Viktor Orban

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 ...

Ruling Fidesz beats unified opposition, setting up potential clashes with Europe over Putin and rule of law.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared victory in Sunday's national elections, claiming a mandate for a fourth term as a partial vote count predicted a strong ...

“We are fighting for decency, we are fighting for the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Hungary,” Marki-Zay said. Our budget is $4,000-$5,500 a month, including rent — so where should we look? “I express my gratitude to the civilians who spent the whole day checking the cleanliness of the election and are now starting the count,” Marki-Zay wrote. BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared victory in Sunday’s national elections, claiming a mandate for a fourth term as a partial vote count predicted a strong lead for his right-wing party. The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Saturday depicted the Hungarian leader as out of touch with the rest of Europe, which has united to condemn Putin, support sanctions against Russia and send aid including weapons to Ukraine. “He is virtually the only one in Europe to openly support Mr. Putin,” Zelensky said. “This isn’t our war, we have to stay out of it,” Orban said.

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.

With more than half of votes counted, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban looks set for a fourth term. That could be a boost for the Putin regime.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, Orban will face a real enemy (after so many imaginary enemies): The shadow of economic crisis.” Although good news for Putin, Orban’s victory spells significant problems for Hungarians. In February, the European Court of Justice threw out a legal challenge from Hungary and Poland regarding a “rule of law conditionality” that links E. U. funds to member states’ respect for democracy. He also wanted to close down the Russian-backed International Investment Bank, a multilateral development bank for Eastern bloc states, which was founded by the Soviets in 1970 but which moved headquarters from Moscow to Budapest in 2019. The nation’s budget deficit swelled to 8.1% of GDP in 2020 amid the pandemic, with inflation reaching an almost 15-year high of 8.3% in February. “Orban was effective at manipulating the media into not talking so much about economic problems, so that the Ukraine war became the number one issue of the campaign.” He has even been sidelined by the Visegrád Group, a cultural and political alliance comprising the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to advance military, cultural, economic and energy co-operation. In February, he reinstated a 13th month of income for pensioners—a key block of 2.5 million people, or one-third of voters. The deck was stacked against Marki-Zay, who had previously worked in Canada and the U. S., initially as a door-to-door salesman, and campaigned on Christian family values. Around 20,000 independent election monitors were dispatched to ensure the ballots were cast and counted in a free and fair manner. Challenger Peter Marki-Zay, 49, campaigned on bringing the landlocked nation of almost 20 million people closer to the E. U. and highlighting Orban’s close historic links with Putin. Orban, in turn, campaigned on keeping Hungary out of the Ukraine war entirely—avoiding, he argued—much of the economic fallout that European nations are set to bare for standing tall against tyranny. “God, luck, and Viktor Orban certainly played a role in what I’ve achieved so far,” Meszaros said in 2014. Meanwhile, in Serbia, one of the few other pro-Russian leaders in Europe, President Aleksandar Vucic, also appeared poised to claim election victory with a strong majority. Vote counting began after polls closed at 7 p.m. local time with Orban, 58, set to win a strong majority of the total 199 parliamentary seats.

Orbán, who has cultivated a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, claimed to win his fourth consecutive election victory Sunday.

Trump gave Orbán his “complete support and endorsement” in January, claiming he’d done a “wonderful job in protecting Hungary, stopping illegal immigration.” Orbán has also sought a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has strayed from other EU countries by not committing to send weapons to Ukraine, though Hungary has supported many of Europe’s sanctions against Russia. He has staunchly opposed immigration and implemented policies limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ people—most recently pledging in a speech to “stop at Hungary’s border the gender insanity sweeping across the Western world.” A vocal supporter of what he calls “illiberal democracy,” Orbán has also been accused of leading a turn toward authoritarianism in Hungary, attempting to expand his own power over Hungary’s government, election system, civil society and news media. “We won a victory so big that you can see it from the moon, and you can certainly see it from Brussels,” Orbán said in a victory speech Sunday, according to the AP—likely referring to his administration's tensions with other EU leaders.

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

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban scored a crushing election victory to clinch a fourth consecutive term, overcoming criticism about democratic ...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban' national referendum targeting LGBTQ rights that he has cast as crucial to his fight over the issue with the European ...

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his right-wing Fidesz party won a comfortable majority over the opposition United for Hungary alliance on Sunday, ...

58-year-old Orban has often boasted of his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that link became a major challenge for the electoral campaign of his ruling Fidesz party. Orban and his right-wing Fidesz party won a comfortable majority over the opposition United for Hungary alliance on Sunday, despite expectations for a tight race. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban dubbed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, one of his opponents on Sunday evening, following a landslide election victory for the nationalist leader.

