Hungarians
vote in hard-fought election that could oust Viktor Orbán after 16 years
Rightwing
leader trails in polls to Péter Magyar, despite support from JD Vance on recent
visit
Ashifa
Kassam and Flora Garamvolgyi in Budapest
Sun 12
Apr 2026 07.00 BST
Hungarians
are heading to the ballot boxes to vote in a hard-fought parliamentary election
that could oust Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power and potentially reshape
the central European country’s relations with the EU, Moscow and Washington.
In the
campaign, Orbán – the EU’s longest-serving leader – has trailed in the polls as
he faces an unprecedented challenge from Péter Magyar, a former elite member of
Orbán’s Fidesz party.
The
challenge to Orbán’s power has sent rightwing leaders from across the globe
scrambling to rally behind him. This week, JD Vance turned up in Budapest for a
two-day visit, the US vice-president telling reporters that his aim was to
“help” Orbán win.
The US
president, Donald Trump, has also repeatedly endorsed Orbán, most recently on
Friday, when he vowed on social media that he would bring US “economic might”
to the country if Orbán is re-elected. Months earlier, leaders including
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu also made it clear that
they were backing Orbán.
The
result is an election that has played out on both the global and domestic
stage, as Orbán argued that the country’s biggest threat is the war in Ukraine
and he alone is capable of keeping the peace, while Magyar focused on domestic
issues, with pledges to crack down on corruption, repair the strained
relationship with the EU and funnel funds to the country’s crumbling public
services.
After
Magyar and his centre-right Tisza party crisscrossed the country, holding as
many as six rallies a day, most polls have put his party in the lead. Analysts
have expressed caution, however, as undecided voters and Hungarians abroad
could still sway the result, as could alleged vote-buying.
For many
in Hungary, Sunday’s vote will also be a test of how deeply Orbán’s political
system is embedded, after the rightwing populist leader spent more than a
decade working to transform Hungary into a “petri dish for illiberalism”:
rewriting election laws to his party’s benefit, manoeuvring to put loyalists in
control of an estimated 80% of the country’s media and clamping down on
dissenting voices.
The
result will be closely watched by the Maga movement and the global far right,
many of whom have long cited Orbán as an inspiration and sought to follow his
playbook.
Questions
have also swirled over Orbán’s government and its relationship to Moscow amid
allegations of Russian interference in the ballot, as well as audio that
appeared to suggest a minister had shared confidential EU information with the
Russian government.
Orbán’s
government has cited the leaks – including a transcript in which Orbán
reportedly told the Russian pesident, Vladimir Putin, “I am at your service” –
as evidence of foreign interference.
At a
Friday night rally for Orbán in Székesfehérvár, a city of about 100,000 people
in central Hungary, hundreds of people turned up, eagerly waving flags and
cheering as cameras panned over the city where the first kings of Hungary were
crowned and buried. “I’m so happy to be here,” gushed Cecília, 78. “He’s the
best leader in the world.”
Sunday
was set to be the fifth time since 2010 that she had voted for Orbán “Viktor
Orbán will win, of course, with a supermajority,” she said.
Others
were more circumspect. “When it comes to polls, it depends on who does them,
but the situation does seem tense. I’m worried for him,” said Sándor, 69. “He
seems tired.”
Scattered
among the crowd were also a handful of Magyar supporters. “I was curious to
hear the prime minister speak,” said Richárd, 27.
What he
had heard, he said, hinted at a fundamental difference between the two leading
parties. “For 16 years, Fidesz has been campaigning on hatred and fear,” he
said. “While Tisza has been trying to express hope at all of their events.”
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