Two polls have given the Hungarian opposition a major lead over Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party in Sunday elections and early results confirmed the polls.
Median polling agency reported that TISZA led by Peter Magyar who wants to repair broken ties with the European Union and NATO was well ahead of Orban who has been in power since 2010.
Magyar said that Orban had called him to congratulate him.
“Prime minister Viktor Orbán called to congratulate us for winning,” he said on Facebook.
The Center for Research 21 projected a 55% win for Magyar’s party with Orban’s
FIDESZ trailing on 38%. Another poll gave him 57.1% to Orban’s 37.1%.
With 37% of votes counted, Tisza was projected to win 132 seats out of 199 seats and Orban’s party 59.
The prediction reflects polling taken in the days running up to the election.
“Hungarians have made history again,” Magyar said in a speech after polls closed.
“The turnout shows that more than six million Hungarians voted (…) The vast majority of Hungarians felt how important these elections are,” said the Tisza leader, adding that “this is a celebration of democracy.
Half an hour before polls closed (at 7pm local) the election commission reported a voter turnout of 77.8%, much higher than the number who voted in the same interval in the last election four years ago.
The election is significant as it could mean the end of the 16-year premiership of Orbán, the nationalist leader of the hard-right party, FIDESZ.
Orbán has long been antagonistic towards the EU and has used his his veto power to challenge key decisions.
In March for example, he blocked a previously agreed €90 billion loan for Ukraine over a dispute involving the Druzhba pipeline.
Magyar, who founded the Tisza Party two years ago, has pledged to restore Hungary’s ties with Brussels and NATO.
Tisza led most opinion polls before the elections and Magyar is a conservative but not an isolationist.
Magyar was an Orban loyalist for many years and served as a foreign affairs official under his 2010 administration but resigned from the party in 2024.
He has pledged to crack down on corruption, unlock billions of euros of frozen EU funds and tax the wealthiest, while reforming Hungary’s crumbling healthcare.
Despite independent polls putting Magyar ahead of Orban, many did not say or were l undecided on who they will vote for.
In a sign of the high stakes, Orbán supporters are already preparing for a confrontation once the results come in after voting stations closed at 7 p.m. Both camps are exchanging accusations of electoral fraud, with experts warning the outcome could be challenged in court no matter who wins.
Hungary votes: Orbán and Magyar face off in historic vote as Orban fights for survival
