AFP, Budapest

Congratulations from across Europe poured in yesterday for Hungarian political newcomer Peter Magyar, who defeated nationalist Viktor Orban in elections seen as a blow to right-wing populism worldwide.

Orban, a self-described “thorn” in the EU’s side and defender of “illiberal democracy” endorsed by US President Donald Trump, lost Sunday’s elections after 16 years in power as Hungarians fed up with corruption gave Magyar a decisive victory.

Magyar’s party, Tisza, won a thumping majority in the parliamentary elections, which drew record turnout and sent tens of thousands of jubilant supporters into the streets to celebrate as car horns sounded in the capital, Budapest.

Leaders across the EU welcomed Magyar’s win, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who hailed a victory for the “values of the European Union”, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who called it a “heavy defeat” for “right-wing populism”.

With Orban the EU’s most Russia-friendly leader, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday Moscow hoped for “pragmatic” relations with Hungary’s new leadership.

Crowds of Magyar supporters celebrated into the early morning hours outside his party’s election headquarters on the banks of the Danube river and in Budapest’s streets, waving Hungarian flags and dancing.