Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party has won the European Parliament elections despite posting its worst result in European elections to date, the electoral authority said early Monday with some 95% of the votes counted.
Fidesz came out on top with 44.4%. The new Respect and Freedom (TISZA) party, formed by former Orbán ally Péter Magyar, garnered 29.8% in what was its first test at the ballot.
Magyar caused a stir this year by resigning from Orbán's Fidesz party to take the helm of the obscure centre-right TISZA.
According to the preliminary results, Fidesz has won 11 seats in the European Parliament, down from its current 13. TISZA is set to take 7 mandates.
A social-democratic alliance was expected to take two seats and the far-right Mi Hazank party one.
Parallel to the European elections, Hungarians on Sunday also voted in nationwide local elections. In the major cities, the opposition was largely able to hold on to the mayoral posts won in 2019.
In Budapest, left-green incumbent Gergely Karacsony led his main challenger David Vitezy backed by Fidesz by a very small margin, according to preliminary results with 95% of votes counted.