By Justyna Pawlak and Gergely Szakacs
BUDAPEST, April 12 (Reuters) – Hungarians vote on Sunday https://www.reuters.com/world/hungary/elections/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungarys-election-could-end-orban-era-reshape-its-place-europe-2026/02026/09/09/2026-09-09-2026 may end. A 16-year hold on power, has shaken Russia and sent shockwaves through right-wing circles in the West, including US President Donald Trump’s White House.
Orban nL8N3ZL0R8, a eurosceptic nationalist, has drawn on the model of “liberal democracy” seen as a blueprint by Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and its admirers in Europe.
But many Hungarians are increasingly weary https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/factbox-what-has-changed-hungary-during-orbans-12-year-rule-2022-03-31/ Orban, 62, after three years of economic stability and reports of a growing economic recession and rising cost of living for the government.
Opinion polls over the past two weeks have shown Orbán’s Fidesz party trailing Peter Magyar nL8N3Z00J1’s upstart center-right opposition Tisza Party by 7-9 percentage points, with Tisza at around 38-41%.
Elections to the 199-seat parliament will begin at 6:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and close at 7:00 p.m. local time.
The vote is being watched closely in Brussels https://www.reuters.com/world/eu-hopes-hungarian-election-will-bring-end-orbans-blockades-2026-03-27/ , with many EU allies criticizing Orban, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and what he calls a close aide of Hungary’s Hungary. Governance, media freedom and minority rights.
For Ukraine, Hungary’s eastern neighbor, Orbán’s defeat could mean the blocking of a 90-billion-euro ($105 billion) European Union loan vital to Kiev’s war effort. It would also deprive Russia of its closest ally in the EU.
Orbán has presented the election as a choice between “war and peace”. During the campaign, the government dismissed the country by warning that Tisza leader Magyar would drag Hungary into Russia’s war with Ukraine, something he vehemently denies.
“I look forward to Sunday’s election with great hope,” Orbán told supporters in his hometown of Székesfehérvár.
“If we know ourselves well, if we know our country well and if we know our own people well, I must say that Hungarians will vote for security on Sunday,” he added.
Public discontent
Orbán has won public endorsements from the Trump administration — including Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to Budapest last week — as well as from the Kremlin and far-right leaders in Europe.
But his campaign has been rocked by media reports accusing his government of collusion with Moscow. Orban, who denies any wrongdoing, says his goal is to protect Hungary’s national identity and traditional Christian values within the EU and in a dangerous world.
Meanwhile, former Orban loyalist Magyar, 45, has tapped into discontent with young https://www.reuters.com/world/younger-hungarian-voters-spurn-orban-some-say-they-will-leave-if-he-is-re-2026-0rs-especially change for voters about alleged state corruption and declining living standards.
“I’m very excited but also very scared,” said Krista Toks, 24, who sells postcards and trinkets in Budapest. “I know my future depends on this,” she said, adding that she plans to leave Hungary if Orbán wins.
While Orban’s party has done well “on paper,” Tox said, referring to the handouts he provided to garner massive financial https://www.reuters.com/world/investors-position-post-orban-hungary-2026-04-09/ support, he believed young people were struggling more than the actual government.
To address a popularity rating of just 8% among under-30s, Orban has scrapped income tax for the youngest workers and launched a subsidized mortgage scheme to help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder amid the EU’s biggest rise in house prices under his rule.
But Magyar’s proposal for change seems to have resonated more.
Making a final push in the eastern city of Miskolc on Friday, Magyar said: “This will be a referendum on the place of our country and the future of our country.”
Analysts warned the outcome of the vote was uncertain, citing the number of undecided voters, the redrawing of the electoral map in Fidesz’s favor and the high proportion of ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries who mostly support the ruling party.
Anything they say from a Tisza supermajority – capable of changing the constitution – is possible in a Fidesz majority.
If Tisza wins, ignoring Orban’s legal and institutional changes could prove a daunting task for a new government with a simple majority in parliament.
($1 = 0.8533 euros)
(Additional reporting by Christina Than, Anita Komuves, Lily Bayer, Thomas Holdstock, Judith Langowski, Justyna Pawlak, Editing by Alexander Smith and Gareth Jones)
