E.U. revels as Hungary’s Orban, Trump ally, suffers historic defeat

Brussels breathes again

STRASBOURG, France — European Union officials toasted the weekend election result in Hungary Monday after voters deprived nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban of the two-thirds parliamentary majority he has wielded since 2010, a setback that instantly weakens the self-styled "illiberal democrat" who championed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s populist playbook.

Historic rebuke

With 98 percent of ballots tallied, Orban’s Fidesz party will keep 135 of 199 seats, one short of the threshold needed to change the constitution unilaterally and continue packing courts with loyalists. The opposition alliance, United for Hungary, surged to 57 seats while far-right party Our Homeland grabbed 7, enough to deny Fidesz the legal brake override that allowed Orban to brush aside E.U. rule-of-law standards and LGBTQ rights protections.

Rule-of-law showdown

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the outcome "a victory for Hungarian voters and for Europe’s democratic values," signaling Brussels will revive suspended funds worth €22 billion ($24 billion) tied to judicial independence benchmarks that Orban had repeatedly ignored. Diplomats say the bloc’s Article 7 censure process, paused during the campaign, could advance within weeks, threatening Budapest with loss of voting rights in the Council.

Influence at risk

Orban’s plummet reverberated in U.S. Republican circles where he had cultivated ties with Trump, appearing at America First conferences and buying ad time on Fox News. A reduced mandate complicates his plan to act as the loudest anti-Brussels voice inside NATO and the E.U., weakening the "strongman caucus" he built with Poland’s Law and Justice party, now fighting its own re-election amid economic turmoil.

What comes next

Speaking to supporters outside Budapest’s opera house, Orban conceded "we no longer walk alone in parliament" but vowed to protect families from "Brussels bureaucrats and gender ideology." Economists warn his fiscal giveaways, including tax refunds for parents, face E.U. scrutiny that could force tax hikes and spending cuts. Meanwhile, opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay said the new arithmetic "ends the era of constitutional capture" and pledged cross-party talks to restore media pluralism by dismantling the state advertising system that enriched pro-government outlets.