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The first polls give victory to Viktor Orbán in Hungary
The Prime Minister of Hungary, the ultra-nationalist Viktor Orbán, is emerging as the winner of the elections held this Sunday by beating the opposition coalition, according to a first poll released following the polls closed.
Orbán’s formation, Fidesz, would add 49% of the votes, while the opposition coalition “United for Hungary” -which brings together leftist parties, environmentalists, liberals and the populist right- would obtain 41%, according to the demoscopic institute Median.
According to analysts, the war in neighboring Ukraine has benefited Orbán, who has presented himself to the electorate as the guarantor of stability in turbulent times.
The Median data is not an exit poll since the poll was conducted yesterday, but it is the most recent study on voting intention and the only one released so far following the polls closed at 7:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT). .
According to Median, Fidesz would have 121 deputies out of 199 in Parliament, while the opposition would win 77 seats. The remaining deputy would be a representative of the German minority that usually supports Orbán’s formation.
Gergely Gulyás, current Minister of the Interior, said that “the first results are a source of hope.”
The data of the official count will be released from 9:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GMT) and the participation is expected to be very high, since until 6:30 p.m. it reached 67.8%, a figure very similar to that of 2018, when produced the record of electoral affluence during the democracy, with 70.2%.
These elections are the closest since Orbán came to power in 2010 as the six main opposition parties put aside their ideological differences to form a united front once morest Fidesz.
Orbán, 58, governed Hungary for the last 12 years with a large absolute majority that has allowed him to single-handedly approve a new Magna Carta and constitutional amendments with which he has undermined the separation of powers, according to criticism from the opposition and the European Union. (EU).
The prime minister, a fierce critic of immigration, LGBT rights and “EU bureaucrats”, has won the admiration of nationalists and the far right in Europe.
The head of government has presented himself as the guarantor of the country’s stability and has accused the opposition of wanting to involve Hungary in the war for showing solidarity with the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, whose country is being invaded by Russia.
Orbán, who is in tune with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he shares conservative policies, supports the EU sanctions once morest Moscow but refuses to deliver weapons to Ukraine, even prohibiting war material destined for kyiv from transiting Magyar territory.
Hungary has taken in almost 400,000 Ukrainians who fled the war and the war has become a campaign issue, with the opposition calling Orbán a “mini-Putin” for his autocratic tendencies and underlining his growing isolation in the EU. .
Opposition parties and OSCE election monitors have emphasized the difficulties in defeating Orbán due to his control of most of the country’s media and having more financial means than his opponents.
