🎥 Record voter turnout recorded
Polls closed in Hungary’s parliamentary election, with turnout reaching a record high in the crunch vote that sees nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 16-year stint in power face an unprecedented challenge from conservative political newcomer Peter Magyar.
FRANCE 24’s Europe editor Armen Georgian has more:
Hungary’s high turnout at election shows strong democracy, Orban’s chief of staff says
Hungary’s record high voter turnout is the result of a huge mobilisation effort by the ruling party and the vote was democratic, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff told a briefing.
“We are glad that the next parliament will have this strong democratic mandate,” Gergely Gulyas said, adding that he trusted that Fidesz would have a majority.
Opposition Tisza could win election, final opinion polls suggest
The last polls conducted before voting started and published after polling stations had closed, showed the upstart centre-right Tisza party of Peter Magyar garnering 55-57 percent support, ahead of Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party.
Polls close in crunch Hungary vote, turnout at all-time record high
Polling closed at 7:00pm local time (1700 GMT), with turnout reaching 77.8 percent at 6:30pm, above the previous record of a total of 70.5 percent for the 2002 elections.
📷 In images: Hungarians at the polls
People queue up outside a polling station during the Hungarian parliamentary election in Budapest on April 12, 2026. © Denes Erdos, AP
People queue up at a polling station during the Hungarian parliamentary election in Budapest on April 12, 2026. © Denes Erdos, AP
A man casts his ballot during the general election in the outskirts of Bekescsaba, Hungary on April 12, 2026. © Peter Lehoczky, MTI via AP
Views on Russia and Ukraine
Under Orban, Hungary has remained Russia’s closest EU ally throughout the war, routinely blocking any European sanction packages against what has remained – despite pleas from Europe – its main gas supplier.
He has equally tried to stonewall any military or financial aid to Ukraine. And at the end of last year, he even went as far as to say it was “unclear who attacked whom”.
Although Magyar has described Moscow as “the aggressor” in the conflict, and last year told the Financial Times he would push for an immediate ceasefire along with Hungary’s EU allies if he comes to power, he has also said he would not reverse Hungary’s current policy of non-support for Kyiv nor totally sever Budapest’s ties with Russia. He staunchly opposes fast-track EU accession for Ukraine.
Europe in focus
The real battleground in the ballot will be the two candidates’ opposing views on the EU.
While Orban declared that the real danger to Hungary is the EU, Magyar has gone the other way: “Hungary will once again be a full-fledged member of the European Union,” he told a Budapest rally last year, touting the EU as the answer to Hungary’s prayers, especially if it releases the withheld EU funds.
Orban’s anti-establishment and nationalist views has won him support from US President Donald Trump, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid him a symbolic visit, telling him “your success is our success”. Orban hopes his ties with Trump wil help him collect the votes needed to prolong his reign.
If he wins the elections, he has promised to “clear away” the “oppressive machinery of Brussels” in his country.
🎥 Inside Transylvania’s Romanian-Hungarian Divide
Romania’s Transylvania region is home to one of the biggest ethnically-Hungarian communities in Europe, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has attempted to influence it for votes.
In this episode of “Growing up in Europe”, ENTR travelled to the city of Targu Mures, where young people walk a tightrope between two cultures.
Who is Peter Magyar?
Peter Magyar, leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza party, launches his election campaign in Budapest on February 15, 2026. © Denes Erdos, AP
Forty-four-year-old Peter Magyar burst onto Hungary’s political scene in February, 2024, after having broken ranks with Orban’s Fidesz party over a child sex abuse pardon scandal that led to the resignation of his ex-wife, then justice minister Judit Varga, and then president Katalin Novak. Shortly afterward he launched his own centre-right party, Tisza (Respect and Freedom), and vowed to crack down on corruption and bring Hungary closer to Europe.
“Step by step, brick by brick, we are taking back our homeland and building a new country, a sovereign, modern, European Hungary,” Magyar said shortly after founding his party.
