BUDAPEST — For opponents of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Sunday night was one long party that lasted into Monday. After 16 years of rule by Orban and his Fidesz party, jubilation reigned in the streets of Budapest as the reality of his election defeat set in.
“Today, truth triumphed over lie,” Peter Magyar — the center-right candidate who unseated Orban in a repudiation of the ultra-polarized politics that have swept much of the West — told a cheering crowd gathered beside the Danube River on Sunday night, as the illuminated facade of parliament glowed on the opposite bank. “Together we overthrew the Hungarian regime.”
Magyar joined supporters of his Tisza party in celebrating their seismic victory and the loss for the forces of MAGA-aligned right-wing populism in Europe, of which Orban was a central pillar. Following an impassioned speech in which Magyar pledged to bring Hungary back into the European Union and make it a country for all its people, Queen’s “We Are the Champions” blasted from the stage, followed by a remix of the score from “The Hunger Games” — the films based on young-adult novels about toppling a dictatorship. But he also sought to prepare the country for a challenging transition ahead.
In his victory speech, Magyar urged Orban “not to make any decisions that would tie the hands of the next government.” The transition may prove a challenge for the incoming Tisza-led administration.
Early Monday, the streets of the Hungarian capital were strewn with confetti, empty beer and wine bottles, and stomped-on posters that had sought to paint Magyar as a two-faced puppet of Brussels and Kyiv — a narrative Hungarians rejected at the ballot box.
One Magyar supporter posed with an elaborate sign depicting a matryoshka nesting doll in the likeness of Orban that opened to reveal the visage of Russian leader Vladimir Putin — a nod to the deep ties Hungary cultivated with Russia under Orban, and to a damaging transcript of a call between Orban and the Russian president that surfaced in the run-up to the vote.
The supermajority Magyar is on track to secure will give him a vast mandate to undo Orban-era laws, and he has vowed to introduce an eight-year cap on how long a prime minister can serve, following Orban’s 16. But the new government, expected to be formed by mid-May, will face many potential obstacles: a president who is an Orban ally, along with an Orban-sympathetic Supreme Court, prosecutor’s office and constitutional court.
Hungary is also confronting mounting economic problems.
“The state’s treasury is literally empty,” said political analyst Botond Feledy, adding that Fidesz may be hoping Tisza “will fail early in its government,” setting the stage for a comeback.
Feledy said the outgoing Fidesz government has several mechanisms up its sleeve by which it could complicate the transition, from attempting to contest election procedures to taking its time in allowing Magyar to form a new cabinet and assemble a new parliament.
Magyar also faces the task of replacing Fidesz loyalists across the country — a portfolio that would require thousands of positions to be filled, said András Rácz, a senior fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations Center for Security and Defense.
Some analysts were surprised by Orban’s immediate concession of defeat — although some said it was his most strategic option.
“It will be in the interest of Fidesz to give power to [the opposition] more quickly, rather than getting even less popular by trying to prevent them” from taking office, said Nora Schultz, an independent Hungarian political scientist. “It would make the most sense to get their ranks in order, figure out who’s going to be leading them and secure a strong opposition position as quick as possible, rather than act as a limp government, because it’s actually not good for them if they are planning for the long term.”
One of Magyar’s key pre-election promises was to unfreeze billions in funds blocked by the E.U. over concerns about democratic backsliding under Orban — money that would be vital for the battered Hungarian economy. But he would also have to find rapport with the Trump administration, which has so far remained silent on the defeat of its close political ally, for whom Vice President JD Vance stumped at the 11th hour.
Feledy argued that Magyar could offer Washington a more pragmatic approach and potentially recalibrate the close ties Orban built with U.S. rival China.
“All leaders can decide whether they support or campaign or endorse — I don’t have a problem with this,” Magyar said of the support that Trump and Vance extended to Orban. “But after the election it is a different story. Hungary is a NATO partner, and we have to do everything to have close relationship from the U.S. I will not call [Trump], but if he or anyone else are willing to call, I will answer.”
The Kremlin said on Monday that it expects to “continue our very pragmatic contacts with Hungary’s new leadership.” Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said at a news briefing that Moscow had no plans to congratulate Magyar personally but that “Russia is open to dialogue.”
Magyar interpreted these remarks as the Kremlin “dropping” Orban and added that his government would be open to “pragmatic cooperation” with Moscow. Tisza’s stance on Russia is less friendly than Orban’s, but Hungary is deeply tied to Russian energy.
The Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory, has not supplied Russian oil to Hungary since the end of January. Ukraine said the pipeline was damaged in a Russian attack and should be functional again in mid-April, while Orban accused Kyiv of an oil blockade.
Hungary is also locked in long-term gas contracts with Russian giant Gazprom, and any attempt to break or renegotiate them is likely to invite protracted litigation and steep penalties. Magyar has built much of his appeal on economic grievances, making a surge in household energy bills a political liability he can hardly afford.
In remarks on Monday, Magyar said that the Tisza government will do everything in its power to diversify energy sources and ensure energy security, but that Hungary should not detach itself from Russian sources completely.
“I’m glad the Kremlin said today they respect the outcome of the election, and I can confirm that I will strike a pragmatic relationship,” Magyar said.
“But we will revise all the energy contracts, we will terminate them if necessary,” he said. “If Putin calls me I will pick up the phone, but I will not call him. If we speak, I will ask him to stop the killing in Ukraine that has been going on for four years.”
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