Hungary’s centre-right Tisza party could put an end to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 16-year spell in power this weekend, despite the US showing its support for the leader with a visit from Vice President JD Vance.
But as the public prepares to go to the polls on Sunday, Mr Orban has warned that removing him from office would endanger the country. “We are now facing the danger of losing everything we have built together,” he said on Friday in a message of voters on social media.
He claimed "intelligence services” were interfering in the elections to sow “chaos", without providing evidence.
More than a third of voters (38 per cent) back Tisza and 29 per cent support Mr Orban's Fidesz party, a survey of 1,000 people conducted by the Publicus Institute and published by the Nepszava newspaper showed. But a large number of undecided voters (25 per cent) means the outcome of this weekend's election remains uncertain.
Mr Orban, who has built his campaign around hostility towards support for Ukraine, has vetoed a €90 billion ($105.4 billion) EU loan for Kyiv.
His rival, Tisza leader Peter Magyar, has surged in the polls, running on an anti-corruption platform that “chooses Europe". In its manifesto published in February, his party pledged to rebuild trust with the EU and Nato allies, as well as setting out a plan to join the eurozone by 2030.
But Mr Magyar's former wife, Judit Varga, once served as Mr Orban’s justice minister and he has spoken of his past admiration for the Prime Minister.
In 2025, the Berlin-based charity Transparency International ranked Hungary as the most corrupt country in Europe for the fourth year in a row. The annual survey ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians.
Meanwhile, after years of Mr Orban's hostility towards the EU, a survey by the European Council of Foreign Relations think tank found that 77 per cent of voters support membership with the bloc. It said 68 per cent want a change in the country's engagement with the EU.
Mr Vance this week gave his support to Mr Orban during a visit to Hungary, accusing the EU of interfering in the election as “one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I’ve ever seen or even read about".
Standing beside Mr Orban at a rally in Budapest on Tuesday, Mr Vance said he was there to help the Hungarian leader "with his campaign cycle”. The US would will with whoever wins the election, he added.
“The bureaucrats in Brussels ... have done everything that they can to hold down the people of Hungary, because they don’t like the leader, who has actually stood up for the people of Hungary,” Mr Vance said. He added that Mr Orban’s government was an “important partner" for peace and criticised the EU and UK’s energy policies.
Germany hit back, accusing Mr Vance of hypocrisy. “We reject the accusation made by US Vice President JD Vance at an event in Hungary,” said deputy government spokesman Sebastian Hille.
A victory for Mr Magyar could be tempered by the far-right party Our Homeland Movement, which had support from 4 per cent of voters in the Publicus Institute survey. It is the only small party likely to win enough votes to enter parliament, alongside the other two parties.
Our Homeland is opposed to the EU, migration and vaccine policies and is likely to put its weight behind a minority Fidesz government if required. Mr Orban first became prime minister in 1998, becoming one of the youngest prime ministers in Europe. He lost in the following vote but was re-elected in 2010 with a two-thirds majority.
