Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Putin congratulates Orbán on victory

Created: 04/05/2022, 04:49 am

By: Lukas Rogalla, Katja Thorwarth, Tanja Banner

Viktor Orbán will remain at the helm of Hungary.

He will be able to govern with a two-thirds majority.

Opponents speak of an unfair choice.

• Viktor Orbán

  * occurs again in the

  Hungarian elections

  .

  Polls for the 2022 Hungarian election gave

  hope to opposition leader

  Péter Márki-Zay .

• In Hungary, the polling stations closed at 7 p.m. – in the end, incumbent Orbán clearly won.

• All developments regarding the

  parliamentary elections in Hungary

  can be found in the

  news ticker

  .

>>> Update news ticker <<<

+++ 12.30 p.m .:

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on winning the parliamentary elections.

Putin "showed confidence that the future development of bilateral and partnership relations, despite the difficult international situation, will correspond to the interests of the peoples of Russia and Hungary," the Kremlin said on Monday. 

The rulers Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hungary (archive photo).

© Kremlin/dpa

Election in Hungary: EU vice accuses Orban of abuse of power

+++ 12.00 p.m .:

After Viktor Orbán’s election victory in Hungary, members of the EU Parliament accused the Hungarian Prime Minister of abuse of power.

Orbán "has abused his power on an unprecedented scale," wrote European Parliament Vice-President Katarina Barley on Twitter.

This was the only way he could win against the opposition.

Barley and Green MEP Daniel Freund also accused the EU Commission of not taking any steps against Orbán's policies in recent years.

The Brussels authorities have not managed "for years" to "take action against an autocrat in their own ranks," wrote Freund on Twitter.

The "appeasement policy" of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen must "finally end", criticized the FDP MEP Moritz Körner.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Viktor Orbán triumphs – by relying on “proven fear mongering”.

+++ 10.45 a.m .:

The Slovenian daily Sme speaks of a “not fair” election in Hungary.

“Viktor Orban left nothing to chance.

He relied on proven fear mongering," it said.

Accordingly, Orbàn “on the day before the election” deterred voters by saying that Hungary was being drawn “into a foreign war” by the opposition.

"The elections in Hungary did not take place in a standard democracy that allows for balanced political competition," it says.

The right-wing populist Viktor Orbán is the winner of the Hungarian elections.

© Petr David Josek/dpa

The OSCE had already pointed out in advance the "concentration of the media under the control of the governing party Fidesz, the lack of transparency in the financing of election campaigns and the bending of election laws".

Accordingly, half of Hungary feels excluded.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Challenger Marki-Zay shocked by Orbán's victory

+++ 6.30 a.m .:

Challenger Peter Marki-Zay was shocked by the extent of the defeat in the Hungarian election.

The top candidate of the opposition alliance “Hungary in Unity”, which took part in this election for the first time, faced up to his supporters.

"We went into this fight under unequal conditions, with our legs tied together, with a lance in our back," he explained the unbelievable.

"But we didn't win."

Not a single leader of the six alliance parties assisted Marki-Zay's appearance.

Instead, the independent conservative and avowed Catholic lined up his wife and seven children behind him.

"We stay here, we stand up for everyone, we stay on the heels of power," he said.

Experts, however, declared his political career to be as good as over.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Viktor Orbán triumphs and speaks of a "huge victory"

Update from April 4th, 2022, 3:39 a.m .:

The right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán celebrated an unexpected triumph in the parliamentary elections in Hungary.

After counting 96 percent of the votes, his Fidesz party came up with 53 percent, as the electoral office announced on Monday night.

She could have won 135 of the 199 parliamentary seats.

Orbán is expected to govern with a constitution-amending two-thirds majority for the fourth time in a row.

The opposition alliance “Hungary in Unity” performed far below expectations.

The merger of six parties from the left, green, liberal and right spectrum received only 35 percent of the vote and 56 seats.

The opinion polls before the election had given the Fidesz party a lead of one to ten percentage points.

