Peter Magyar has declared a landslide victory in the pivotal Hungarian elections, ousting prime minister Viktor Orban after 16 years in power.
Magyar’s pro-EU Tisza party are projected to have won 137 seats for a crucial two-thirds majority in the 199-member parliament, defeating Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party.
“Together, we liberated Hungary and got rid of the Orbán regime,” Magyar told cheering thousands of supporters along the embankment by the river Danube.
“In the history of democratic Hungary, this many people have never voted before, and no single party has ever received such a strong mandate as Tisza.”
European leaders have flocked to praise Magyar for his victory, which will reshape Hungary’s hostile relationship with Europe.
Voting booths closed in Hungary at 7pm local time (6pm BST) after around 77.8 per cent of the Hungarian electorate cast their ballots, smashing the previous record of 70.5 per cent in 2002.
Earlier in the day, accusations of voter fraud were launched by both sides, but Orban’s team in the nationalist Fidesz party said it would respect the results of the election.
