Viktor Orban Hungary election

Orban has often boasted of his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and it's that link that became a major challenge for the electoral ...

This rule of law mechanism is the EU's new tool that enables it to cut or withhold funding to EU states if they are found to be failing to uphold the rule of law.—CNBC's Silvia Amaro and Sam Meredith contributed to this article. At the same time, the EC might be more reluctant to trigger the so-called rule of law mechanism against Hungary (and Poland) — at least until the war in Ukraine de-escalates/ends — thereby leaving more time for compromise." His government announced that Hungary will welcome Ukrainian refugees and is also supportive of Ukraine's membership application to the EU. This is on top of having approved, together with the other EU member states, tough sanctions against Russian oligarchs and the Russian economy. Over the last decade, Hungary has increased its share of imports of Russian natural gas, from 9.070 million cubic meters in 2010 to a high of 17.715 million cubic meters in 2019, according to Eurostat. Hungary now gets close to 85% of its gas from Russia, and 64% of its oil.Hungary also became the first EU nation to buy a Russian-made Covid-19 vaccine — even though it wasn't approved by European regulators.But Orban has remained loyal to the European Union in the wake of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and has sought to downplay his ties to Putin. His messaging over previous weeks has been a "Hungary must stay out of this conflict" approach. His party Fidesz still has stringent control over state media and previous election campaigns have been based on an anti-immigration and protectionist message. However, it has rejected any energy sanctions on Moscow and has banned the direct transit of lethal weapons to Ukraine via Hungary.

Nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed a "great victory" in Sunday's general election, as partial results gave his Fidesz party the lead.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban celebrates with members of the Fidesz party at their election base, 'Balna' building on the bank of the Danube River of Budapest, on April 3, 2022. Nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed a "great victory" in Sunday's general election, as partial results gave his Fidesz party the lead. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban celebrates with members of the Fidesz party at their election base, 'Balna' building on the bank of the Danube River of Budapest, on April 3, 2022. Nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed a "great victory" in Sunday's general election, as partial results gave his Fidesz party the lead.

Hungary's authoritarian leader and longtime Russian ally, Viktor Orban, has declared victory in the country's parliamentary elections, clinching a fourth ...

Rightwinger and Putin ally given another super majority despite failure to condemn invasion of Ukraine.

The opposition has also complained that Fidesz has a huge advantage in election spending and communication. The OSCE’s office for democratic institutions and human rights has criticised what it said was blatant gerrymandering in several constituencies. Akos Hadhazy, an opposition MP, said: “Orbán can get any of his lies to Hungarian people. We never expected this to be the result,” he said. “The entire world can see that our brand of Christian democratic, conservative, patriotic politics has won,” a smiling, swaggering Orbán – with members of his cabinet behind him – told the crowd, standing in frigid temperatures. “This victory is one to remember, maybe even for the rest of our lives, because we had the biggest [range of opponents to] overpower.

Orban's Fidesz is on track to win a two-thirds majority in parliament, after campaign overshadowed by war in Ukraine.

While speaking to supporters on Sunday, Orban singled out Zelenskyy as part of the “overwhelming force” that he said his party had struggled against in the election — “the left at home, the international left all around, the Brussels bureaucrats… But we still dispute whether this election was democratic and free.” Preliminary results show Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party on track to win a two-thirds majority in parliament, after campaign overshadowed by war in Ukraine. Preliminary results show Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party on track to win a two-thirds majority in parliament, after campaign overshadowed by war in Ukraine. The win – Fidesz’s fourth consecutive election victory – was by a much greater margin than polls had suggested, after a campaign overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Ukraine. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has hailed a “great victory” for his Fidesz party after preliminary results showed the right-wing group winning Sunday’s general election by a landslide.