The election campaign was dominated by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which put Orban's lengthy association with Russian President Vladimir Putin under scrutiny.

But Orban’s law, which he frames as a “child protection” measure, is already in place and the ballot was seen as symbolic. He has supported most of the EU’s sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine, but has resisted going further and pitched himself as a peacemaker to voters. Hungary is heavily reliant on Russian energy and Orban has dodged opportunities to condemn Putin’s assault on its neighboring state, complicating the EU’s efforts to present a united front against him. We know that they will blame us, we will be the scapegoats, so it’s more important than ever to hold each other’s hand and not let go.” Critics have long complained that he has tilted the political playing field against his opponents. The election campaign was dominated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which put Orban’s lengthy association with Russian President Vladimir Putin under scrutiny.

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

“Hungary seems to have reached a point of no return,” she said. We knew in advance that it would be an extremely unequal fight," Marki-Zay said. It was a discouraging sign for the prime ministerial candidate who had promised to end to what he alleges is rampant government corruption, raise living standards by increasing funding to Hungary’s ailing health care and schools and mend frayed relations with the country's Western partners. “The whole world has seen tonight in Budapest that Christian democratic politics, conservative civic politics and patriotic politics have won. That this election was democratic and free is, of course, something we continue to dispute.” “We never thought this would be the result.

In his hour of victory, the Hungarian PM seems to remember how the Ukrainian president singled him out.

A Fidesz MP, Gyula Budai, accused Zelenskiy of “openly interfering in the Hungarian election campaign”. “Zelenskiy is attacking us now,” wrote one pro-government daily. While Zelenskiy has repeatedly urged a no-fly zone, he has not called for western forces to enter the ground war.

“It is doubtful that in free and fair elections, with a more proportionate electoral system, he would win a parliamentary majority, let alone such a large one,” ...

It is designed to give the Hungarians who authentically support his views outsized influence in the political system through gerrymandering while suppressing the influence of those who disagree. In his victory speech, Orbán listed a series of enemies that tried to stop his reelection. It is this combination of democratic and authoritarian features — a mix political scientists call “competitive authoritarianism” — that allows Orbán to repress his opponents while convincing his supporters that they still live in a democracy. Yet even one dissenter in Europe matters, as key decisions like European Council votes and the admission of new states to NATO require unanimous consent. The US prodded Russia into attacking Ukraine. Ukrainian arms may be sold to ‘terrorists’ in France. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is behaving like Adolf Hitler during the waning days of World War II.” The government stands up a series of villains — Muslim migrants, the Jewish billionaire George Soros, LGBTQ activists — and presents them as existential threats to Hungary’s way of life. A March 31 report from Hungarian corruption watchdogs found that the government spent over eight times as much on campaign billboards as the opposition; it displayed 12,171 campaign billboards around the country as compared to 1,564 for the opposition. In 2020, the government took 50 percent of federal funding from all political parties to fund the coronavirus response. By 2017, about 90 percent of all media in Hungary was owned by either the state or a Fidesz ally, including every single regional newspaper in the country — but that still wasn’t enough. His system is built on amplifying the influence of these supporters, convincing others to join them through relentless propaganda, and starving his critics of the resources they need to compete. It is in this second kind of seat where Orbán’s Fidesz party really ran up the score. That Fidesz’s share of the popular vote is increasing is also no accident.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban celebrated his farcical victory Sunday, in which his opponent was hamstrung by gerrymandering and all but excluded from state-run ...

Under Mr. Orban, it has gained notoriety for spying on and harassing journalists who have the temerity to do real reporting on government malfeasance; forcing once-independent media outlets and universities to become part of the government’s propaganda apparatus; and twisting voting rules to tilt elections in favor of the governing Fidesz party. It’s also that Mr. Orban’s contempt for the niceties of pluralism, tolerance and democracy, as well as his indulgence of a blood-spattered dictator in Moscow, runs the risk of savaging Hungary’s economy. It’s not only that Hungary has become a semi-pariah state within the European Union or that liberal democracies — the ones whose values Mr. Orban disdains — will tut-tut at his penchant for using immigrants and LGBTQ people as political punching bags. By continuing to antagonize Europe and subvert European principles, Mr. Orban jeopardizes that cash flow. His position has infuriated not only Western European governments but also Poland’s populist leadership, which until recently was closely allied with Mr. Orban, as well as neighboring Central European countries such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Europe, specifically the European Union, has been grappling with the problem of Mr. Orban for years; his victory will give him a fourth consecutive term, and a fifth overall.

Hungary's prime minister declared victory in Sunday's national elections — claiming a mandate for a fourth term as a partial vote count predicted a strong ...

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