-serving European leader presently in power.
Trump had endorsed Orbán’s bid to win a fifth consecutive term, writing in a Friday post to Truth Social, “We are excited to invest in the future Prosperity that will be generated by Orbán’s continued Leadership! [sic]”
Days before the election, Vice President JD Vance traveled to Hungary, where he spoke in support of its long-serving prime minister. While delivering his remarks, Vance called Trump and put the president on speakerphone to address the event’s attendees.
“Viktor, I’ll tell you. He’s a fantastic man, we’ve had a tremendous relationship and he does the job,” Trump told the crowd during Vance’s April 7 visit. “Remember this, he didn’t allow people to storm your country and invade your country like other people have.”
Both Orbán and Magyar are on the political right and share a hard-line anti-immigration stance.
Magyar arguably campaigned to the right of Orbán on the issue promising to cease the country’s guest worker program if elected. He notably made headlines in February when he accused Filipino guest workers in the country of capturing and eating ducks and goldfish from the Budapest Zoo — comments seemingly similar to remarks Trump made about Haitian migrants in Ohio in 2024.
The two men, however, differ on foreign policy, with Magyar being a supporter of the European Union (EU), while Orbán is widely regarded to have the friendliest relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin among all Western and Central European leaders. Although Orbán has frequently employed anti-EU rhetoric, Hungary has continued to be a member state of the bloc throughout his 16 consecutive years in office.
Magyar, a member of the European Parliament since 2024, was a longtime member of Orbán’s party, Fidesz, before leaving in 2024 to join Tisza. His ex-wife, Judit Varga, continues to be a Fidesz member, having served as the Justice Minister in Orbán’s government from 2019 to 2023. She endorsed Orbán in the election over her ex-husband.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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Republished with permission from Daily Caller News Foundation
