{"id":6523,"date":"2026-04-12T20:41:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=6523"},"modified":"2026-04-12T20:41:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:41:17","slug":"hungarian-prime-minister-viktor-orban-concedes-defeat-in-key-election-ending-16-years-in-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=6523","title":{"rendered":"Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n concedes defeat in key election, ending 16 years in power"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/span> is set to lose the national election, with opposition leader Peter Magyar set to win a large majority in parliament. It is a bombshell result in an election seen as one of Europe’s most consequential this year.<\/p>\n

Orb\u00e1n, the longest-serving leader in the European Union and a longtime ally of President Trump, conceded defeat Sunday night after what he called a “painful” election result, ending 16 years in power.<\/p>\n

“I congratulated the victorious party,\u2033 Orb\u00e1n told supporters in Budapest. “We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition as well.”<\/p>\n

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Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses supporters at the Balna centre in Budapest during a general election in Hungary, on April 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Attila KISBENEDEK \/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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In a Facebook post on Sunday, Magyar said that Orb\u00e1n conceded to him in a phone call. “Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n just congratulated me on the phone on our victory,” Magyar wrote.<\/p>\n

Early official results, with 37% of the voting in, show Magyar’s party holding an 11-point lead over Orb\u00e1n’s party. That proportion will change as more votes are counted.<\/p>\n

Addressing his supporters earlier Sunday evening, Magyar said that up to 6 million Hungarians had voted in Sunday’s election, in a country that has little more than 9 million people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"HUNGARY-POLITICS-VOTE<\/span>

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Peter Magyar, leader of the pro-European conservative TISZA party, makes a statement in Budapest during the general election in Hungary, on April 12, 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ferenc ISZA \/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Magyar said that despite receiving thousands of reports of election tampering, he was “cautiously optimistic” of victory.<\/p>\n

Independent watchdogs and European Union officials have accused Orb\u00e1n’s government of launching a sustained assault on the country’s democratic institutions and rule of law since. In the 16 years\u00a0since he took office<\/span>\u00a0in 2010, the country has descended to the rank of the most corrupt country in the European Union, according to the U.K.-based anti-corruption group Transparency International.<\/p>\n

At a polling station in Budapest on Sunday, CBS News spoke to a handful of voters, all of whom said they were voting for Magyar and his center-right Tiscza party.<\/p>\n

“Orban is very anti-EU and pro-Russia, and I think that aligning yourself with, in my opinion, a war criminal, is not good for the country of Hungary,” said a 21-year-old who only identified himself as Daniel.<\/p>\n

Casting his ballot in Budapest on Sunday, Marcell Mehringer, 21, told the Associated Press he was voting “primarily so that Hungary will finally be a so-called European country, and so that young people, and really everyone, will do their fundamental civic duty to unite this nation a bit and to break down these boundaries borne of hatred.”<\/p>\n

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\"Hungary<\/span>

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Peter Magyar, leader of the Tisza party, prepares to vote at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday, April 12, 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Akos Stiller \/ Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Orb\u00e1n has been one of Mr. Trump’s\u00a0closest global allies<\/span>\u00a0since the U.S. president was first elected in 2016. The relationship has deepened between the two men\u00a0over the past decade<\/span>. The partnership between the Trump administration and Orb\u00e1n was on full display when Vice President JD Vance publicly campaigned alongside the Hungarian leader in Budapest last week.<\/p>\n

After Orb\u00e1n’s concession, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a post on X: “Europe’s heart is beating stronger in Hungary tonight.”<\/p>\n

“Hungary has chosen Europe. Europe has always chosen Hungary. Together, we are stronger. A country reclaims its European path. The Union grows stronger,” she wrote\u00a0in another post.<\/p>\n

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Aidan Stretch<\/p>\n

contributed to this report.\n <\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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