Viktor Orbán Concedes Defeat in Hungary After 16 Years in Power

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded defeat on Sunday, ending 16 years in power after an election in which the opposition Tisza party led by Péter Magyar won a commanding lead. CBS News and NBC News reported the concession, which Orbán described as a “clear” and “painful” result and said his party, Fidesz, would serve Hungary as the opposition.

With about 77 percent of the vote counted, Tisza had more than 53 percent to Fidesz’s 38 percent, CBS News reported. NBC News, citing Reuters, said that with almost all ballots counted Tisza was projected to win 138 of the 199 seats in parliament, a two-thirds supermajority. Magyar said on Facebook that Orbán had congratulated him, according to both outlets. Magyar had said up to 6 million Hungarians voted in a country of just over 9 million, CBS News reported.

Orbán has governed since 2010 and won four straight elections, NBC News said. Magyar, who leads the center-right Tisza party, campaigned on living costs, corruption and public services, and called the vote a “referendum” on Hungary’s place in the world, NBC News reported. CBS News noted that Magyar said he had received thousands of reports of election tampering but remained “cautiously optimistic” of winning.

The result is a rebuke of a government that EU lawmakers and Western watchdogs had stopped considering a full democracy because of its growing control over institutions, the judiciary and the media, according to NBC News. CBS News said Transparency International ranks Hungary as the most corrupt EU country. Orbán’s campaign centered on Russia’s war in Ukraine, and he frequently attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NBC News reported.

The loss also touches American politics. Orbán has close ties to President Trump and to Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC News said, and Vice President JD Vance campaigned with him in Budapest the week before the vote, according to CBS News.

European leaders welcomed it. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Hungary “has chosen Europe,” CBS News reported. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz offered “heartfelt congratulations,” French President Emmanuel Macron praised the “democratic turnout,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it a win for “European values,” and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it a “historic moment” for European democracy, according to CBS News.

The reports did not say what Magyar plans to do first with a supermajority.