BUDAPEST: Within hours of becoming Hungary&#39;s prime minister-elect, Peter Magyar pledged on Monday to usher in a &quot;new era&quot; after defeating long-time nationalist leader Viktor Orban in an election seen as a blow to hard-right populism. Orban, a self-described &quot;thorn&quot; in the European Union&#39;s side, was ousted in Sunday&#39;s ballot after 16 years in power in the EU and NATO member. Hungarians fed up with corruption handed the conservative Tisza party of former government insider Magyar a decisive victory, with a two-thirds majority in parliament. The vote saw a record turnout and Magyar&#39;s achievement received widespread international praise. Magyar, 45, said he would do &quot;everything in our power&quot; to ensure the &quot;beginning of a new era.&quot; Hungarians &quot;didn&#39;t vote for a mere change of government, but for a complete regime change,&quot; he declared. He began by promising on Monday to limit the prime minister&#39;s mandate to two terms, &quot;a total of eight years&quot; or half the time that Orban had spent at the helm. In power since 2010, Orban has transformed the central European country of 9.5 million people into a model of &quot;illiberal democracy,&quot; making wide-ranging reforms that restricted civil rights and the independence of the judiciary, media and academia. Orban, 62, frequently clashed with Brussels, which has frozen billions of euros in funds over rule-of-law concerns. &#39;No time to waste&#39; Magyar said he was &quot;willing to take on&quot; reforms, including anti-graft measures, to seek to unlock the funds. He urged President Tamas Sulyok, an Orban ally, to convene parliament &quot;as soon as possible.&quot; The president has 30 days, until May 12, to call a session. And Sulyok said he had invited party leaders to a meeting on Wednesday. &quot;Our country has no time to waste. Hungary is in trouble in every respect. It has been plundered, looted, betrayed, indebted and ruined,&quot; Magyar told reporters. Many EU leaders welcomed Magyar&#39;s win. The Kremlin said it hoped for &quot;pragmatic&quot; relations with Hungary&#39;s new government, while China &mdash; which Orban also courted &mdash; congratulated Magyar. Magyar thanked Moscow and Beijing for &quot;being open to pragmatic cooperation, just as Hungary is.&quot; Orban conceded defeat on Sunday, saying the message was &quot;painful but unambiguous.&quot; Magyar was a longstanding supporter of Orban and his Fidesz party before becoming his most serious challenger. He stepped into frontline politics just two years ago, promising to fight corruption and offering better public services. He garnered support against a backdrop of economic stagnation and despite an electoral system skewed in favor of Orban&#39;s Fidesz. &#39;Weight lifted off&#39; The election &quot;could mark a real turning point for Donald Trump&#39;s culture war in Europe,&quot; said Pawel Zerka, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. It gave &quot;confidence (to) pro-European forces across the continent&quot; and meant that association with Trump&#39;s culture war was now becoming &quot;more of a liability than an asset,&quot; he said. Orban, who repeatedly blocked EU moves to help Ukraine fight Russia&#39;s invasion, made Ukraine a central campaign issue, portraying Kyiv as &quot;hostile&quot; to Hungary. Like Orban, Magyar opposes sending EU military aid to Ukraine or offering Ukraine a fast-track route to join the 27-nation bloc. He reiterated that stance on Monday, saying: &quot;We are talking about a country at war. It is completely out of the question for the European Union to admit a country at war.&quot; On election night, jubilant supporters poured into the streets to celebrate in the capital, Budapest. &quot;At long last it feels so good to be Hungarian. It&#39;s like a weight lifted off our shoulders,&quot; Csilla Bekesi, 25, told AFP.

Europe

Magyar says he will do "everything in our power" to ensure the "beginning of a new era"; declares Hungarians "didn't vote for a mere change of government, but for a complete regime change; begins by promising to limit the prime minister's mandate to two terms, "a total of eight years" or half the time that Orban had spent at the helm.

