Hungary’s Tisza Party is projected to win a two-thirds majority in parliament with 135 seats, the Hungarian National Election Office said.
This is based on partial results with 45.7% of votes counted, pointing to a historic and decisive defeat for veteran Prime Minister Viktor Orban after 16 years in power.
The two-thirds threshold of 133 seats in the 199-member parliament gives Tisza the constitutional majority it needs to carry out the sweeping reforms it has promised, including measures to combat corruption and restore the independence of the judiciary — and to reverse much of Orban’s legislative legacy.
The projection marks a significant shift from earlier counts: Tisza was projected at 125 seats with 14.7% counted, 132 seats with 29.2% counted and 132 seats with 37% counted before crossing the two-thirds threshold in the latest update.
Opposition leader Peter Magyar earlier acknowledged the results on Facebook. “Thank you Hungary,” he wrote.
If the projection holds, Orban’s defeat would have significant implications beyond Hungary. It would likely end Hungary’s adversarial role inside the EU, potentially opening the way for a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine that Orban had blocked, and the eventual release of EU funds suspended over what Brussels described as Orban’s erosion of democratic standards. An Orban exit would also deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of his main ally within the EU.
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