Centre-right, pro-European Union opposition leader Péter Magyar beat populist, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Hungary’s high stakes general election on Sunday.
Final results have yet to be posted but Magyar’s victory was confirmed when Orbán conceded defeat in an address to members of his populist Fidesz party just under three hours after polling closed on Sunday evening.
With roughly 60% of the votes counted, local media reported that Magyar’s centre-right Tisza party was on course to win 136 seats in Hungary’s 199-member parliament compared with 56 seats for Fidesz.
The victory ends the 16-year rule of Orbán, whose time in office has been marked by accusations of authoritarianism, corruption and suppression of press freedom, while his pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine stance has put him and his right-wing Fidesz party at odds with the European Union (EU).
The change in leadership will mark a major political turning point for Hungary, which is a popular international shooting destination having welcomed productions such as The Entertainment System Is Down, Alpha Gang, Ponies and Dune: Part Three over the past 12 months.
It is seen as a victory for the EU and Ukraine and a blow for Russia and President Vladimir Putin as well President Donald Trump who had voiced his support for Orbán.
Vice President J.D. Vance and Hungarian PMViktor Orban at an election rally on April 7, 2026 in Budapest.
Getty Images
Magyar’s victory comes just five days after U.S. Vice-President JD Vance touched down in Hungary to endorse Orbán for another term in office.
Vance used his speech at an Orbán rally to heavily criticize the E.U., accusing the bloc of interfering in the polls, and suggest that incumbent’s authoritarian approach around higher education should be applied in the U.S.
Running under the banner of the Tisza party, Magyar is a former government insider and long-time Fidesz loyalist.
He quit the party in 2024 in protest at a government move to cover up a sexual abuse scandal in state-run children’s homes and then went public with his disquiet over rampant corruption he had witnessed during his time close to power.
Magyar has run his campaign on a promise to stamp out corruption and restore press freedom as well repair the country’s flagging economy and its relations with the EU.
His success in unseating Orbán comes amid flagging support for the longtime prime minister as the country’s 9.5 million-strong population grapples with 40% inflation and a morose economy, with the country’s reputation for corruption discouraging outside investment and homegrown entrepreneurship.
Across Orbán’s 16 years in power, he and his populist Fidesz party have systematically taken control of media outlets, tightened their grip on the country’s higher education institutions and weakened the judiciary.
Between 2010 and 2025, Hungary fell from 23 to 68 in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index fell, to become one of the lowest ranked countries in the EU.
Orbán’s attack on media freedom began within months of his first election in April 2010, with an overhaul of the media law and the appointment of Fidesz loyalists to the Media Authority.
In 2011, the authority fired more than 1,600 journalists and media workers at the public broadcaster MTVA, replacing them with people sympathetic to Fidesz. At the same time, pro-government businesspeople took shares in many of the non-state media entities, giving the party control of close to 80% of the sector.
One of Magyar’s first actions on stepping down from Fidesz in 2024, to take up the leadership of the then fledgeling Tisza party, was to lead a demonstration in front of the MTVA HQ in which he called for the dismantlement of Orbán’s “propaganda factory”.
In the film world, while the country’s international shooting sector has flourished, local filmmakers not in tune with Fidesz’s populist stance say they have found themselves shut out of the state funding system.
It remains to be seen if and how Magyar will overhaul the country’s media sector.
Poland was faced with a similar challenge in December 2023 when the right-wing Law and Justice PiS party was ousted after eight years in power.
Donald Tusk‘s incoming centre-right Civic Coalition moved swiftly to fire the heads of state broadcaster TVP, with news channel TVP Info going off air for 24-hours, amid accusations that it been transformed into a mouthpiece for the PiS during its rule.
Another pressing dossier on Magyar’s desk will the EU’s drive to step up sanctions on Russia, with Orbán blocking a recent package targeting the country’s energy revenues and shadow fleet. EU hopes are high that Magyar’s arrival in power will lead to a more united EU front on the Ukraine War.
Presenting itself as a champion of traditional family and Christian values, Fidesz also attacked the LGBTQ+ community.
Under its watch, same sex civil unions, the teaching of gender studies in universities and Pride events were banned, with authorities allowed to use facial recognition software to identify attendees of the latter.
Orbán and Fidesz also adopted a tough anti-immigration stance, recently refusing to sign-up for the European Union’s new migration solidarity mechanism.
While Magyar’s pro-Europe stance and promise to restore press freedom will be welcomed by the EU, political pundits say that his attitude LGBTQ+ rights is unclear and his approach to immigration may be tougher than that of Orbán.