Pro-EU Magyar vows 'new era' in Hungary after ousting Orban

BUDAPEST: Viktor Orban, who has ruled Hungary for 16 years as a self-described &quot;thorn&quot; in the EU&#39;s side and a defender of &quot;illiberal democracy,&quot; on Sunday conceded defeat to conservative Peter Magyar, who won a thumping majority in parliamentary elections. Orban&#39;s defeat, in a vote that saw a record turnout, dealt a heavy blow to nationalists. It also deprives Russian President Vladimir Putin of his most sympathetic ear inside the European Union. Tens of thousands of jubilant supporters of Magyar&#39;s Tisza party cheered the results outside the party&#39;s election headquarters on the banks of the Danube in Budapest, waving Hungarian flags and dancing, as car horns sounded in the capital. &quot;I feel fantastic!&quot; Zoltan Sziromi, a 20-year-old student, celebrating in the crowd, told AFP. &quot;We&#39;ve finally got rid of that system, and it was about time.&quot; Magyar, who arrived waving the Hungarian flag, told the cheering crowd that voters had &quot;liberated Hungary,&quot; calling his party&#39;s win a &quot;miracle&quot; in the central European country of 9.5 million people. &quot;Today, the Hungarian people have said &#39;yes&#39; to Europe,&quot; the 45-year-old former government insider and political newcomer told supporters. He promised to &quot;restore the system of checks and balances..., guarantee the democratic functioning of our country&quot; and put Hungary &quot;back on track.&quot; Acknowledging it was an &quot;enormous&quot; task, he called for unity, saying the victory belonging to &quot;all Hungarians.&quot; &#39;Unambiguous&#39;&nbsp;With 98.15% of precincts counted, Tisza secured a two-thirds majority with 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament on 53.6% of the vote, according to official election results. Orban&#39;s Fidesz took 55 seats on 37.9% of the vote. Earlier Sunday, Orban, 62, conceded defeat. &quot;The election results, though not yet final, are clear and understandable; for us, they are painful but unambiguous,&quot; Orban, 62, told reporters. &quot;We have not been entrusted with the responsibility and opportunity to govern. I congratulated the winning party,&quot; he said. Turnout in the election reached a record 79.50%, according to the near-complete vote count. Orban, who was seeking a fifth straight term, has transformed his country into a model of &quot;illiberal democracy,&quot; clashing with Brussels over rule-of-law issues, as well as over support for war-torn Ukraine. Magyar burst onto the scene just two years ago, promising to fight corruption and offering better public services. He drew support against a backdrop of economic stagnation, and despite an electoral system skewed in favor of Orban&#39;s Fidesz party. Congratulations for Magyar poured in from around Europe, with France and Germany urging him to work together for a &quot;strong Europe.&quot; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to work with Magyar &quot;for the benefit of both nations, as well as peace, security, and stability in Europe.&quot; &quot;Hungary has chosen Europe,&quot; head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, posted on X. Ahead of the vote, both Orban&#39;s and Magyar&#39;s camps had alleged foreign interference during the campaign. &#39;Defeat for authoritarianism&#39;&nbsp;Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, said Oran&#39;s defeat was a major blow to those who have looked to Viktor Orban&#39;s corrupt model as a blueprint. &quot;This is a resounding defeat for authoritarianism that echoes far beyond Hungary&#39;s borders,&quot; Tanden added. Orban had focused on making Ukraine the central topic of his campaign, portraying the neighboring country, which is fighting off a Russian invasion, as &quot;hostile&quot; to Hungary. He had also vowed to continue his crackdown against &quot;fake civil society organizations, bought journalists, judges (and) politicians.&quot; Fidesz supporters gathered for the results-watching event in Budapest were stunned. &quot;I am a Fidesz supporter with all my heart,&quot; Juliana Varga Szabo, a 58-year-old teacher, told AFP, tears in her eyes, saying that perhaps she had been living in a &quot;bubble.&quot; &quot;Now that bubble is burst. I won&#39;t change my values. We&#39;ll just have to see what the future brings,&quot; she added.

Tens of thousands of jubilant supporters of Magyar's Tisza party cheer 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.



Articles tagged with "Hungary Elections"

Pro-EU Magyar vows 'new era' in Hungary after ousting Orban

Orban loses Hungary vote to pro-Europe newcomer after 16 years in power