Hungary will once again become a strong ally of EU: Magyar

Hungarian voters turned out in force on Sunday to deliver a landslide victory to pro-European candidate Peter Magyar, who has pledged to turn the country away from its far-right, authoritarian course under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, DW reports.

Magyar's center-right Tisza party is set to gain 138 seats in Hungary's 199-seat parliament, giving it five seats more than the two-thirds needed to push through the reforms the 45-year-old former Orban loyalist promised on the campaign trail.

The victory came despite Orban's control of Hungary's public media, gerrymandering of voting districts that required Tisza to gain an estimated 5% more votes than Orban's Fidesz party and efforts both by European far-right parties and the US to urge voters to retain the government in power.

Turnout reached almost 80%, according to the National Election Office — a record number in any vote in post-communist Hungary.

In a speech to supporters following his landslide victory, Magyar reiterated campaign promises to rebuild ties with Brussels and NATO, which were badly eroded during Orban's rule, and vigorously fight the corruption that also flourished under the populist leader.

"With the two-thirds majority allowing us to amend the constitution, we will restore the system of checks and balances," Magyar said.

"We will join the European Public Prosecutor's Office and guarantee the democratic functioning of our country. We will never again allow anyone to hold free Hungary captive or to abandon it," he said.

"Tonight, truth prevailed over lies. Today, we won because Hungarians didn't ask what their homeland could do for them — they asked what they could do for their homeland. You found the answer. And you followed through,” he said.

Many in the crowd chanted "Europe, Europe" during his speech.

Among other things, Magyar has pledged to carry out reforms that could potentially unlock billions in European Union funding, frozen over concerns in Brussels about Orban's dismantling of the rule of law and repression of media freedom. He has said he also wants Hungary to adopt the euro as currency.

Some diplomats and analysts say, however, that the new government must first demonstrate concrete results from its reform drive before the release of the funds, which would deliver a much-needed boost to the country's nearly stagnant economy.

Magyar's stance on LGBTQ+ rights, which were gravely undermined by Orban, is also unclear, as he said little about the issue during his campaign — a move observers said was aimed at keeping conservative voters on side. He has, however, said that he supports equality of all before the law.

Hungary will once again become a strong ally of EU: Magyar

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