The whole of Europe is watching as Hungarians head to the polls on Sunday, April 12, to elect 199 MPs to the National Assembly. The vote is seen as a pivotal election not just in the 10-million-strong Central European nation of Hungary but also throughout Europe.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s conservative Fidesz party has been in power for the last sixteen years, implementing policies that have drawn the ire of the European Union’s institutions, as well as of liberal governments in Western Europe.
Viktor Orbán has pursued anti-immigration, pro-family, anti-LGBT, and anti-woke policies. His government has espoused conservative, Christian values. His foreign policy has been built on a common-sense approach, trying to establish pragmatic relationships with not only Hungary’s traditional Western allies within the EU and NATO but also with powers like China and Russia.
The EU has lambasted the Budapest government for diverging from the mainstream EU approach and refusing military aid to Ukraine, opposing Ukraine’s EU accession, and rejecting sanctions on Russia, which Orbán’s government says harms the European economy more than Russia itself.
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/hungary-votes-2026-live-updates/