Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban has won his third consecutive term in office in a landslide victory.

Orban’s party Fidesz won almost half of the vote, with 93% of ballots counted. Turnout stood at 69%, higher than the final turnout of 62% in the last election in 2014.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Second place in the vote went to Jobbik, the far-right party that has attempted to rebrand itself as an anti-corruption centrist force. The party is set to win just 26 seats and its leader, Gábor Vona, said he would resign.

Victory for Fidesz is a blow to the European Union, which has struggled in recent years to make its Eastern members feel they are gaining from membership.

Orban has strongly criticised the EU throughout his two terms in office and his campaign, insisting that Hungary will not accept the compulsory redistribution of migrants.

Orban told Hungarians that “tens of millions” of migrants from Africa and the Middle East would bring terror, crime and rape if they were allowed into the country and has built a fence along the country’s southern border to keep out migrants.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

He also has claimed to be fighting a conspiracy to destroy Hungary led by the Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros.

The victory was hailed by Poland’s deputy foreign minister and envoy to the European Union, Konrad Szymanski, who called it a “confirmation of Central Europe’s emancipation policy”.

Szymanski told the country’s private TVN-24 broadcaster:

Emancipation not directed at fighting anybody but at making Central Europe visible as a very constructive European and European Union partner.

The win is the latest for a wave of Euroscepticism that has swept the continent in recent years.

Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s National Front, tweeted Orban her congratulations and said the “mass immigration promoted by the EU has been rejected once again”. Le Pen lost out to French President Emmanuel Macron last year in a presidential runoff that pitted her Euroscepticism against Macron’s pro-EU agenda.

Orban said his victory gave Hungarians “the opportunity to defend themselves and to defend Hungary”.

Orban told a crowd of cheering supporters in the capital, Budapest on Sunday evening:

Dear friends, there’s a big battle behind us, we secured a historic victory – we got a chance, we created a chance for us to protect Hungary. The high voter turnout puts every doubt into brackets.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe is due to present a report into the election on Monday, which could be critical of the legal and media environment around the vote.