Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's 16-year rule ended in a crushing defeat last night, sending shockwaves through politics from Washington to Moscow.
The European Union's most autocratic leader and a close ally of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will hand over power to his opponent, Peter Magyar.
Orbán tearfully admitted defeat shortly after Magyar posted on Facebook at 9:12 p.m.: “Prime Minister Viktor Orban just called us to congratulate us on our victory.”
Magyar secured a two-thirds majority that would allow him to dismantle key features of Orban's "illiberal democracy," Politico reports.
This would mean dismantling the prime minister's tight control over the judiciary, state-owned companies, and the media.
Orbán's departure would be a huge relief for the European Union, whose systemic weaknesses he has exposed and exploited for years, and most recently helped Putin by blocking 90 billion euros in European aid to Ukraine.
Officials in Brussels have long accused Orban of undermining the foundations of Hungarian democracy and helping Putin block key aid to Kiev, but the EU has largely failed to curb his influence.
The Hungarian prime minister's heavy defeat will also deal a painful blow to Trump's MAGA movement, which saw the Hungarian prime minister as a model for its own brand of anti-immigrant, Christian-oriented nationalism.
Several private messages of support from Trump, bolstered by visits from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, failed to sway the race.
The election was shaped by growing public dissatisfaction with Hungary's declining economy and the corruption and nepotism associated with Orbán, Politico reports.
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