The Guardian view on Hungary’s election: democracy reclaimed | Editorial

The defeat of Orbánism is a globally significant political moment.

But it is, above all, a triumph for the citizens who mobilised to take their country back

Prior to his landslide election victory in 2010, which was to lead to 16 unbroken years in power, Viktor Orbán https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/how-viktor-orbans-hungary-eroded-rule-law-free-markets">would tell supporters: “We have only to win once, but then properly.” Achieving a so-called supermajority by winning two-thirds of parliamentary seats allowed Mr Orbán to change the constitution, and begin turning Hungary into a soft https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220909IPR40137/meps-hungary-can-no-longer-be-considered-a-full-democracy">autocracy.

From the judiciary to the media and universities, the checks and balances of a democratic society were steadily dismantled and minorities were marginalised, as the country became a https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/opinion/viktor-orban-donald-trump-hungary-right.html">beacon for the global far right and a nationalist thorn in the side of Brussels.

On Sunday, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/13/hungary-election-results-eu-europe-leaders-react-peter-magyar-viktor-orban">stunningly, it was Mr Orbán’s centre-right challenger, Péter Magyar, who “won properly”.

After a record turnout, his Tisza party is all but certain to win its own supermajority.

Given Mr Orbán’s control of state media and gerrymandering of constituencies to favour his Fidesz party, this was a truly remarkable result.