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Hungary election campaigns enter final stretch as Orbán fights to remain in power – Europe live | Hungary
Morning opening: Helló Budapestről!
Jakub Krupa
in Budapest
Helló Budapestről!
Or, to those of you inexplicably less fluent in Hungarian: hello from Budapest!
It’s a beautiful if slightly chilly morning here in the Hungarian capital as we enter the final hours of the campaign before this Sunday’s parliamentary vote that could see the end of Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.
When you look at the polls, they are a bit all over the place – particularly depending on their, erm, affiliation and proximity to the ruling party – but all independent pollsters appear to suggest that Péter Magyar’s Tisza party is on course for victory on Sunday.
But there is plenty time before then, with a number of voters still undecided or not sure if they are even going to vote, despite the expected record turnout.
In his last rallies, Magyar warned his supporters against complacency, stressing the need to fight for every single vote and to get everyone to come out on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Orbán argued that “no election is decided until the people decide it,” and insisted he still expected a victory on Sunday.
Let’s see how it goes.
We will be bringing you updates from Budapest and beyond to get you a sense of what is the feeling on the ground in Hungary.
It’s Friday, 10 April 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
Orbán seeks to mobilise voters as he warns against change
Meanwhile, Viktor Orbán also issued a rallying cry to his supporters, lauding the achievements of his government over the last 16 years and warning them that a change of government would “threaten all we built together.”
In a Facebook video – which he trailed last night as particularly important – he repeated his usual allegations of interference and collusion with some foreign security services, claiming there was “an organised attempt to question the decision of the Hungarian people.”
“This is not the time for division, anger or hatred. Hungary needs cooperation, unity and security,” he argued.
But in perhaps a hint of vulnerability, he also directly asked voters to speak with “families, friends, and acquaintances” to tell them that “the stakes are high and change is dangerous.”
Fidesz’s attack posters with Zelenskyy are everywhere
Jakub Krupa
moving on Intercity 564 Tokaj train
One of the striking features of this campaign is how much Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy features on Fidesz’s attack posters, alleging his association with the opposition’s Magyar and urging voters to “stop them”.
Okay, that picture isn’t great, so here’s a better shot:
They are plastered all over Budapest, and even en route to Hatvan now, I have seen just as many of them as those showing Viktor Orbán.
Ukraine has been a massive talking point throughout the campaign, with Orbán repeatedly using it to position himself as “the peace candidate,” ready to stop some alleged EU-Ukraine conspiracy to draw Hungary into conflict with Russia.
My colleague Ashifa Kassam, who is also in Budapest for the election, explained it well here – and this rhetoric has only got stronger since then.
Magyar’s campaign moves east of Budapest
Jakub Krupa
moving on Intercity 564 Tokaj train
Meanwhile, I have jumped on the Intercity Tokaj train to Hatvan, where the opposition leader Péter Magyar is expected around 1pm local time.
In 2022, Zsolt Szabó, the candidate from Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party won here decisively with over 50% of the vote, so it’s not exactly a naturally friendly ground for the opposition forces.
But in recent days, his rallies gathered some impressive numbers, so it will be interesting what sort of reception he gets today.
As we get closer to the vote, his campaign moves eastwards towards Debrecen, Hungary’s second largest city, where he is due to finish campaign tomorrow evening.
MEPs raise alarm about possible Russian meddling in Hungary elections
Jennifer Rankin
in Brussels
The European Commission is being urged to investigate whether Hungary’s elections are being undermined by Russian manipulation, intimidation of journalists and voter coercion by the ruling party.
Three days before decisive parliamentary elections that threaten the 16-year grip on power of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, a group of MEPs have written to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the commissioner responsible for the rule of law, Michael McGrath, calling for action.
The cross-party group want an urgent assessment “before and immediately after” polling day on whether the conditions for free and fair competition are being undermined by disinformation, foreign manipulation, state-resource misuse, intimidation of journalists and unlawful interference with opposition actors.
The appeal came as the European Commission demanded an urgent explanation from Budapest over a leaked recording that appeared to show a further instance of the Hungarian foreign minister covertly helping his Russian counterpart.
