UK News
Hungary election live: voters head to the polls in contest that could see end of Viktor Orbán’s rule | Hungary
Key events
Good ‘vibes’ give Budapest hopes for opposition win
Jakub Krupa
in Budapest’s 14th district
Making the most of a beautiful day in Budapest, I spent a large part of the day zooming Budapest (using the city’s great bike paths!) and chatting with voters.
In the 14th district of Budapest, I spoke with several people voting in the polling stations on Ajtósi Dürer sor.
Atilla, 35, told me that he was confident about the result because of “the vibes” in the city and the country. “It will be really big change,” he told me confidently.
But where was that confidence coming from, I ask. “[It’s] because of the vibes in Hungary,” he replied with a cheeky smile. “It’s the vibes, [everyone is] so passionate, and I’m hearing it’s not just in Budapest, like four years ago; it’s better.”
How much a potential change of government would mean to him?
No words to say how much. Too much.
Separately, Barbara and Margit, 21, also expressed some hope about the result – but they struck a more cautious note.
“I feel really hopeful. We finally have a chance to change the government,” Margit said.
But Barbara said she wanted to stay “realistic” before the results come in.
“I thought last time around that the opposition seemed pretty strong and it wasn’t [in the end]. I’m trying to not get my hopes up, but we will see. I hope something changes today.”
She added that if the opposition wins,
“It will mean a lot – not just for us as a country, but also for Europe in general. I have seen quite a few posts about the Czech Republic and different countries, all waiting for [the results of] our election.”
Voters in Budapest for change, but remain nervous about outcome
Flora Garamvolgyi
in Budapest’s 5th district
I went to a few polling stations today to get a sense of how Budapest residents in the heart of the city are feeling about today’s elections.
Most of them weren’t sure about the outcome, despite most polls showing a confident lead for Tisza, but expressed hope. Some young voters said they feel like they are witnessing a historic moment.
“I really hope there will be a change of government,” Fruzsi, 22, told me at Erzsébet Square, next to the famous Budapest ferris wheel, right after she cast her vote. “My experience is that there are so many angry people because they are lying to us.”
She says she is really bothered by the intense propaganda the government is pushing on voters.
Gergő, 36, seemed a little more nervous about the results. He said he and others anticipated change during previous elections, too, and were unpleasantly surprised by the outcome. So now he is more cautious and approaches today with an “anything is possible” attitude.
“But I am anticipating change. At least I’m hoping. … This arrogant political style from the government, and that they are inciting hate and attacking everyone, from teachers to judges and all ethnic groups, is awful,” he told me, adding that when the government is done with attacking Zelenskyy, they’ll find a new enemy.
Mária, 81, is also hopeful, but she is hoping for a very different outcome than Fruzsi and Gergő, rooting for the ruling party, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz.
“I trust that he’ll protect our country,” she told me, adding that she doesn’t think the war is the biggest threat looming over Hungary, but rather “all of these extremist people who don’t think the way they should.” She said people should not have too high expectations for the government because they don’t have the budget to execute everything, and is hopeful that it’ll be another supermajority for Orbán.
I am now heading over to the international press room at the Tisza event – after making sure I’m properly caffeinated for the long night ahead…
‘It’s going to be very exciting’ – what voters tell us on the ground in Budapest
in Budapest
Orbán’s Hungary ‘remains in a category of its own’ on repressive laws and policies
So much focus on Hungary is somewhat understandable as a recent Liberties report found that Orbán’s Hungary “remains in a category of its own [in Europe], continuing to pursue ever more regressive laws and policies with no sign of change”.
But it’s not the only country with severe problems when it comes to the rule of law.
Drawing on evidence from more than 40 NGOs in 22 countries, the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) described the governments of Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia as “dismantlers” that were actively weakening the rule of law.
But we also looked at the rule of law more broadly…
… as well as the far-right’s attacks on Europe’s public service media …
… and on how Europe’s civil society fights back against some of these controversial moves across the continent.
The report was prepared by our Europe correspondent Jon Henley, with contributions from Deborah Cole in Berlin, Angela Giuffrida in Rome, and, well, me!
