Polls open in Hungary in a key election that could unseat populist Prime Minister Orbán

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarians were casting ballots Sunday in what is widely seen as Europe's most consequential election this year, a vote that could unseat populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, after 16 years in power.

It's a key moment for Orbán, the European Union’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, who has traveled a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired today by the global far-right.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. local time and were scheduled to close at 7 p.m. Orbán and his top challenger, Péter Magyar, arrived at separate polling stations in Budapest at nearly the same time to cast their votes.

Speaking to reporters outside, Orbán, 62, said the campaign had been “a great national moment on our side” and thanked activists and supporters for their work.

“I'm here to win,” he said.

The election was being closely watched in countries around Europe and beyond, which is a testament to the outsize role Orbán occupies in far-right populist politics worldwide.

Members of Trump's “Make America Great Again” movement are among those who see Orbán's government and his Fidesz political party as shining examples of conservative, anti-globalist politics in action, while he is reviled by advocates of liberal democracy and the rule of law.

After casting his vote, Magyar told reporters that the election was “a choice between East or West, propaganda or honest public discourse, corruption or clean public life.”

“I urge all Hungarian citizens to exercise their right to vote,” he said.

Casting her ballot in Budapest early Sunday, retiree Eszter Szatmári, 62, said she felt the election was “basically our last chance to see anything vaguely resembling ... democracy in Hungary.”

"We all have to make real effort to show to the world that we are not who people thought we were in the past five to 10 years,” she said.

After the first hour of voting, 3.46% of registered voters had cast a ballot, according to the National Election Office. The figure was a record in Hungary's post-Socialist history and nearly twice the turnout from the same period in 2022 elections.

During his 16 years as prime minister, Orbán has launched harsh crackdowns on minority rights and media freedoms, subverted many of Hungary's institutions and been accused of siphoning large sums of money into the coffers of his allied business elite, an allegation he denies.

He also has heavily strained Hungary's relationship with the EU, seeming to revel in using his veto power to stymie the 27-member bloc's important decisions. Most recently, he blocked a 90-billion euro ($104 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid.

Yet after winning four consecutive elections with a two-thirds majority for his party in Parliament, signs have emerged that Orbán's absolute control over Hungary's politics may be reaching its end.

Magyar has rapidly risen to become Orbán's most serious challenger. The 45-year-old leader of the center-right Tisza party, which is leading in independent polls, campaigned on issues affecting ordinary voters including Hungary’s faltering public health care and transportation sectors and what he describes as rampant government corruption.

A former insider within Orbán's Fidesz, Magyar broke with the party in 2024 and quickly formed Tisza. Since then, he has toured Hungary relentlessly, holding rallies in settlements big and small in a campaign blitz that recently had him visiting up to six towns daily.

In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, Magyar said the election will be a “referendum” on whether Hungary continues on its drift toward Russia under Orbán, or can retake its place among the democratic societies of Europe.

Tisza won 30% of the vote in European Parliament elections in 2024 and Magyar took a seat as an EU lawmaker. Tisza is a member of the European People's Party, the mainstream, center-right political family with 12 national leaders in the EU.

Magyar and Tisza face a tough fight. Orbán's control of Hungary's public media, which he has transformed into a mouthpiece for his party, and vast swaths of the private media market give him an advantage in spreading his message.

The unilateral transformation of Hungary's electoral system and gerrymandering of its 106 voting districts by Fidesz also will require Tisza to gain an estimated 5% more votes than Orbán’s party to achieve a simple majority.

Additionally, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries have the right to vote in Hungarian elections and traditionally have voted overwhelmingly for Orbán's party.

There also have been comments ahead of the election that external meddling and internal fraud could taint the result. Fidesz and Tisza both have launched platforms for reporting irregularities, accusing their opponents of planning to commit election abuses.

Russian secret services have plotted to interfere and tip the election in Orbán's favor, according to numerous media reports including by The Washington Post. The prime minister, however, has accused neighboring Ukraine, as well as Hungary's allies in the EU, of seeking to interfere in the vote to install a “pro-Ukraine” government.

