Budapest
\nHungarians started voting on Sunday in an election that could end Prime Minister Viktor Orban\u2019s \u200b16-year hold on power, rattle Russia, and send shockwaves through right-wing circles across the West, including US President Donald Trump\u2019s White House.
\nOrban, a eurosceptic nationalist, has carved \u200cout a model of an \u201cilliberal democracy\u201d seen as a blueprint by Trump\u2019s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and its admirers in Europe. But many Hungarians have grown increasingly weary of Orban, 62, after three years of economic stagnation and soaring living costs, as well as reports of oligarchs close to the government amassing more wealth.
\nOpinion polls have shown Orban\u2019s Fidesz party trailing Peter Magyar\u2019s upstart centre-right opposition Tisza party by 7-9 percentage points, with Tisza at around 38-41%.
\nVoting in the \u200belection for the 199-seat parliament started at 6:00am local time (0400 GMT) and is due to close at 7:00pm.<\/p>\n
Vote could bring record turnout, pollsters say
\n\u201cI think we need change \u200bin the country. We need an improvement in public mood, we are full of tensions in many areas, and the current government only fuels these sentiments,\u201d said Mihaly Bacsi, 27, after casting his vote for Tisza in a Budapest polling station.
\nPollsters said the election could bring record turnout. \u201cIt would be important to return to our Western commitment, \u200bthis is where Fidesz also started a long time ago and it could be that we will return to the Western path without (Fidesz).\u201d
\nThe vote is being closely watched in Brussels, with many European Union peers \u200bcriticising Orban, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a close Trump ally, over what they say is an erosion of Hungary\u2019s democratic rule, media freedom and minority rights.
\nFor Hungary\u2019s eastern neighbour Ukraine, an Orban defeat could mean the unblocking of a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) EU loan vital for Kyiv\u2019s war effort. It would also deprive Russia of its closest ally in the EU.
\nOrban has cast the election as a choice between \u201cwar and peace\u201d. During campaigning, \u200bthe government blanketed the country with signs warning that Tisza leader Magyar would drag Hungary into Russia\u2019s war with Ukraine, something he strongly denies. \u201cI am looking forward to Sunday\u2019s election with the \u200bbest hope,\u201d Orban told supporters in his birthplace, Szekesfehervar.
\n\u201cIf we know ourselves well, if we know our country well and if we know our own people well, then I must say Hungarians will vote for safety on \u200cSunday,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Public discontent
\nOrban has won public endorsements from the Trump administration\u2013culminating in a visit to Budapest by Vice President JD Vance last week\u2013as well as from the Kremlin and far-right leaders in Europe. But his campaign has been shaken by media reports alleging that his government colluded with Moscow. Orban, who denies any wrongdoing, says his goal is to protect Hungary\u2019s national identity and traditional Christian values within the EU and its security in a dangerous world.
\nMeanwhile, former Orban loyalist Magyar, 45, has tapped into discontent over alleged state corruption and falling living standards, with young voters particularly eager for change.
\n\u201cI am \u200bvery excited but also very scared,\u201d said Kriszta \u200bTokes, a 24-year-old who sells postcards and trinkets in Budapest. \u201cI know that my future depends on this,\u201d she said, adding that she plans to leave Hungary if Orban wins.
\nWhile Orban\u2019s party has done good things \u201con paper,\u201d Tokes said, referring to massive fiscal handouts he has provided to shore up support, she believed young people were struggling more than \u200bthe government realised.<\/p>\n
Orban\u2019s low popularity among under-30s
\nTo address a popularity rating of just 8% among under-30s, Orban has scrapped income tax for the \u200byoungest workers and launched a subsidised mortgage scheme to help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder amid the EU\u2019s steepest rise in house prices under his rule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Budapest Hungarians started voting on Sunday in an election that could end Prime Minister Viktor Orban\u2019s \u200b16-year hold on power, rattle Russia, and send shockwaves through right-wing circles across the West, including US President Donald Trump\u2019s White House. Orban, a eurosceptic nationalist, has carved \u200cout a model of an \u201cilliberal democracy\u201d seen as a blueprint …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":96224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96258,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96242\/revisions\/96258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}