Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 'painful' election result | Hacker News Reader

Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 'painful' election result

apnews.com

262 pointshackernj94 comments

Sad commentary on the modern world where my first thought was, well good for Orban to concede defeat. Not all current world heads of state have that much maturity.

This bodes well for the midterm state of the European union.

As a fellow European this is the biggest surprise of the election, I thought for sure he'd pull a Trump.

Pulling a Trump requires a polarized electorate where you are mostly going to have both parties in 48-52% range, with only real fights in few battleground states, and no absurd change in total vote %. Even Trump won't pull a Trump if other party was nearing 2/3rd majority. I am not even sure of what would happen to American politics if a party reaches 2/3rd majority in both houses, a list of long pending reforms might finally become possible.

Also an election system designed for horseback.

I think it's pretty damn brilliant. I see the failure to maintain it as intended as the real shortcoming.

If anyone can bring about enough disappointment and disgust for 2/3 of the population to vote Democrat, it is Trump.

It's worth noting that the party vote share here was 53% for Tisza vs. 44% for the even-more-right-wing parties. The fact that this results in a two thirds majority is because the electoral system inflates the strongest party. Orbán has previously achieved two thirds majorities multiple times while winning less than 50% of the party vote. Most seats are assigned not through party lists but in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post voting, same as in America. So it's not "convince two thirds of the people to vote for you", it's "convince a very slim plurality in two thirds of the constituencies to vote for you".

Let's hope they fix that little loophole before the next election.

I'd like that. But this system is very attractive for the strongest party, so it will be a real test of their commitment to actually representative, multi-party democracy. Also, the general system (a mix of single-member constituencies and party list seats, with more of the former than the latter) isn't a Fidesz invention, it has a long legal tradition in Hungary. So there might be a lot of resistance to a purer party-list system on those grounds too.

Obvious tweaks exist, of course: Even if you keep more individual constituencies than party list seats, they should use some sort of instant runoff/ranked choice/etc. system. But other first past the post countries are dragging their feet on this too, so... we'll see.

It's a bit like computer security: you have to get it right all of the time and the perps mostly only need one shot at being lucky and then it will takes many years to undo the damage.

We should approach democracy more with the kind of insight that go into making computers secure. Oh, wait...

Getting arrested after losing an election? Or getting arrested as an opposition candidate in an election which he later won?

Seems like it was a clear reference to January 6.

Peaceful transition of power is definitely something to cheer about.

Sadly so. In the last decades it was just normal for almost all countries. It's kind of maddening how low Trump lowered the bar for politicians.

No, this is not sad commentary on the modern world.

I suspected he would lose when he was recently visited and supported by Vance. Nobody likes Vance (in Europe, and probably anywhere). Getting prominent backing by an unlikable character isn’t a winning strategy.

Also, the fact of faking a terror attack and everybody just shrugging it off as an obvious Russian false flag op. I think even Orbán understood at that point that the jig was up.

One thing that's surprised me over the last few years is how much Russia messes with global politics. It seems to seeping into public consciousness so instead of being seen as a bit of a conspiracy theory you now have the crowds shouting Russia out. I don't know if that'll effect other Russia backed projects like Brexit financed by Russia via Arron Banks and Trump, financed by the "We have all the funding we need out of Russia" stuff. It doesn't seem illegal but the voters may be getting fed up with it all?

Amazing news for EU! If Tisza can get supermajority after votes are counted then they can also easily reverse a lot of constitutional corruption in Hungary done by Orban.

Flagged due to sour grapes.

My guess is it's flagged by Americans (it's their daytime) who don't realize the significance of this result to the EU and potentially the EU's response to the war in Ukraine.

You know, I took a second look at it, and weirdly enough, I can't vouch it for some reason. That's odd. Grats to the good folks across the pond though! May we be so lucky when next our transition is scheduled!

> You know, I took a second look at it, and weirdly enough, I can't vouch it for some reason.

The 'vouch' option doesn't appear until/unless the post becomes [dead].

