By: Noah Gloege

World Editor

The Hungarian government had their parliamentary election on Apr. 12 to select all 199 members of the National Assembly. It was the tenth parliamentary election and the highest-turnout election since their transition to democracy in 1990. The opposition, the Tisza Party, run by former Fidesz Member and European Parliament member (MEP) Péter Magyar, won the election in a landslide, defeating the Fidesz–Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and ending the 16-year Orbán era. Magyar won a two-thirds supermajority, the legislative threshold for amending the Constitution of Hungary.

Orbán was the longest-serving prime minister in modern Hungarian history as the leader of the Christian nationalist and far-right party Fidesz, known for its authoritarianism and increasingly identified as illiberal. Fidesz is in alliance with the KDNP and is seeking a fifth consecutive term. Magyar is the leader of Tisza, a conservative, center-right party that ran on a pro-European, anti-corruption, centrist, and populist platform. The only other party to cross the electoral threshold was the ultranationalist and far-right Our Homeland Movement, which is run by László Toroczkai. Most of the other parties pulled out of the campaign to prevent Fidesz from taking advantage of vote-splitting.

In the lead-up to the election, reporters described it as the most important in the European Union (EU) in 2026 and as a choice as to whether Hungary would continue to drift towards authoritarianism and Russia or change course towards democracy and the EU. Before the elections, both major parties accused each other of fraud. 

In the days leading up to the election, U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited the capital, Budapest, to voice his support for the prime minister Orbán. On top of that, President Donald Trump sent a video endorsing the former prime minister. The Trump administration wanted a “like-minded” and nationalist ally in Europe. 

Independent polling showed that Tisza had a clear lead, while pro-government pollsters projected a Fidesz win. Orbán conceded defeat on election night and congratulated Magyar, as did various international leaders. It has also been viewed as a loss for Russia under Vladimir Putin, European and global far-right movements, and the Trump administration.

Magyar has also voiced his displeasure towards the Hungarian president, Tamas Sulyok, and hopes to remove him from office. The presidency in Hungary is the most sacred and ceremonial office, so removing him is a signal that Magyar hopes to destroy Orbán’s old order. 

According to Hungarian constitutional practice, the President is required to nominate the person most likely to command a majority in the National Assembly to form the incoming government. President Sulyok met with all three parliamentary party leaders: Magyar, Orbán, and Toroczkai, on Apr. 15, three days after the election, and announced he would propose Magyar as Prime Minister when the legislature meets.

(Sources: CNN, NY Times, Reuters, Politico)