With just 43% of the vote, right-wing Victor Orban’s Fidesz coalition won 57% of the vote, while the pro-European opposition coalition United for Hungary had 31%, according to the National Electoral Office. Addressing Fidesz executives and supporters, Mr Orban said: “We have won a victory so big that you can see it from the moon and you can definitely see it from Brussels.” Image: People queue to vote in the general election in Budapest, Hungary. Photo: AP Voters elected members of the country’s 199-seat parliament, with the show expected to be the closest since Orban took office in 2010. The country’s six main opposition parties had formed a united front against Fidesz in a bid to seize power. The United for Hungary coalition called on voters to support a new political culture focused on corrected alliances with the country’s allies in the EU and NATO. Follow the Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker Mr Orban had initially based his campaign on divisive social and cultural issues, but his message changed after the war in Ukraine. Since then, he has portrayed elections as a choice between peace and stability or war and chaos. The opposition called on Hungary to support Ukraine and act in concert with the EU and NATO, while Mr Orban insisted that Hungary remain neutral and maintain close economic ties with Moscow. “Unspoken horror” in liberated cities – latest updates in Ukraine Image: Opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay. Photo: AP Election observers sent to Hungary The candidate for prime minister of the coalition United for Hungary, Peter Marki-Zai, had promised to put an end to what he claims is uncontrollable government corruption. He also pledged to improve living standards by increasing funding for the country’s troubled healthcare and education systems. After the polls closed, he thanked all Hungarians who voted and the more than 20,000 volunteer ballots cast by opposition parties at polling stations across the country. “I express my gratitude to the citizens who spent the whole day checking the cleanliness of the elections and now they are starting the counting,” Marki-Zay wrote. Concerns were raised about the election, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) sent a full observer mission to the country – marking only the second time it has done so in an EU country.