The far-right party “Unsere Heimat” also made it into parliament with six percent of the vote and seven seats.

A mandate achievable for nationalities went to the representative of the German minority, who is considered an ally of the Fidesz party.

Voter turnout was almost 70 percent, about the same as four years ago.

"We won a tremendous victory," Orbán said to cheering supporters on election night.

"A victory so massive that you can even see it from the moon, but certainly from Brussels." He was alluding to his permanent conflicts with the EU, of which his country has been a part since 2004.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Orbán is clearly ahead

+++ 11.30 p.m .:

The parliamentary elections in Hungary have ended, the count is still ongoing.

According to partial results, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is clearly in the lead, his fourth consecutive term in office is on the horizon.

Orbán claims a "major victory" for himself and his party in a speech.

Voter turnout was 68.7 percent, almost matching the record turnout for the 2018 general election.

The count is still ongoing.

+++ 11:20 p.m .:

81 percent of the votes in the parliamentary elections in Hungary have now been counted.

Incumbent Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party currently has 54.0 percent of the vote, while Péter Márki-Zay's party alliance has 34.2 percent.

+++ 11:02 p.m .:

Opposition leader Péter Márki-Zay will soon appear in front of his supporters and the press.

His party alliance currently comes to 33.7 percent (with 72 percent counted votes).

+++ 10:59 p.m .:

Incumbent Viktor Orbán claimed victory in his speech after the parliamentary elections in Hungary – and it should hardly be possible to take that away from him, even if the lead continues to shrink.

With 72 percent of the votes counted, the Orbán party Fidesz has 54.5 percent, the Márki-Zay alliance has 33.7 percent.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Viktor Orbán appears before the press

+++ 10:48 p.m .:

Incumbent Viktor Orbán appears in front of the press in Budapest and says “I think it looks very good, maybe it has never looked so good as tonight.” He is chanted by “Viktor”. and cheering interrupted, then he speaks of an "enormous victory" that can even be seen from the moon - "it can be seen from everywhere".

Orbán then thanks all the helpers for their work.

The current interim result is as follows (71 percent of the votes counted): Orbán's Fidesz party has 54.7 percent, the Márki-Zay alliance has 33.6 percent....

Election in Hungary: Orbán's Fidesz party leads, but lead is shrinking

+++ 10:35 p.m .:

The trend continues, the lead of Orbán and his Fidesz party continues to shrink, but is still very comfortable.

With 63 percent of the votes counted, Fidesz/Orbán has 55.2 percent, its main competitor Márki-Zay has 33.1 percent.

+++ 10:15 p.m .:

More than half of the votes (53 percent) have now been counted.

The lead of Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party has shrunk further, the party currently has 56.1 percent.

The alliance of Márki-Zay comes to 32.2 percent.

+++ 9:55 p.m .:

The lead of Viktor Orbán and his party Fidesz in the parliamentary elections in Hungary is shrinking as the count progresses.

With 43 percent of the votes counted, Orbán's party still has 57.2 percent, while Márki-Zay's alliance is 31.3 percent.

Hungary election: Viktor Orbán's lead is shrinking

+++ 9:48 p.m .:

Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party is still clearly ahead, but the results are still very early, Euronews also emphasizes.

A lot could still change, since the opposition in the big cities like Budapest is stronger than in the countryside.

According to Euronews, analysts expect the Fidesz party will not win a two-thirds majority this time.

+++ 9.40 p.m .:

The next numbers are known: After 36 percent of the votes have been counted, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz loses slightly and still comes to 58.1 percent.

The opposition alliance of candidate Péter Márki-Zay comes to 30.4 percent, as reported by Europe Elects.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary: 200 OSCE election observers on site

+++ 7.15 p.m .:

The parliamentary elections in Hungary are monitored by 200 OSCE election observers, but there is still a suspicion of election manipulation: near the Romanian city of Târgu Mureș, a bag filled out and partly burned Hungarian ballots was found, reports merkur.de with reference to the anti-government portal telex.hu.