Such accusations are part of why many in the EU who see Orbán as a danger to the bloc's future hope he loses and a new Hungarian government under Magyar will prove a better partner.

But across the Atlantic, Trump and his MAGA movement are all-in for another Orbán term. Trump has repeatedly endorsed the Hungarian leader and U.S. Vice President JD Vance made a two-day visit to Hungary last week meant to help push Orbán over the finish line.

Florent Bajrami contributed.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses the media outside a polling station after voting in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, speaks to the media outside a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, casts his ballot at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban casts his vote in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Officially sealed ballot boxes are seen at a local polling station during an election in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (Tamas Vasvari/MTI via AP)

A man casts his ballot at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

A man prepares to cast his ballot at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Supporters of Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza party hold up their lit phones during a final election rally in Debrecen, Hungary, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Supporters of Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza party hold up their lit phones during a final election rally in Debrecen, Hungary, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza party attends a rally in Debrecen, Hungary, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Supporters attend electoral campaign closing rally of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the governing Fidesz in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends the electoral campaign closing rally of the governing Fidesz in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Voters in Benin cast ballots Sunday to choose a successor to President Patrice Talon, who is stepping down after a decade in power, leaving a mixed legacy of economic growth, a growing jihadi insurgency in the north and the suppression of opposition critics.

Romuald Wadagni, the 49-year-old finance minister and governing coalition standard-bearer, is considered Talon’s anointed successor. Wadagni is being challenged by Paul Hounkpè, the sole opposition candidate.

Nearly 8 million are registered to vote across more than 17,000 polling stations in the West African nation. Benin had over 15 million people in 2024, and like many sub-Saharan African countries, its population is overwhelmingly young. Polls are expected to close at 4 p.m. with the results expected within 48 hours.

Analysts widely expect Wadagni to win after a parliamentary election in January, during which the opposition failed to cross the 20% threshold required to win seats, leaving Talon’s two allied parties in control of all 109 seats in the National Assembly.

Renaud Agbodjo, leader of the Democrats, was barred from competing after failing to secure a sufficient number of parliamentary endorsements — a threshold critics say was engineered to keep rivals out.

Wadagni has touted the country's economic growth during his decade as finance minister as his key strength. Benin’s economy grew 7% last year, making it one of West Africa’s steadiest performers.

“Ten years at the Finance Ministry have given him something rare in African politics: a quantified record — verifiable and difficult to dismantle in a serious debate,” said Fiacre Vidjingninou, political analyst at the Lagos-based Béhanzin Institute.

While Benin has historically been among the most stable democracies in Africa, opposition leaders and human rights organizations have accused Talon of using the justice system as a tool to sideline his political opponents.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced a sustained crackdown on dissent under Talon, citing arbitrary detentions, tighter restrictions on public demonstrations and mounting pressure on independent media outlets.

Protests over the rising cost of living sprang up in recent years, but the government and security forces clamped down on any dissent.

In December, a group of military officers attempted to topple Talon’s government in a failed coup, the latest in a series of recent military takeover attempts across Africa. Most attempted coups follow a similar pattern of disputed elections, constitutional upheaval, security crises and youth discontent.

Among the coup leaders’ key complaints was the deterioration of security in northern Benin.

For years, Benin has faced spillover violence in its north from neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger in their battle against the al-Qaida-affiliated extremist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM.

The tri-border area has long been a hotbed for extremist violence, a trend worsened by the lack of security cooperation with Niger and Burkina Faso, both now led by military juntas.

A motorcyclist stands beside a billboard featuring presidential candidate Paul Hounkpe in Cotonou, Benin, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)

Presidential candidate Romuald Wadagni greets supporters at a campaign rally in Cotonou, Benin, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)

Road users pass in front of a campaign billboard for presidential candidate Paul Hounkpe and his running mate, Rock Hounwanou in Cotonou, Benin, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)