‘He cares about Hungarians’: the small Ukrainian town divided over Orbán
Pjotr Sauer
in Berehove
Across much of Ukraine, Sunday’s parliamentary election in Hungary is being followed with a singular hope: that Viktor Orbán, the Kremlin-friendly leader who has made opposition to Kyiv a centrepiece of his campaign, will be voted out after 16 years in office.
But in Berehove, the mood is more complicated.
In this small town of about 30,000 in Ukraine’s hilly Zakarpattia region, ethnic Hungarians form a majority, and Hungarian is heard as often as Ukrainian. Daily life – from schooling to the television channels watched at home – remains closely tethered to neighbouring Hungary.
Some residents admit, often quietly, that they are rooting for Orbán’s Fidesz party.
Orbán has long portrayed himself as a defender of ethnic Hungarians abroad – about 60,000 of whom live in Zakarpattia – claiming they face widespread discrimination in Ukraine and are being forced to assimilate into Ukrainian society.
His critics, both in Hungary and within Ukraine, say he has exaggerated – and at times distorted – those grievances to justify a hostile stance towards Kyiv and its western allies.
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán seeking to drum up votes by doing down Ukraine
Ashifa Kassam and Flora Garamvölgyi
in Budapest
Paid for by its rightwing, populist government, the billboards attacking Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the opposition leader, Péter Magyar, blanket Hungary.
It’s a nod to the election strategy that Viktor Orbán, the EU’s longest-serving leader, has unleashed as he lags in most polls before upcoming elections: convincing voters that the country’s greatest threat is not fraying social services, the rising cost of living or economic stagnation, but rather the neighbouring country of Ukraine.
“Effectively, Ukraine is portrayed as a main enemy,” said Zsuzsanna Végh, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund. “This is not just about Ukraine per se, but it fits into the standard strategy of the governing party, of mobilising its electorate through generating fear in society.”
In 2018, when Orbán was seeking a third consecutive term as prime minister, he and his Fidesz party sought to stoke fears about migration. In 2022, as voters headed to the ballot box five weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Orbán peddled the baseless claim that the opposition would send Hungarian troops to fight in the war.
This election, as Orbán faces an unprecedented challenge from a former top member of his own party, Péter Magyar, the strategy has seemingly been kicked into high gear. “We definitely see a significant escalation,” said Végh.
Leaked calls prompt scrutiny of Hungary’s close ties with Moscow
In the final weeks of the campaign, Viktor Orbán and his ministers also repeatedly clashed with Ukraine and EU member states over Budapest’s close ties with Moscow.
In one leaked phone call, it appeared that Orbán offered to go to great lengths to help Vladimir Putin, telling the Russian leader “I am at your service” in an October call, it has emerged, prompting further scrutiny of Budapest’s ties to the Kremlin just as JD Vance arrived in the city.
Separately, a number of leaked telephone calls between Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, prompted the European Commission to demand an urgent explanation from Budapest.
In the leaked conversations, the pair talked about a number of confidential EU discussions, including on EU sanctions on Russia and the bloc’s accession policy towards Ukraine, with Szijjártó even offering to share some internal documents.
Their interactions were branded “repulsive” and “unacceptable” by several EU leaders.
In response, one of the country’s best-known investigative journalists was also targeted by the government with spying allegations.
Trump, Vance and European far-right leaders rallied for Orbán ahead of tricky electoral test
In the build up to today’s vote, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán received unprecedented backing from foreign leaders, many of whom even made the trip to Budapest to offer their public endorsement.
In late March, several like-minded leaders from across Europe – including France’s Marine Le Pen and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders – attended a “Patriots for Europe” meeting in Budapest, praising the embattled prime minister and his importance in the conservative movement.
And in the last week, the US vice-president JD Vance flew into Budapest to appear alongside Orbán and endorse him just days before the vote.
“It’s unprecedented for an American vice-president to come the week before an election,” he acknowledged.
But he said he had decided to come because of what he described as the “garbage happening against” Orbán in the election, and said he wanted “to help, as much as I possibly can” – all while rejecting claims of interference.
But his boss, the US president, Donald Trump, has also not exactly been shy about expressing his preferences, repeatedly urging Hungarians to vote for his ideological ally.
On Friday, he even offered to throw “the full economic might of the US to strengthen Hungary’s economy,” stepping up his support for Orbán even further.
Who is Péter Magyar, the opposition leader challenging Viktor Orbán?
