Orban loses vote to pro-Europe newcomer

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AFP) — Viktor Orban, who has ruled Hungary for 16 years as a self-described “thorn” in the European Union’s side and a defender of “illiberal democracy,” on Sunday conceded defeat to conservative Peter Magyar, who won a thumping majority in parliamentary elections.

Orban’s defeat, in a vote that saw a record turnout, dealt a heavy blow to nationalists, including US President Donald Trump who supported him.

It also deprives Russian President Vladimir Putin of his most sympathetic ear inside the European Union.

Tens of thousands of jubilant supporters of Magyar’s Tisza party cheered the results outside the party’s election headquarters on the banks of the Danube in Budapest, waving Hungarian flags and dancing, as car horns sounded in the capital.

“I feel fantastic!” Zoltan Sziromi, a 20-year-old student, celebrating in the crowd, told Agence France-Presse.

“We’ve finally got rid of that system, and it was about time.”

Magyar, who arrived waving the Hungarian flag, told the cheering crowd that voters had “liberated Hungary,” calling his party’s win a “miracle” in the central European country of 9.5 million people.

“Today, the Hungarian people have said ‘yes’ to Europe,” the 45-year-old former government insider and political newcomer told supporters.

He promised to “restore the system of checks and balances..., guarantee the democratic functioning of our country” and put Hungary “back on track.”

Acknowledging it was an “enormous” task, he called for unity, saying the victory belonging to “all Hungarians.”

‘Unambiguous’

With 98.15 percent of precincts counted, Tisza secured a two-thirds majority with 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament on 53.6 percent of the vote, according to official election results. Orban’s Fidesz took 55 seats on 37.9 percent of the vote.

Earlier Sunday, Orban, 62, conceded defeat.

“The election results, though not yet final, are clear and understandable; for us, they are painful but unambiguous,” Orban, 62, told reporters.