By Justyna Pawlak and Gergely Szakacs
BUDAPEST, April 12 (Reuters) – Hungarians vote https://www.reuters.com/world/hungary/elections/ on Sunday in an election that could end Prime Minister Viktor’s 16 years in power Orban, shook Russia and sent shock waves through right-wing groups across the West, including US President Donald Trump’s White House.
Orban nL8N3ZL0R8, a Eurosceptic nationalist, has created a model of “illiberal democracy” that is considered the blueprint of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and its admirers in Europe.
But many Hungarians are growing increasingly tired of Orban, 62, after three years of economic stagnation and soaring costs of living as well as reports of oligarchs close to the government amassing more wealth.
Opinion polls over the past two weeks show Orban’s Fidesz party trailing Peter Magyar nL8N3Z00J1’s emerging center-right opposition party Tisza by 7-9 percentage points, with Tisza at around 38-41%.
Voting in the 199-seat parliamentary election began at 6 a.m. local time (04:00 GMT) and will end at 7 p.m.
The vote is being closely watched in Brussels https://www.reuters.com/world/eu-hopes-hungarian-election-will-bring-end-orbans-blockades-2026-03-27/, with many EU colleagues criticizing Orban, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a close ally of Trump, over what they say is the erosion of Hungary’s democracy, media freedom and minority rights.
For Hungary’s eastern neighbor Ukraine, Orban’s defeat could mean the cancellation of a 90 billion euro ($105 billion) European Union loan crucial to Kyiv’s war effort. It would also deprive Russia of its closest ally in the EU.
Orban sees the election as a choice between “war and peace”. During the election campaign, the government blanketed the country with signs warning that leader Tisza Magyar would draw Hungary into Russia’s war with Ukraine, something he strongly denied.
“I am looking forward to Sunday’s election with the best of hope,” Orban told supporters in his birthplace of Szekesfehervar.
“If we know ourselves well, if we know our country well and if we know our people well, then I must say that Hungarians will vote for safety on Sunday,” he added.
PUBLIC NEVER
Orban has won public endorsement from the Trump administration – culminating in Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to Budapest last week – as well as from the Kremlin and far-right leaders in Europe.
But his campaign was shaken by media reports alleging that his government had colluded with Moscow. Orban, who denies any wrongdoing, said his goal is to protect Hungary’s national identity and traditional Christian values within the EU as well as the country’s security in a dangerous world.
Meanwhile, Orban loyalist Magyar, 45, has expressed dismay at alleged state corruption and falling living standards, with young voters https://www.reuters.com/world/younger-hungarian-voters-spurn-orban-some-say-they-will-leave-if-he-is-re-2026-04-06// especially eager for change.
“I’m very excited but also very scared,” said Kriszta Tokes, a 24-year-old who sells postcards and jewelry in Budapest. “I know that my future depends on this,” she said, adding that she plans to leave Hungary if Orban wins.
While Orban’s party has done good things “on paper,” said Tokes, referring to the voluminous financial documents he has provided to shore up support, she believes young people are struggling more than the government realizes.
To address a prevalence of just 8% among those under 30, Orban scrapped income tax for the youngest workers and introduced a subsidized mortgage scheme to help first-time buyers get a leg up on home prices amid the sharpest rise in house prices in the EU under his rule.
But Magyar’s suggestion for change appears to have resonated more.
In a last-ditch effort in the eastern town of Miskolc on Friday, Magyar said: “This will be a referendum… on the position of our country and the future of our country.”
Analysts warn that the outcome of the vote remains uncertain, citing the number of undecided voters, the redrawing of the electoral map in favor of Fidesz and the high proportion of ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries, who largely support the ruling party.
They say anything from a Tisza majority – potentially changing the constitution – to a Fidesz majority is possible.
If Tisza wins, undoing the legal and institutional changes Orban has made could be a difficult task for a new government if it has a majority in parliament.
($1 = 0.8533 euros)
(Additional reporting by Krisztina Than, Anita Komuves, Lili Bayer, Thomas Holdstock, Judith Langowski, writing by Justyna Pawlak, editing by Alexander Smith and Gareth Jones)