Ashifa Kassam and Flora Garamvölgyi
in Budapest
As a child growing up in Budapest, Péter Magyar had a poster of Viktor Orbán – at the time a leading figure in the country’s pro-democracy movement – hanging above his bed.
Orbán was one of several political figures that adorned his bedroom, Magyar told a podcast last year, hinting at his excitement over the changes sweeping the country after the collapse of communism.
Now Magyar, 45, is the driving force behind what could be another momentous political change in Hungary: the ousting of Orbán, whose 16 years in power has transformed the country into a “petri dish for illiberalism”.
Conversations with those who know Magyar often alternate between admiration and antipathy. Many praise the tremendous movement he has built and the discipline he has shown as he crisscrosses the country, giving up to six speeches a day, while also describing him as someone with a short temper and a style that can be abrasive at times.
Others see him as the perfect fit for the magnitude of the moment. “I think, like all politicians, he can be a difficult person,” said Tamás Topolánszky, a film-maker who was part of a team that spent the past 18 months following Magyar for a film on the wider change sweeping Hungarian society.
Topolánszky described Magyar as authentic and passionate, but also someone who could be impatient at times. “I think that this is something that we Hungarians now see was necessary to get us to this point.”
Opposition leader Magyar paints vote as ‘choice between East or West’
Opposition leader Péter Magyar said today’s vote in Hungary amounted to “a choice between East or West” which would define the country’s future for “a very, very long time.”
Speaking to reporters after voting in Budapest, Magyar presented the vote as a historic choice of the country’s orientation and between “propaganda or honest public discourse; corruption or clean public life.”
He said first turnout data was “very, very encouraging,” but urged everyone to vote.
The fate of Hungary is being decided today for a very, very long time.
The Tisza leader appeared confident about the result of the vote, saying his party “will win this election,” but “the question is whether we can get this two-thirds mandate, or do we have to govern with a simple majority.”
He said a supermajority would make it easier to “dismantle this system, tear apart this spider web which entangles our country.”
Magyar also responded to speculations about potential provocations that could see the result contested, urging people to “maintain their peace.”
“No one should give in to any provocation. We know for sure that if this election takes place calmly and legally, then this election will be won by Tisza and Hungary,” he said.
2026 turnout by 5pm still far ahead of previous elections
Speaking about the turnout (17:20), we have just had the latest update, showing record-high levels of interest in the election.
More than 74% of the electorate has cast their votes by 5pm, up from 62% at the same time of the day in 2022.
Most Hungarians want better relations with EU, poll finds
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
After years of relentless EU-bashing by their nationalist, illiberal prime minister, an overwhelming majority of Hungary’s voters back its membership of the bloc, and most – including many of Viktor Orbán’s voters – now want a new approach to Brussels.
Days before elections at which Orbán, who has consistently painted the EU as an enemy of the Hungarian people, risks being ousted after 16 years in power, a poll has shown a huge appetite for a recalibration of the country’s relations with the bloc.
The survey, by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank, found that 77% of voters support EU membership; three-quarters of respondents “trust” the bloc; and 68% want at least some degree of change in Hungary’s EU engagement.
Orbán has battled with Brussels – which has suspended billions of euros in funding – over a wide range of policies including on justice, migration, LGBTQ+ rights and aid for Ukraine, which, along with sanctions against Russia, he has consistently blocked.
EU leaders have largely steered clear of commenting on Sunday’s vote to avoid accusations of seeking to influence it, but Orbàn’s status as a far-right icon in Europe and beyond makes the election the bloc’s most consequential this year.
While the desire for change was strongest (91%) among supporters of Péter Magyar, the centre-right challenger whose Tisza party leads Orbán’s Fidesz by a double-digit margin in recent polls, nearly half (45%) of Fidesz voters also wanted a reset.
Majorities of Fidesz voters also said they supported Hungary’s continued membership of the EU (65%) and “trusted” the bloc (64%), while a large minority (43%, compared with 66% in the population as a whole) even backed Hungary joining the euro.
23 years on from EU accession referendum, Hungary ‘once again … decides direction’ of country
Ashifa Kassam and Flora Garamvölgyi
in Budapest
Today’s election comes 23 years to the day after Hungarians voted overwhelmingly to join the European Union, drawing comparisons to that historic vote and its influence on the future of the country.