Probably flagged by MAGA and pro-Kremlin aligned accounts who dislike the results and uppercase Liberal limousine establishment Democrats who try to censor every view they don't already agree with. If these were normal times, the I'd say keep sex, religion, and politics private except not the latter when liberal democratic politicians, speech-debate, and journalism are/were under fire in many sectors and countries. I'm hoping with this result that Hungary will experience much greater press and personal freedom.. and the corruption will hopefully be exposed more widely similar to Caolan Robertson only hinting at some of the extravagant emoluments and embezzlement. https://youtu.be/HiayCdysN04

Eh, I guess that people that flagged it know quite well what this result mean to the EU, they just hate it because they want to see the EU fail.

American here. I was at a party when I saw the news and gleefully announced it to the table I was sitting at. We were all pleased with both the result and the concession.

...we know.

Probably flagged because of lack of tech relevance.

(I listen Ukraine: The Latest daily, I'm reasonably up-to-date big issue European politics).

Exactly: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

This is a hugely important geopolitical event, and mods here often override flagging in such cases.

Here is an example of HN moderation going the other way, when it favored a right-leaning narrative:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34712496

It is getting more and more difficult for me to see moderation here as unbiased. The charitable take is that people are often not aware of their biases. I am sure I suffer from that to some extent, though I really try to go out of my way to be self-aware about this. And yes, of course this comment could be evidence of my own bias.

Welcome back to Europe, Hungary.

Time will tell. Keep in mind that his successor was part of Orban's party in the past.

I don't know much about him, only that he was in the same party. I have heard that he is pro-EU and anti-Russia though, is that true?

Yes, he basically have the same views, except on Russia. One advantage though is that Orban put his people at the head of Hungary corporations, so maybe that will end and the corruption will be kept at "normal" levels.

> A country where no one is stigmatized for loving someone differently than the majority.

-- Peter Magyar victory speech, April 12, 2026

That's directly in opposition to Orban's views and homophobic laws.

Shit, i didn't realize, his name is really Magyar? I thought it was a surname. What a name for Hungary's president

On a similar note, François Hollande had the right first name but the wrong last name!

Pro-EU: probably. Anti-Russia: also probably.

For both: I prefer to see it all rather than to assume it will be fine. Oh, and we still have Fico to deal with. But at least Hungarians have chosen against Orban that in itself gives some hope. Those leaked phone calls that were made public in the last weeks were very damning, I always assumed that such stuff was going on but to have hard proof is on another level.

I wonder what they're going to do with the participants. And what Orban's plans are now that he's in the opposition. I would not count him out just yet, he's got Putin's backing and you can bet they'll work overtime to try to destabilize Magyar's government. The rot goes pretty deep and it will take a lot of work to undo all that damage.

Orban is only 63; it's up to him what he will do but there is a certain type of people that could live happily on their own island with all the money they have stolen but they prefer to do evil to their last day. See for example Babis, delegating the ownership of his huge company to a trust fund so he can be a prime minister again at 70. Or indeed our great leader Fico who is in politics like Orban since '89, was prime minister around 15 years of the last 20, probably stolen billions for himself, was shot, nearly killed, and doesn't look like he wants to give up his power anytime soon.. and he's still only 62.

With Orban much reduced in power Fico's days are numbered.

But Orban will hang around, if only to do more of Putin's bidding, it's up to Magyar & the new government now to deal with Orban and his spies in a way that they won't be able to do a come-back.

Not really, Fico has survived a lot during his 4 decades in politics and was always able to adapt (to our detriment). His political survival does not depend on Orban, even though they were close the last couple of years.

That's absolutely true. But in a European context he's already vowed that he will now take up Orban's mantel in blockading EU assistance to Ukraine and other tricks. That means he will no longer be able to hide his involvement and I'm pretty sure that the same kind of conversations between Lavrov and Hungarian politicians can be found about Fico & company. They are clearly not acting in Slovakia's long term interests and that's something that can be much more openly discussed. Keeping in mind that Slovakia is only 1/3rd of so of the size economy as Hungary makes it less of a problem to begin with.

Strength to you, it must be super hard to be living under politicians that are ripping off your country in such a blatant manner on behalf of what is nominally now an enemy nation (based on their own statements), especially given what your country had to endure in the years before the fall of the USSR.

I think generally western EU has no idea how unbelievably corrupt these regimes (Fico, Orbana, Babis) are... they are not stealing on behalf of Putin, they are stealing for themselves, and they are oriented towards Russia because they dream of having Putin's unchecked power.

