BUDAPEST — Opposition leader Péter Magyar is on track to topple Hungary’s longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after a bitterly contested election, according to early official results.
With more than 29 percent of the vote counted, Magyar’s Tisza party was projected to win 132 seats in Budapest’s 199-seat parliament. Orbán’s Fidesz party was set to win only 59.
A victory for Magyar would likely change the balance of power in Brussels, where the Russia-friendly Orbán has repeatedly frustrated the EU by staking out positions aligned with Moscow, undermining the rule of law in Hungary and blocking aid to Kyiv.
Even a major supportive heave from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which viewed the populist-nationalist Orbán as its primary ally in Europe, appears to have been insufficient to save the prime minister from Magyar’s challenge.
This article is being updated.