“Now, on 12 April, once again, voters are not simply choosing between parties, but deciding the direction, identity, and future of Hungary,” Tisza’s Anita Orbán, no relation to the prime minister, said on social media. “In many ways, this election is a referendum on whether Hungary returns to European values.”
It was a hint of how much has changed in Hungary since Orbán took power in 2010. What followed was, in the words of Zoltán Kész, a former member of the Fidesz party, nothing less than a “coup in slow motion,” albeit one that eschewed tanks for lawyers and clientelism.
The rightwing populist government had used its time in office to steadily whittle away at the checks and balances that constrained its power: rewriting election laws to its own benefit, manoeuvring to put loyalists in control of an estimated 80% of the country’s media, and retooling the country’s judiciary.
Meanwhile, Budapest has become a hub of thinktanks and conferences aimed at amplifying the idea of Hungary, in the words of one local journalist, as a “Christian conservative Disneyland” where the global far right feels at home.
“We’re taking it one step at a time,” Declan Holmes also said, as his 66-year-old father recovers in hospital.
Source link
The bus, believed to be operated by Ember, left the road on Sunday morning north of Aviemore.
Source link
UK News
Sunderland v Tottenham, Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa and more: Premier League – live | Premier League
Key events
Gosh, Brobbey chases down as Romero seeks to shepherd back to Kinsky, there’s a little shove from the striker and a collision follows, Romero running through the keeper’s head. De Zerbi wants a second yellow for Brobbey but the ref isn’t showing one, and there’s a lengthy pause while treatment is administered to both Spurs players.
De Zerbi was preparing a triple change, which he makes after the goal: Tel, Sarr and Palhinha replace Gray, Bergvall and Richarlison.
GOAL! Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Mukiele 61)
AND THERE IT IS! Mukiele takes the ball off Sadiki, who moves down the right as a decoy, allowing his full-back to veer infield, beat the nearest defender, and lash a shot looking inside the near post, only for Van de Ven to extend a leg and deflects the effort inside the far, leaving Kinsky stranded. That feels like a crucial moment in the season…
As they did in the first half, Spurs find Richarlison pulling left, and again, his finish is tame, passed straight at Roefs. De Zerbi needs to do something, I think, because he team look impotent, whereas Sunderland are more menacing.
We might have a new entry into my Players I’d Struggle Most to Have XI: Brian Brobbey is pushing to join Antonio Rudiger in the team.
It’s been a slow start to the second half at Sunderland, neither side threatening. I wonder if De Zerbi might gamble and try Simons, because his side has a serious lack of guile, invention and quality.
Watkins goes for the line and Williams slides in to block; there’s no contact but both hurt themselves and after a pause, both seem fine to continue.
Tielemans is caught trying to play out and Jesus moves through the centre, opting to shoot from the edge when he might’ve continued, wafting over the top. Villa will know they’ve got away with one.
“Not news, but Villa are soooooo much better with Tielemans in that midfield unit,” reckons Benjamin Gravestock. “Makes all the players round him better, too.
Villa got sucker-punched, properly, there – Forest were showing nothing very much at the time. Bizot is a solid enough ‘keeper but if Martinez is going to physically deteriorate – this recurring back issue seems to be more recurring – I’m not sure he’s ever going to regain the heights he once hit and Bizot hasn’t shown enough to convince me he has the chops to be the no. 1.
Was heartened to see a link with James Trafford in the summer and think he would have a good chance of being the main guy next season but my football supporting friends think he’ll stay because Pep sees him as ‘the future’. Given Donnarumma seems to have quite a lot of future available to him, I think Trafford/Villa would be an excellent match.
Am hopeful we can kick on in the second half; Villa need to build a run after the extended disappearance in the Ber-tieleginnmar-a Triangle (sorry).”
Yup, agree on Bizot, and Donnarumma isn’t going anywhere, I shouldn’t think – at 27, he could easily play another decade at similar level. Trafford is too good to wait around, too, so I’b be surprised id he’s not on the move again this summer.
Forest finished the first half strongly and they’ve started the second well too, Hudson-Odoi curling a cross to the far post and Igor Jesus is up … but, under pressure, he heads down and wide of the near post.