Jakub Krupa
in Budapest
As you’re reading this Trump post, it’s probably worth keeping in mind that his VP, JD Vance, spent most of his time in Budapest fuming about the unacceptable foreign interference in the election and declaring it absolutely outrageous.
So, yeah. Make of that what you will.
‘Get out and vote for Viktor Orbán,’ Trump tells Hungarians
Overnight, the US president, Donald Trump, repeated his endorsement of Viktor Orbán ahead of the vote on Sunday, urging Hungarians to “get out and vote” for him and stressing he will be “with him all the way.”
Obviously, it’s not the first time Trump intervenes in this campaign, with the pair going back over a decade.
Earlier this week, the US vice-president JD Vance called him on his mobile while on stage speaking at a “day of Hungarian-American friendship” pre-election rally in Budapest, and Trump earlier also recorded a video endorsing the embattled Hungarian prime minister.
In today’s post on Truth Social, he said:
“Highly Respected Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is a truly strong and powerful Leader, with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results. He fights tirelessly for, and loves, his Great Country and People, just like I do for the United States of America. Viktor works hard to Protect Hungary, Grow the Economy, Create Jobs, Promote Trade, Stop Illegal Immigration, and Ensure LAW AND ORDER! Relations between Hungary and the United States have reached new heights of cooperation and spectacular achievement under my Administration, thanks largely to Prime Minister Orbán. I look forward to continuing working closely with him so that both of our Countries can further advance this tremendous path to SUCCESS and cooperation. I was proud to ENDORSE Viktor for Re-Election in 2022, and am honored to do so again.
Election Day is Sunday, April 12, 2026. Hungary: GET OUT AND VOTE FOR VIKTOR ORBÁN. He is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary — VIKTOR ORBÁN WILL NEVER LET THE GREAT PEOPLE OF HUNGARY DOWN. I AM WITH HIM ALL THE WAY! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Magyar voters are hopeful for change, but despite optimism he is seen as far from perfect candidate
Flora Garamvolgyi
in Budapest
We talked to a few Budapest residents this morning in the city centre at Jászai Mari Square.
Most of them were rushing to work, but still stopped to chat with us about the upcoming vote on Sunday, which seems to creep into every single conversation here lately – as they say, even at family dinners.
Some of them were not that keen on sharing the exact party they are going to vote for but every single one of them had strong opinions about the two main candidates: Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán, who has been in power for 16 years and Péter Magyar, a young(ish) centre-right figure who emerged from Fidesz circles and turned against the party a year ago.
Talking to people, we got the sense that despite Magyar leading the polls, he is not necessarily seen as the “perfect candidate,” but rather a protest vote against Orbán.
People who are planning to vote for him are hopeful about the vote on Sunday and predict a clear win for Magyar, who has the highest chance so far to put an end to Orbán’s reign.
But we also met a surprisingly high number of Fidesz supporters in the capital who resonated with the ruling party’s message: Sunday is about choosing “between war and peace”. One Fidesz voter called the opposition candidate a “narcissist”; others said they are satisfied with how Orbán supports ethnic Hungarians in the neighbouring countries.
Morning opening: Helló Budapestről!
Jakub Krupa
in Budapest
Helló Budapestről!
Or, to those of you inexplicably less fluent in Hungarian: hello from Budapest!
It’s a beautiful if slightly chilly morning here in the Hungarian capital as we enter the final hours of the campaign before this Sunday’s parliamentary vote that could see the end of Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.
When you look at the polls, they are a bit all over the place – particularly depending on their, erm, affiliation and proximity to the ruling party – but all independent pollsters appear to suggest that Péter Magyar’s Tisza party is on course for victory on Sunday.
But there is plenty time before then, with a number of voters still undecided or not sure if they are even going to vote, despite the expected record turnout.
In his last rallies, Magyar warned his supporters against complacency, stressing the need to fight for every single vote and to get everyone to come out on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Orbán argued that “no election is decided until the people decide it,” and insisted he still expected a victory on Sunday.
Let’s see how it goes.
We will be bringing you updates from Budapest and beyond to get you a sense of what is the feeling on the ground in Hungary.
It’s Friday, 10 April 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
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