Polls close in Hungary after record-breaking election on whether to end Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule

WorldPolitics
13 Apr 2026 • 2:18 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Polls close in Hungary after record-breaking election on whether to end Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule

Polls have closed in Hungary’s high-stakes election that sees nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán face down the strongest opposition leader of his 16-year tenure.

Hungary’s record-breaking parliamentary election on Sunday, 12 April, has had the highest voter turnout in the country’s post-Communist history.

Almost 78 per cent of eligible voters took part in the election according to the National Election Office.

Opinion polls suggest that Orbán and his nationalist Fidesz party will lose power to the centre-right pro-European Union Tisza party, led by former party loyalist Peter Magyar.