Orban, Putin’s ally, wins Hungary election after saying opposition promise of mending ties with Europe can lead country to war

*Hails ‘great victory’ after landslide election win

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has hailed a “great victory” for his Fidesz party after preliminary results showed the right-wing group winning Sunday’s general election by a landslide.

The win – Fidesz’s fourth consecutive election victory – was by a much greater margin than polls had suggested, after a campaign overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine had forced Orban into awkward manoeuvring to explain decade-old cosy business relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the 58-year-old mounted a successful campaign to persuade his Fidesz party’s core electorate that the six-party opposition alliance that is promising to mend ties with the European Union could lead the country into war, an accusation the opposition denied.

Addressing a jubilant crowd chanting his name in Budapest, Orban said Sunday’s victory came against all odds.