Orban faces tight race in pivotal vote

Voters in Hungary have been turning out in record numbers on Sunday morning.

By midday local time (1000 GMT), more than half of the country’s 7.5 million eligible voters had cast their ballots, according to Hungarian election authorities.

Election data said turnout had reached 54.14%, which translates to more than 4 million voters.

The last election, in 2022, saw just over 40% turnout at noon.

While it’s still early in the day, the first numbers indicate that today’s election might be headed for a record turnout.

By 11:00, just shy of 38% of voters had cast their ballots, including Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his challenger, Peter Magyar. This is significantly more than the previous record set in 2002 – the last time Fidesz lost.

The high turnout reflects the election’s high stakes for voters. That is especially true for those hoping for change after 16 years under Orban, who are feeling tense after months of unrelenting campaigning.

David, a 35-year-old software developer and musician living in Budapest, told DW: “I’m going to cry either way. Tears of joy if things change, or tears of sorrow if this system remains.”

Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party has also tried to mobilize its voters, with the prime minister holding a campaign-closing rally in Budapest on Saturday — traditionally an opposition stronghold.

People at the event expressed hope Orban would win, and did not want to read too much into polls indicating a solid opposition lead for months. “The silent majority will come out and cast their vote for Fidesz,” one attendee told DW.

In the runup to the April 12 general election, political posters have been plastered everywhere in Hungary — a busy time for activist Peter Heindl, who has for years been “correcting” government posters in an act of political resistance.

Leading European populists are throwing their weight behind Viktor Orban’s reelection campaign. But the Hungarian prime minister lags behind the opposition due to talk of corruption, scandal and his Russian ties.

Learn more about whether Orban’s support from far-right Europeans will keep him in power in this report.

Viktor Orban is a football fanatic but has long used the sport as a political tool, both in Hungary and abroad. With polls predicting an election defeat, he could also lose his chance of hosting the Champions League final.

Learn more in this report by DW’s Matt Pearson.

Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar said on Sunday that voters in Hungary faced “a choice between East or West, propaganda or honest public discourse, corruption or clean public life.”

After casting his own vote, Magyar cut a confident figure, claiming the only question in Sunday’s election was not whether or not his Tisza Party would win, but whether it would win a simple or two-thirds majority in parliament.

“I urge all Hungarian citizens to exercise their right to vote,” he said, urging people to report any irregularities at voting booths because “election fraud ⁠is ​a very serious crime.”

Having campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket domestically, Magyar’s foreign policy could be slightly more favorable towards the European Union — if not entirely supportive.

Magyar told reporters that Hungary needed to unblock frozen EU funds and “strengthen Hungary’s position with the EU and NATO,” but also said he was keen to strengthen Budapest’s “Visegrad Four” cooperation with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

Incumbent Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban cast his vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election, telling reporters: “I am here to win.”

Orban claimed Europe is “heading towards a major crisis” to which the continent needed to respond with “strong national unity.”

Amid concerns of election fraud in a country whose democratic institutions have been weakened during his 16-year tenure, Orban insisted: “The decision of the people must be respected.”

Get out and vote for Viktor Orban, US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform in all caps ahead of the national elections in Hungary.

This Sunday, Hungarians will decide Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s fate at the ballot box.

The sitting prime minister has blocked as much European aid to Ukraine as he could, is openly critical of the European Union and has ingratiated himself with Trump. He has also presented himself as MAGA’s man in Europe. 

The outcome of the Hungarian election will show whether the camaraderie between Orban and Trump worked at the hustings.

Read more on whether Trump’s endorsement could boost Orban’s numbers.

On April 12, Hungary is electing a new parliament, and voters will decide on the country’s future path: liberal democracy or an authoritarian model inspired by Russia.

Incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orban has signaled his intention to end Western support for Ukraine and to distance Hungary from the European Union.

Meanwhile, Peter Magyar, leader of the country’s largest opposition party, Tisza, has pledged to tackle corruption and steer Hungary back toward a European path.

Fanny Facsar, senior international correspondent for DW, travels across Hungary in the weeks leading up to the election, capturing the mood of a nation at a political crossroads.

Polls have opened at voting stations around Hungary.

Voting is scheduled to finish at 7 p.m. local time (0500 GMT/UTC).

Czech and Slovak leaders expressed support for Viktor Orban on the eve of Hungary’s parliamentary election.

“I have never met such a warrior for sovereignty and national interests of ​one’s country as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban,” said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Under ​Fico, who returned to power for a fourth time in ​2023, Slovakia ‌has been a key ally for its neighbor, Hungary. Both countries keep warm relations with Moscow.

Czech ​populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis also voiced his support.

In a post on X, Babis wrote: “He (Orban) has always fought for a stronger Europe, one built on peace, sovereign nations, sovereign member states, competitiveness.”

“In ⁠turbulent ​times, choosing stability and proven leadership matters more than ​ever,” he added. 

Since Babis staged a comeback last year after a stint in opposition, the Czech ​Republic has reduced its support for Ukraine. Following Hungary and Slovakia, his country also refused to join the EU’s 90 billion euro ($105.47 billion) loan for Kyiv.

Most independent polling and research outfits are projecting a clear victory for opposition leader Peter Magyar and his party, Tisza. One poll even projected a two-thirds majority.

But such polling is to be viewed with caution, as it tends to underrepresent voters from some parts of the country.

Still they do document one thing: a clear majority of voters want to see the Orban government end and they are pinning their hopes on a fresh start for Hungary.

Read more on Hungary’s high-stakes election.

For the first time in years, Hungary’s Viktor Orban has a serious challenger for the post of prime minister.

Recent polls have shown Peter Magyar ahead. But would he really represent a full break from Orban? 

Once dominant, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban is trailing in opinion polls. 

The vote pits his nationalist agenda and ties to Russia against an opposition promising closer EU relations.

Zsuzsanna Vegh, a researcher focused on Hungarian politics and foreign policy, explains what’s at stake for Hungary’s democracy and its future in Europe. 

After 16 years of Orban’s rule in Hungary, which the European Parliament said has become a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy,” Peter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party have promised a reset in his relations with the EU and a break from close ties with Russia.

On the eve of Sunday’s parliamentary election, he told the crowd: “Many millions of Hungarians will vote tomorrow for a European, functional, humane, free and independent Hungary.”

However, on migration and Ukraine, Magyar appears likely to retain parts of Hungary’s current approach, while avoiding the confrontation with the EU that has characterized Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government.

The 45-year-old rose was once an insider within Orban’s Fidesz party. 

He rose to prominence two years ago after his then-wife, Judit Varga, Orban’s former justice minister, resigned from all political roles following public outrage over her decision to pardon a man convicted in a sexual abuse case.

Magyar soon broke with the governing Fidesz party, accusing it of corruption and propaganda, and said he had become disillusioned with its leadership.

Just months after emerging from relative obscurity in an interview on a pro-opposition YouTube channel called Partizan, his newly formed party won around 30% of the vote in the June 2024 European Parliament elections, finishing second to Fidesz.