We go again…
Righto, I’m going to restart my computer in the hope it improves matters – currently, I’m watching Sunderland on my laptop and Forest on my phone, with no game permitted by my main screen.
Half-time scores
Crystal Palace 0-1 Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa
Sunderland 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Udogie crosses low from the left and someone, O’Nien I think, slides to intercept but leaves the ball there for Solanke – this is a chance – but the finish is a little rushed, sidefooted hard and allowing Roefs to block when a dink probably means 1-0.
We’re into added time and, when Sunderland put a ball into the box from a free-kick and the flick-on lands in Brobbey’s path, Kinsky is out quickly and well to block the punched shot, Mukiele lashing the follow-up into Gallagher’s body.
And here it comes, Osula sliding in pursuing a low cross from Miley, looking like he might score with his buttocks before adjusting legs, cramp football-style and, from a seated position, flicking in. It loos simple, but it’s excellent improvisation.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Newcastle United (Osula 43)
The man brought in today puts Newcastle in front; hopefully we’ll be shown the goal properly shortly.
“Strange world Daniel,” writes Stephen O’Sullivan. “I’m actually watching Palace v Toon clear as a bell here in Kuala Lumpur. Palace a whisker away from the lead.”
Isn’t it just. I fear my new internet connection, much better and faster than the one it replaced, so they told me, is in fact not so.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa (Williams 38)
Forest move down the right and, when Hutchinson crosses, Hudson-Odoi retrieves, rolling back for Williams, who takes responsibility and, shaping to shoot for the far corner from the edge, instead drags a low shot back through McGinn’s legs and inside the near, Solskjaer-style; that’s a terrific finish, and we’re level.
…then smashes it over the top.
…he takes his time preparing himself too…
I bet Xhaka fancies this…
It’s a really tight game at the Stadium of Light but Sunderland look likelier, Brobbey’s physicality and nous causing Spurs’ centre-backs a problem. And, as I type, he tempts Van de Ven into a foul, converted into a yellow card by the dissent which follows, and his team now have a free-kick on the edge of the box, well right of centre.
More importantly, why doesn’t Brobbey have a song to this?
Brobbey struggles for the ball with Porro, eventually introducing elbow to coupon. So Porro goes down, as one might – now that you ask, obviously I’d have brushed it off myself – and the ref shows a yellow card. That’s the right call, just about; I can’t pretend I’m not suspicious as to Brobbey’s intentions, but it was more of a jab than a swing, so there’s just enough ambiguity to keep it 11 v 11.
Sunderland win a throw, hurled in by O’Nien, and when the ball is only half-cleared, it drops on to Xhaka’s laces, on the edge of the box, right of centre … and he connects beautifully, his shot zipping fractionally wide.
I’d not be surprised to see Chris Wood come on for Forest at half-time – currently, they lack a box presence, constantly moving the ball but with no one to aim at or play off.
At Selhurst, it’s still Palace 0-0 Newcastle, but aggravatingly, I’m not currently allowed to watch the game. Hopefully, a half-time turn-off-and-on sorts things.
Here come Villa again, again feeding a pass into Rogers, who turns around the corner and into the path of Watkins, through the middle. The first touch is heavy but works nicely, inciting Sels to come out … only for the finish to bobble just past the post.
NO PENALTY TO SPURS!
This felt inevitable. Alderete won the ball, so there’s no foul, and you almost feel for the ref, sheepishly having to explain to the crowd that he totally misinterpreted what he saw.
-
Crime & Safety4 weeks agoPolice race to crash on Oxfordshire A34 with severe traffic building
-
Oxford News4 weeks agoSchwarzman Centre to open doors to public with major celebration
-
Oxford News4 weeks agoGary Lineker’s nephew-in-law death inquest to be next week
-
Business & Technology3 days agoAqilla launches AI invoice tool to speed accounts payable
-
Crime & Safety1 week agoAmerican Akita and a French Bulldog seized after dog killed
-
Crime & Safety4 weeks agoWiltshire 12-year-old girl with Oxfordshire links missing
-
Oxford Events4 weeks agoMichelin Guide Oxfordshire Restaurants – The Oxford Magazine
-
Oxford News4 weeks agoProfessor Rebecca Eynon elected to prestigious Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship