"I congratulate the victorious party. We will serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland in opposition," Orbán said in a speech in Budapest.
By then he had already called Magyar and conceded defeat after the forecast showed an overwhelming victory for Tisza's party, even though only 50 percent of the votes had been counted.
The reaction from the EU came just minutes after the election results were announced:
"The heart of Europe beats stronger in Hungary today," wrote European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in both Hungarian and English on social media after the announcement.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) congratulated Tisza:
“Congratulations, Magyar, on Tisza’s historic victory in the Hungarian election! I look forward to working closely with you - as allies and EU members. This marks a new chapter in Hungary’s history.”
16-year rule ends
The announcement of Tisza's victory came shortly after 9 p.m., when 53 percent of the votes had been counted. Tisza was then estimated to have won 136 of the 199 seats in parliament. Orbán's Fidesz party, together with the coalition party KDNP, then had a total of 56 seats.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule was thus over.
In addition, the landslide victory could mean that Tisza will receive a supermajority - a two-thirds majority in parliament - which could open the way, for example, to constitutional amendments.
The far-right party Mi Hazánk was projected to win 7 seats, which would mean that the Hungarian parliament would have a strong tilt towards center-right parties.
It was clear early on that Magyar and his party had the advantage, even though no exit polls had been published. In his first comments on election night, Magyar said that the opinion polls had given him a good feeling beforehand.
"Based on these, together with the turnout and the information we have received, we are optimistic - or rather cautiously optimistic," he told reporters, according to AFP.
Record high participation
Polls closed at 7 p.m. on Sunday with a record-high voter turnout. By 6:30 p.m., a preliminary 77.8 percent of Hungarians had cast their ballots, according to the election authority.
This can be compared to the elections in 2022 and 2018, when the corresponding figure at the same time was around 68 percent, according to the Europe Elects platform.
The previous record was set in the 2002 election and was 70.5 percent.
Facts: Parliamentary elections in Hungary
Each voter has two votes: one for their own constituency and one for national party lists.
Of the 199 seats in the Parliament (Országház), 106 are elected via constituencies. 93 seats are distributed proportionally based on national party lists.
The electoral system also has a peculiarity, sometimes called winner's bonus, which is considered to favor large parties. This means that the votes that the winner in a constituency receives in addition to what was required to win are added to the party in the national count.
The result is that a large party can receive more seats than its share of the vote would suggest. The system is considered to have contributed to Viktor Orbán's government party Fidesz gaining a two-thirds majority in recent elections despite a vote share of around 45–50 percent.
Special rules also apply to make it easier for 13 specific national minorities (of which Roma, Germans and Slovaks are the most numerous) to win individual mandates.
Parliament has a 5 percent threshold.
Hungary has just over 7.5 million eligible voters.
Sources: UI, NE.
Fidesz: Nationalist right-wing party. Led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Clearly critical of the EU and has close contacts with Moscow. Accused, among other things, of authoritarian rule. It is in alliance with the Christian Democratic Party of Hungary (KDNP).
Tisza: Social conservative right-wing party. Led by Péter Magyar, former member of Fidesz. The party is considered more pro-EU than Fidesz. Also called the Respect and Freedom Party.
Democratic Coalition (DK - Demokratikus Koalíció): Social democratic and social liberal party.
Our Homeland (MH - Mi Hazánk): An extreme right-wing party that is also described as neo-fascist.
Sources: Politico.org, Expo, UI.
