Hungary’s outgoing Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has announced his decision to relinquish his parliamentary seat following a significant defeat in the recent elections. Orban made this announcement on Saturday, days after his landslide loss.
Orban, a right-wing populist leader and former ally of the Trump administration, faced a “painful” electoral setback on April 12, ending his 16-year leadership tenure from Budapest.
The former prime minister stated that he would now concentrate on revitalizing his nationalist-populist party, Fidesz. In a video address shared on X, Orban expressed, “I am now needed not in parliament, but in the reorganization of the patriotic movement.”
Orban intends to run for re-election as the leader of Fidesz, with the party’s leadership vote slated for June.
Throughout his time in office, Orban was a favored figure among certain American right-wing groups and was a regular visitor to Mar-a-Lago.
During his time in office, Orban was a favorite among certain factions of the American right, and became a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago.
When he was trailing in the polls, Vice President JD Vance even spent two days in Hungary to campaign for Orban — pulling out his cellphone at a rally to call President Trump, only to be sent to voicemail before getting the commander-in-chief on the second attempt.
But it wasn’t enough — as voters overwhelmingly backed Orban’s center-right challenger, Peter Magyar.
Magyar, who is due to be sworn in on May 9, scored a supermajority after campaigning on promises to end corruption and restore the democratic institutions that had been eroded under Orban’s rule.
Orban, who was first elected in 2010, had been the European Union’s longest-serving leader and a key western ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin — often accused of acting on the Kremlin’s behalf within the EU.