On some of the openly visible ballot papers, crosses were recognizable for opposition parties, it is said.

+++ 7:03 p.m .:

The polling stations for the parliamentary elections in Hungary should now be closed.

The extrapolations are now starting, the first meaningful partial results are not expected before 11 p.m.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Viktor Orbán has voted - OSCE sends 200 election observers

+++ 10.45 a.m .:

“I am confident,” said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been in power for twelve years, in the morning after voting in front of his polling station in the Zugliget district of Budapest.

"It's a strange choice because (...) because of the war (in Ukraine) we have to deal with issues of war and peace," he added to journalists.

+++ 9.50 a.m .:

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán cast his vote together with his wife in a Budapest polling station on Sunday morning, as reported by AFP reporters.

For the first time, around 200 election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will monitor the ballot, which is highly unusual for an election in an EU country.

Update from Sunday, April 3rd, 2022, 7.30 a.m .:

The parliamentary elections began in Hungary on Sunday.

8.2 million eligible voters are called upon to cast their vote.

Nine nationwide party lists and 658 direct candidates are applying for 199 mandates.

The election will be decided between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's right-wing nationalist Fidesz party and an alliance of the six most important opposition parties.

The latest polls put the Fidesz party ahead of the opposition alliance by a few percentage points.

Polling stations close at 7 p.m.

The preliminary final result is expected in the late evening. 

Parliamentary elections in Hungary: Things could get tight for Viktor Orbán

First report from Friday, April 1st, 2022:

Budapest – On Sunday, April 3rd, 2022, the parliamentary elections will take place in Hungary.

Four years ago, the governing alliance of Fidesz and KDNP, which has been in power since 2010, was confirmed in office with a two-thirds majority of mandates.

The alliance around Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will also appear this year.

This time, however, a head-to-head race is expected.

Viktor Orbán has been Prime Minister of Hungary for twelve years.

The right-wing populist is the longest-serving head of government in a member state of the EU*.

He could lose power in this year's general election.

The hope of the opposition is Péter Márki-Zay.

The pro-European and conservative mayor of the city of Hódmezővásárhely was initially considered an outsider in the primary elections, but in October 2021 he was elected the lead candidate of an alliance that brought together left, right and centrist parties under the name "United for Hungary" (Egységben Magyarországért - EM ) brings together.

Márki-Zay said at the time that "the way out is neither right nor left, but upwards".

Hungary election 2022: Péter Márki-Zay challenges Viktor Orbán

Orbán could indeed be in trouble.

His friendly relationship with Russia's Vladimir Putin* and the demand that Hungary should stay out of the Ukraine conflict* is not well received by many voters in the country.

The relationship with the EU has also been badly damaged for years: Orbán always rails against Brussels.

The incumbent prime minister is seen as authoritarian and anti-liberal.

The right-wing extremists in Hungary are also in focus.

After splitting off from the right-wing Jobbik party following the 2018 election, the new party “Mi Hazánk Mozgalom” (“Movement Our Homeland”) is emerging with leading candidate László Toroczkai.

Since 2013, the ultra-nationalist Toroczkai has been mayor of Ásotthalom, a small town on the border with Serbia.

The party's split from Toroczkai paved the way for Jobbik to work with other opposition parties.

The first projections and results for the Hungarian election* are expected after the polling stations close at 7 p.m. in the evening.

Out of fear of manipulation, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) sent around 200 observers to Hungary.

This is only the second time they have been used in an election in the EU.

In addition to the general election, four government-requested referendums on alleged “LGBTQ propaganda” are also scheduled.

The questions relate to the Child Protection Act and are as follows:

• Are you in favor of allowing children in public schools to take classes on sexual orientation without parental consent?

• Are you in favor of giving children information about gender reassignment treatments?

• Are you in favor of allowing media content of a sexual nature that affects children's development to be presented to them without restrictions?

• Are you in favor of showing media content depicting gender reassignment to children?

• Source: ungarnheute.hu

(lrg/ktho/tab with agencies) *