BUDAPEST -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban thanked supporters late on April 3 after his ruling Fidesz party appeared set for a convincing victory over a six-party opposition grouping in what had been billed as a major challenge to the autocratic leader’s 12-year rule in the country.
The country’s election committee said that, based on preliminary results, Fidesz held 55 percent of votes in the national party list, while the United for Hungary coalition was second with 33 percent, and Our Home came third with 6.45 percent.
According to the election committee, parliamentary seat allocations were estimated at Fidesz-KDNP, 134 seats; United for Hungary, 58 seats; and Our Home, seven seats.
“We won the best when everyone came together against us,” Orban told supporters after the vote.
"Huge international power centers and organizations have moved against us, and they too have to say something: Every penny they gave to the Hungarian left was a waste of money," Orban said.
Opinion polls had given Fidesz and its partners only a narrow lead over the six-party opposition grouping ahead of voting by Hungary's 8 million registered voters. But a significant segment of the electorate was said to be undecided in the final days of campaigning.
The expected tight race had given rise to concerns that Orban would not play fair in the balloting.
SEE ALSO: OSCE Monitors Hungarian Elections Amid Voter Fraud FearsIn an unprecedented move for an EU member state, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has deployed a full monitoring mission for the vote amid concerns over potential election fraud and the use of state resources to give the ruling party an unfair advantage.
Meanwhile, domestic issues have been pushed to the side for the most part in the campaign, which has instead been dominated by the war in Ukraine, which borders Hungary.
'Putin Or Europe?'
Though Orban has supported Ukraine in general, he has also refused to allow NATO weapons to flow into its neighbor, saying Hungary should stay out of the war.
That message, according to opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay, had made the vote a simple one: “The question is clear: Putin or Europe?”
Marki-Zay, 49, went even further in an interview with RFE/RL’s Hungarian Service this week, calling Orban a “traitor” who is putting Hungarians at risk.
"I continue to say that we have to stop Putin, not Brussels. Let's for once be on the right side of history, for once on the winning side," Marki-Zay said.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive: Hungarian Opposition Candidate Marki-Zay Calls Orban A 'Traitor' Over War In UkraineFor his part, Orban has used the war to stir up the mix of conservatism and nationalism that has allowed him to govern for the past 12 years with a so-called supermajority of at least two-thirds of parliament, allowing Fidesz to enact deep changes while bypassing the opposition.
At a rally on April 1, Orban warned an opposition victory at the polls would see weapons flow into Ukraine “the next day,” while energy imports from Russia would be cut off, harming Hungarians and the country’s economy.
He has also hit out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s criticism of the Hungarian government for its ties to Moscow.
“Elections have always been important, but with the war and the possibility of an economic crisis in Europe, the stakes are higher than ever,” Orban said in an interview on April 1 with Kossuth Radio.
When the campaign has strayed away from the war in Ukraine and toward domestic issues, Orban has trumpeted the country’s economic performance while glossing over issues such as the authoritarian tendencies of his government, which have raised the ire of the European Union and prompted the bloc to withhold billions of euros in pandemic relief funds.
Marki-Zay has chipped away at Fidesz’s power base, center-right voters, with his own blend of Catholic faith and conservatism.
Orban has long been accused by critics both in the EU and in Hungary of overseeing the dismantling of democratic institutions, exerting undue control over the media and judiciary, and facilitating corruption.
Marki-Zay has attacked Orban, who is looking to win a fourth consecutive term, for his policies at home and his close relationships with Moscow and Beijing, saying they have not only hurt Hungary’s international standing, but have had an economic impact as well.
"Even if it would mean a huge market and strategic opportunity, over the past 12 years Orban has failed to show that he has secured any sort of market, whether in China or in Russia," he said.
"It is not at all visible that Orban has developed the Hungarian economy,” he concluded.