Just a few months later, Tisza stunned Hungary’s political establishment by securing almost 30 percent of the votes in the European parliamentary elections – cementing Magyar’s role as Orban’s most serious challenger yet.
🎥 ‘Undeterred’: Hungarian investigative journalist faces threats and espionage accusations from Orbán
FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee welcomed Szabolcs Panyi, VSquare’s Budapest-based lead investigative editor in charge of Central European investigations and investigative journalist at Direkt36.
His reporting into alleged ties between Hungary’s political leadership and Russian state actors triggered an unprecedented response: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán publicly accused him of espionage.
According to Panyi, Orbán seeks to discredit independent journalism with false narratives of conspiracies against the government.
🎥 Orban’s opponents were targeted by AI-driven disinformation ahead of elections
The campaign for Hungary’s April 12 elections has been marred by disinformation. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party, Fidesz, has deployed a series of outrageous AI-generated videos to target his main rival Peter Magyar and his Tisza party, while a vast campaign orchestrated by fake accounts has emerged on TikTok and Facebook.
Read more here: Orban’s opponents targeted by AI-driven disinformation
🔎 An Orban loss in Hungary’s election could be the turning point Putin fears
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban with Russian president Vladimir Putin in the background. © Alexander Nemenov, AFP
Hungary’s legislative elections are being closely watched in Moscow.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long been Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally within the European Union, and a victory for the opposition Tisza party led by Peter Magyar could undermine the Kremlin’s influence in the bloc.
Read more here: An Orban loss in Hungary’s election could be the turning point Putin fears
🎥 Orban’s 16-year grip on power under threat from Magyar
Senior reporter at 24.hu, Zsolt Kerner, shares his insights on this pivotal election and how the Hungarian electoral system works.
🎥 The atmosphere at a polling station in Budapest
FRANCE 24’s special correspondent Clovis Casali reports a desire for change among the young voters he met at a polling station in Budapest, a stronghold of the opposition.
🎥 Orban and Magyar face off in historic vote
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, 62, who is seeking a fifth straight term, has transformed his country into a model of illiberal democracy, following US President Donald Trump in casting migration and “woke” values as a “civilisational” threat.
Former government insider Magyar, 45, burst onto the scene just two years ago, amassing support against the backdrop of economic stagnation, despite an electoral system skewed in favour of Orban’s Fidesz party.
Senior fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreing Relations, Liana Fix, shares further insights.
🔎 How Orban benefits from Hungary’s tailor-made election system
A billboard featuring Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, accompanied by the text “Let’s unite against war” in Budapest on March 27, 2026. © Attila Kisbenedek, AFP
Peter Magyar’s centre-right Tisza Party might be comfortably ahead in Hungary’s parliamentary election polls but he is far from guaranteed victory.
The country’s electoral system has been designed to support ruling Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party – and any institutions that are working in his favour – every step of the way.
Read more here: How Orban benefits from Hungary’s tailor-made election system
More than half of Hungarian voters cast ballot
- At 3pm, a record turnout of 66 percent was recorded, compared with 52.75 percent in 2022, according to the National Electoral Office.
- 7.5 million voters are eligible to vote in the country, along with a further 500,000 registered abroad.
- Polling stations will close at 7pm. As no polling organisations are planning to conduct exit polls, the results will only become known as the votes are counted.
🔎 Why Hungary’s Viktor Orban vilified Ukraine before crucial elections
An attendee holds an image of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at a pro-government rally named a ‘Peace March’ during Hungary’s National Day celebrations in Budapest on March 15, 2026. © Marton Monus, Reuters
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s campaign has characterised his main rival Peter Magyar as a stooge of Kyiv and Brussels. With his party trailing in the polls, the nationalist leader has sought to escalate tensions between Hungary and Ukraine, alleging that Kyiv and its European allies are conspiring to drag Hungary into war with Russia.
Read more here: Why Hungary’s Viktor Orban vilified Ukraine before crucial elections