Hungary’s opposition Tisza party is projected to win 138 seats in the 199-member parliament, a two-thirds majority, according to preliminary results with over 72% of the vote counted, the National Electoral Office said on Sunday.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party would win 54 seats based on the current count.
Shortly after polls closed on Sunday, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Hungarian government office, told journalists he believed the ruling Fidesz party would win. He thanked voters for their participation and said the high turnout could give the governing party an extremely strong mandate. He added that, in his view, Fidesz could win 100 seats, enough for a constitutional majority.
However, the leader of the opposition Tisza party, Peter Magyar, thanked Hungarians in a Facebook post after less than half of the votes had been counted and said Prime Minister Viktor Orban had already congratulated him on victory by telephone.
Orban confirmed the call. He said the election results were clear and painful for his party but added he would never give up. He thanked voters and told supporters their task was clear: “We do not have the burden of governing the country on our shoulders, so we have to rebuild our communities.”
Europe Reacts to Magyar Victory
Magyar later said French President Emmanuel Macron had also congratulated him.
“France welcomes this victory, which reflects the participation of the Hungarian people in the democratic process and testifies to the Hungarian nation's attachment to the values of the European Union and to Hungary's role in Europe,” Macron said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, alongside his congratulations, said he looked forward to working together to build a strong, secure and united Europe.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X: “Europe’s heart is beating stronger in Hungary tonight.” She added: “Hungary has chosen Europe. A country reclaims its European path. The Union grows stronger.”
Slovak President Peter Pellegrini also congratulated the opposition leader in a statement. He said Hungarians had decided the composition of their parliament in democratic elections. “I believe that relations between Slovakia and Hungary will maintain the high level they have enjoyed in recent years and will continue to be based on mutual respect, cooperation, joint membership of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, good neighbourliness and friendship.”
Polls closed at 19:00 in Hungary. Turnout was extremely high, reaching 77.80% half an hour before polls closed, representing almost six million voters. That is the highest turnout since the regime change in 1989.
(reuters, sak)