He also expressed his gratitude to Hungarians beyond the border who had voted in the election and “helped protect the motherland”.

“Hungarians have won,” government office chief János Lázár declared in Hódmezővásárhely, in southern Hungary, after winning his district in Csongrád County with more than 52% of the vote.

In his victory speech, Lázár said the election had not been about him, but about Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Hungary’s future. Lázár thanked Orbán for his trust and support in what he said had been “the toughest battle” of his political career.
 

Ferenc Gyurcsány, leader of the Democratic Coalition (DK), said after Fidesz’s resounding victory that the election had brought about a defeat for a “European, open Hungary”.

He said he had been “more optimistic” early in the evening but now “the only open question is whether Fidesz will secure a two-thirds majority” after all votes have been counted.

 An “unbridled” Fidesz with a two-thirds majority would continue to pursue a policy of “unbounded aggression and inhumanity”, he said, adding, however, that he was pleased DK had managed to secure an independent group in parliament for the first time and that it had doubled the number of its seats.

Gergely Karácsony, PM candidate of the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance, said in reaction to the results that the Hungarian left “must be rebuilt from the ground up”. Karácsony said his alliance had hoped that the high turnout would help those who wanted change.

But seeing the results, “it has become evident” that the government’s supporters had turned out in greater numbers than those who wanted change.

He said it was “difficult” to congratulate the Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance, “not because we are petty but because we know how many lies and how excessive a media advantage” went into Fidesz’s victory, as well as “how many changes to the electoral law”.

He did congratulate Fidesz, however, saying that “perhaps by doing so this will get us closer to being able to live in a normal country”.

The opposition’s attempts to change the government have failed, “but this does not mean that we will give up the fight,” Bernadett Szél, green party LMP’s prime ministerial candidate, told a press conference.

Szél, who is also the party’s co-leader, insisted that it was not the party’s programme that should be changed in light of the result that handed Fidesz a resounding victory, “but rather the way it is communicated to voters”.

“We have achieved a better result than four years ago,” she said, vowing to fight “twice as hard for Hungary”.

Ákos Hadházy announced his resignation as the party’s co-leader.

Meanwhile, the leader of Momentum Movement, András Fekete-Győr, said: “We cannot congratulate Fidesz; we cannot congratulate Viktor Orbán.”

He insisted that the prime minister and the ruling party had “committed political crimes” in Hungary over the past eight, and especially in the last four years.

“He has brought fear into the hearts of people who are scared.” Momentum also failed to pass the 5% threshold for seats in parliament.
 

The Socialist Party’s national board has tendered its resignation in light of the result of Hungary’s general election, Gyula Molnár, the party’s leader, announced early on Monday.

Molnár said the party acknowledged the will of the voters and considered themselves responsible for the outcome of the election.

The small opposition Együtt party also said its party board will resign. Együtt leader Péter Juhász told a press conference that his party was “disappointed” about the opposition’s performance.

Együtt failed to secure 5% of the votes cast on national lists, and thus failed to make it into parliament.