Luckily I don't think Fico will help Putin that much because nobody trusts him anymore, his foreign minister is very weak and as you mention Slovakia is no economical heavyweight. The hardest thing for us is to see the brainwashed masses still voting for Fico or worse still actual nazis.

If nothing goes catastrophically wrong (again), Orban won't be allowed to return as a prime minister. One of the first legislation the new government aims to pass is to maximize the number of terms to two (8 years in power) which Orban already surpassed. Of course, they could always pull a Putin and put him in a presidential chair and shift power from the parliament/prime minister, so let's hope Fidesz never gets that level of support ever again.

That's great news.

"Russians go home" was one of the main chants at opposition rallies. In 2026 like in 1989.

And in 1956 of course.

From your perspective as afaik nowadays a Californian progressive: Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

Yes, that's true. But there is enough about Magyar that I don't understand that I'm cautiously optimistic. Though it would be hard to imagine worse than Orban...

JD Vance strikes again. I wonder how long it will take US politicians and assorted billionaires to realize that their 'endorsements' will backfire.

"...will take US politicians and assorted billionaires to realize that their 'endorsements' will backfire..." They may have to switch off their AI and start using their own brain - should they still have one, that is.

Shhhh. Don't correct your enemy while they are busy making mistakes. Just smile and wave.

They all start from the same root whether Trump (once a democrat), BJP (part of congress, oldest political party in India)

Good. I visited Hungary years ago, and I loved the time I spent there. It saddened me a bit to see its sliding into autocracy and being relegated to be a Russian vassal state.

Hopefully the damage Orban caused to Hugarian institutions get reversed.

contesting election results untruthfully always existed, but since 2021 the result is not the headline anymore, the concession is

Thank god Vance showed up to support him!

Vance also knocked off Pope Francis, and the Iran deal last night. Maybe we can send him to Moscow next.

I bet Viktor felt too uncomfortable to tell him "no please don't come stay in the USA, you are political poison"

Vance is on track to replace Dan Quayle at the bottom of the Civ leader rankings.

Yes but has Orban even said thank you?

Why is this and all other posts about this flagged?

"unpolitical" people don't like being reminded what their stance brings to

Happy for Hungary!

Unfortunatlely, half democracies (ie representative) are open to abuse and give too much power to presidents or governments. Combined with populism, lobbying and corruption, it allows people like Orban to stay in power for a long time. Glad it's over.

Happy for Hungary, the EU, the planet. The sooner the world falls out of love with populism and illiberalism, the better.

It really feels like the tides are turning against the cancer that is populism.

Ooooh. I didn't think it would happen. This disturbs the balance a bit.

which balance? orban was a parasite, trying to embezzle as much money from the EU without getting the boot (hungary as the biggest per-head receiver of EU funds), while probably also getting paid by russia - a hostile actor - for his actions (i.e. sabotaging the union and sowing dissent through propaganda). there was no balance there.

OK then, some other metaphor to say it allows things to change and allows escape from a static situation. It releases the brakes?

It all seems so easy, despite the efforts of Putin and the US to support a guy that was there for almost two decades. I wonder if the incumbent party is, somehow, in the pocket of those fascists. I have a hard time accepting they’d just shrug and move on from being able to control a puppet state that’s the thorn in EU’s side.

Any reason not to be so cynical? I am unfamiliar with the details of Hungarian politics, but I can’t help wondering if it is staged. And why would Orbán just roll over after all this time in power?

> I have a hard time accepting they’d just shrug and move on from being able to control a puppet state that’s the thorn in EU’s side.

What can they realistically do? Invade Hungary?

> And why would Orbán just roll over after all this time in power?

What can he realistically do? A coup? With such a devastating defeat this would only lead to massive protests, which would completely ruin his political career. Meanwhile he can take a step back and think how to get back to the game in the next election.

As bad as Orban was, and as manipulated the election process was, he always won using legit votes. Which was both his strength and his weakness.

I knew the projections were looking really grim for Orban after watching JD Vance putting Trump on speakerphone five days ago during his Hungary visit. That was awkward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GUoCvIMrgc

They must be really tired of winning by now.

What? 4$ gas until November Mr.President? Who doesn’t love paying 30% more for Gas out of their pocket for a war that is already won. Tremendous work Mr. President. A capital V victory.

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