Get you up to speed: Hungary voters oust Viktor Orban after 16 years in power amid election upset

Why Viktor Orban’s defeat spells trouble for Trump and MAGA | News World

After more than a decade in power, Orban has been voted out (Picture: AFP)

After serving 16 years as prime minister, Hungarian voters ousted Viktor Orban on Sunday, rejecting authoritarian policies and a right-wing movement he spearheaded.

Election victor Peter Magyar, a former loyalist of Mr Orban who campaigned against corruption and on everyday issues such as health care and public transport, has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s relationships with the European Union and NATO – ties that frayed under Mr Orban.

President Trump’s ‘MAGA’ politicians have long supported Orban’s government, seeing it as an example of conservative, anti-globalist politics in action.

But even US vice-president JD Vance’s intervention in the campaign, in which he endorsed Orban during a visit to Budapest earlier this month, couldn’t win over the votes he needed.

Dr Sherrill Stroschein, lecturer in politics in the department of political science at the University College London, told WTX that Orban’s loss is a major win for European politics.

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‘Orban’s defeat is a good earthquake. It will really change the way things looked like they were going, in terms of the right-wing movement seeming inevitable,’ she said.

‘These people had tried to rely on appearing inevitable, as if things were naturally moving toward right-wing populism. Trump and Vance had been riding that same idea—this kind of right-wing international.

‘And the victory of Magyar Péter, though he is conservative, defeated this organisation that was very much tied in with Russia and the more problematic aspects of Trump and Vance.’

What does this mean for international politics?

Orban was known for his close ties with MAGA (Picture: AFP)

Dr Balazs Szent-Ivanyi, professor at Aston University in politics and international relations, told WTX Orban’s defeat won’t mean much for the US.

‘Orbán had outsized influence because he demonstrated how you can stay in power while promoting fairly unorthodox policies when he first came to power in the early 2010s,’ he explained.

‘Those policies have become more mainstream and have been adopted by others. We’ve also seen Trump copying quite a lot from Orbán’s playbook.’

Orban’s defeat after sixteen years in power shows that hard-right populist leaders who have ‘eroded democratic institutions’ can still be defeated through constitutional means, Dr Szent-Ivanyi said.

‘It’s an uphill battle for the opposition, but if they have the right leader at the right time—and conditions align, like economic dissatisfaction—then it is possible. The message for the US is similar: despite Trump rolling back certain freedoms, including around the press, he is not undefeatable.’

Dr Eitan Tzelgov, from the University of East Anglia, said: ‘After sixteen years, the architect of illiberal democracy is out. Viktor Orbán wrote the playbook that populist leaders worldwide came to Budapest to study – he was ‘Trump before Trump’.

‘But he ran out of enemies to demonise and faced an unprecedented combination: a unified opposition and a conservative challenger from within his own political world.’

Vance’s visit was a ‘damp squib’

JD Vance visited and endorsed Orban before the election (Picture: Getty)

Dr Stroschein and Dr Szent-Ivanyi both believe Vance’s visit to Budapest and endorsement of Orban didn’t make a difference in an already hotly contested election.

‘It was a huge stadium, it was packed, but the real victory in Hungary came from a two-year campaign that was extremely well organised by Tisza. That’s the real story,’ Dr Stroschein said.

Dr Szent-Ivanyi added: ‘The average Hungarian voter likely didn’t know who J.D. Vance was. They’d recognise Trump, but probably not Vance. So it’s unlikely his visit brought in new voters.

‘Still, Orbán has long valued connections with MAGA figures. His government invested heavily in building relationships with US conservative circles and evangelical groups. These connections were useful domestically, as Orbán could present himself as a global figure despite being somewhat isolated within the EU.

‘But I don’t think Vance’s visit had any meaningful effect on the election outcome—it neither helped nor hurt significantly. It was more of a damp squib.’

After wielding power for more than a decade, Orban is on his way out of Hungary’s government – but while conceding the race, he vowed not to give up.

Dr Stroschein observed: ‘This might have been a way for him to psychologically process a serious defeat, or he might continue to operate in the background. His network still holds a lot of power, but some of them may flee the country. It’s definitely something to watch going forward.’

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