Peter Magyar Sweeps Hungary Polls, Ending Trump Ally Viktor Orban’s 16-Year Rule

Nationalist Viktor Orban, who has ruled Hungary for 16 years, has conceded defeat to conservative Peter Magyar in parliamentary elections.

In a speech to his supporters, Magyar promised to bring Hungary back to the main fold of European politics, pledging a pro-EU and NATO course for the country after years of isolation and an awkward relationship under Orban.

With votes in almost 67 percent of precincts counted, Magyar's party was projected to have gained 137 seats, or more than two-thirds of all 199 parliamentary seats, according to official election results, as per AFP news agency.

Fidesz won 55 seats, while the extreme-right Mi Hazánk party won six.

The historic win prompted wild celebrations on the streets of Hungary’s capital Budapest, with tens of thousands taking to the streets to mark the occasion.

The vote on Sunday was being closely watched across Europe and the United States, with US President Donald Trump endorsing Orban, a self-described "thorn" in the EU's side and a defender of "illiberal democracy" who is also close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The super-majority would allow the new government to reverse some of the changes made by Orban and Fidesz, and try to unlock EU funds frozen in a longstanding dispute with the bloc, with a visit to Brussels expected as one of the first foreign trips of the new PM, reported The Guardian.

What did Viktor Orban say after conceding defeat in Hungary’s parliamentary elections?

"The election results, though not yet final, are clear and understandable; for us, they are painful but unambiguous," Orban, 62, told reporters. "We have not been entrusted with the responsibility and opportunity to govern," he said.

“I congratulated the victorious party,” the rightwing populist told supporters in Budapest.

Magyar, 45, a political newcomer and former government insider, posted on social media that Orban "just called to congratulate us on our victory".

"I'm really excited. I came to this event full of hope... I'm optimistic about the change," Orsolya Rozgonyi, a 28-year-old HR manager, told AFP amid Tisza supporters who gathered in Budapest in a festive atmosphere.

Magyar, who pledged to repair Hungary’s strained relationship with the EU, crack down on corruption and direct funds towards long-neglected public services, said Tisza voters had rewritten Hungarian history.

The atmosphere was more subdued among hundreds of Fidesz supporters who gathered near the press centre, cordoned off from the press, reported AFP.

“My fellow Hungarians, we have done it!,” he told the tens of thousands of jubilant supporters who had gathered along the banks of the Danube river to celebrate.

(With inputs from ANI)