Nationalist PM Viktor Orbán has won another two-thirds majority in Hungary's parliament for his Fidesz party, as the unified opposition failed to unseat ...

he asks rhetorically, a nod to the six opposition parties which united under one leader in the hopes of getting enough votes to unseat Orbán.He also said that this victory will be remembered also because they had to face the biggest "headwind", with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy listed among his 'enemies'. Viktor Orbán speaks: 'We've won a victory so big [...] you can certainly see it from Brussels"Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has given a speech to supporters as it looks certain his nationalist Fidesz party is on course to win today's general election. "We've won a victory so big that you can see it from the moon, and you can certainly see it from Brussels" he said on Sunday evening." Parliament projections with 97% of the votes countedThere were other elections taking place in Europe on Sunday, with voters going to the polls also in Serbia.  Incumbent President Aleksandar Vučić and his populist right-wing party appeared headed to victory in Sunday's national election, extending a decade-long authoritarian rule in the Balkan country.Read more at our story here:The results show Hungary is divided politically, into the capital Budapest where the six unified opposition parties won the biggest share of the vote; and the rest of the country where Fidesz largely dominated. Ballot counting is still not finished in the bigger cities, but if this result were to be confirmed, it would mark an increase for Fidesz and its Christian Democrat allies, who had won a total of 49.27% ​​of the votes in the previous election in 2018.In 2010, 2014 and 2018 Mr Orban won a two-thirds majority in parliament.The full official result will only be known during the week, after the counting of hundreds of thousands of votes from voters from the diaspora as well as expatriates.The Hungarian legislative voting system combines simple majority by constituency seats and proportional representation, a system implemented for the first time in 2014 and favoring, according to analysts, Fidesz in power. -- AP Photo/Petr David JosekViktor Orbán's party heading for another term in officeNationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party led the Hungarian legislative elections on Sunday, heading for a fourth term in a row, according to the first partial official results published by the National Electoral Bureau (NVI).With 60% of the votes countes, Fidesz was ahead with 55.75%, while the combined six opposition parties running under a unified list were on 32.55% of the vote. Salvini wrote that Orbán was "alone against everyone" and that he had been attacked and "threatened by those who would like to erase the Judeo-Christian roots of Europe, denigrated by those who would like to eradicate family values..." It looks like Viktor Orbán has won -- but is this really a victory for democracy?The result of Hungary’s parliamentary elections won’t fully represent the will of the people because “it’s not a real democracy”, a political scientist has warned.Speaking to Euronews ahead of Sunday’s vote, Péter Krekó, executive director at Political Capital, said that he hopes that the world puts the result into context.Read more at our story here:Take Hungarian election result with a pinch of salt, expert warns🇭🇺 Euronews spoke to a political scientist about Hungary's upcoming parliamentary elections and what they might mean for Europe.With around 80% of the national list votes counted, Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán has been addressing his supporters. It's aimed at the likes of Hungary and Poland and is likely to be a key battleground in the coming months.3. Hungary's urban-rural divide looks as strong as everThe results show that Hungary is still divided politically. Fidesz on course for two-thirds majorityThe ruling Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán looks to have secured yet another two-thirds majority in parliament. In the capital Budapest, the six unified opposition parties won the biggest share of the vote. Fidesz dominated elsewhere in the country.The vast majority of Hungary's opposition to Orban had unified behind one candidate -- Péter Márki-Zay -- in a bid to oust the country's long-term prime minister.Among them was Jobbik, a once far-right party that has moved more mainstream in recent years.But support for Jobbik -- whether because of this shift to the centre-ground or being in a big-tent opposition diluted its impact -- dropped off on Sunday night.Voters seem to have switched to Our Homeland Movement (MiHazánk), which came to prominence during the pandemic as an anti-vaccine party.In a surprise result, the party exceeded the 5% threshold to enter Hungary's parliament. Incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has won a fourth consecutive term in office -- his fifth in total -- after a dominant performance at the polls from his nationalist Fidesz party.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine looms over contest in which opposition coalition aims to dislodge ruling Fidesz party.

“I voted for Orbán because I’m Hungarian and nationalist, not fascist.” … When I’m abroad, I don’t want to say I’m Hungarian.” Opinion surveys have shown a tight race after opposition parties coalesced into a six-party bloc, United for Hungary, in an effort to end Orbán’s self-proclaimed “illiberal” reign.

Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared victory in Sunday's national elections, claiming a mandate for a fourth term as a still ...

"The whole world has seen tonight in Budapest that Christian democratic politics, conservative civic politics and patriotic politics have won. Mr Orbán — a fierce critic of immigration, LGBTQ rights and "EU bureaucrats" — has garnered the admiration of right-wing nationalists across Europe and North America. We are telling Europe that this is not the past, this is the future," Mr Orbán said.

EU hearts will sink as "illiberal democrat" Viktor Orban wins another term, Katya Adler writes.