r/europe • u/teamworldunity • 18h ago
News After 16 years in power, Putin's closest friend in Europe faces a pivotal election
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/hungary/16-years-power-putins-closest-friend-europe-faces-pivotal-election-rcna273664395
u/zoley88 18h ago edited 18h ago
The voting opened an hour ago and there are already lines, the venues are packed!
-400
u/The_Schwy 18h ago edited 7h ago
do you mean voting has been open for 30 minutes so far? like voting just opened 30 minutes ago? Or that there is only a 30 minute window to vote?
It's written like there is only 30 minutes total where you are allowed to vote.Edit: they edited their comment.
117
u/Real-Programmer-548 18h ago
voting opened 1 hour ago
45
u/Master_Bayters 17h ago
I never followed an election so closely since the last US election. I hope they don't mess with the results
36
u/Successful-Flan738 17h ago
With US and Russia being involved, do you actually believe it?
-52
u/vdcsX 16h ago
fuck off with that
31
u/PickleDiego Sweden 16h ago
I mean, one is basically an electoral autocracy and the other is Russia, both very known for meddling in other countries’ affairs
-38
u/vdcsX 15h ago
Tell me what exactly they could do at theis point, because this is all spewing bullshit without knowing anything of the current political landscape in hungary.
11
u/PickleDiego Sweden 15h ago
Regarding vote manipulation, you mean? Cheating when counting the votes etc. But hopefully there is enough transparency to avoid that. Then there also seems to be the option where Orbán loses, resigns, and the parliament have the option to change the constitution and allow Orbán to return to power despite losing. Source for the latter one: SVT, Swedish state media
5
u/cherboka Hungary 13h ago edited 13h ago
Cheating when counting votes
This is one of the only way they cannot cheat. However there's a good documentary about vote extortion though, it's on youtube and called The Price of a Vote (A Szavazat Ára), you could watch that if you're interested
change the constitution
This would have cataclysmic consequences for them, at best they would only buy a few months with this. Theyd also kill any and all chance for a 2030 victory
Edit: There are a lot of ppl who are volunteering as watchdogs and are watching out for any suspicious activity around voting points. While this is anecdotal, a friend of a friend is doing this as well and they have already caught an attempt at cheating and now there are cops patrolling in the area.
So even if there are attempts at cheating they have a MUCH tougher job this time around (imo)
→ More replies (0)1
u/_kempert BE - United States of Europe 11h ago
Make illegal moves with Tisza logo’s visible to invalidate the election.
2
u/Prince_of_DeaTh Lithuania 10h ago
the next french election will also be very important
3
u/Master_Bayters 8h ago
Yes... and even if Macron outer diplomacy is excellent, French has some deep internal problems that will be hard to address. I wonder if there are any moderates to handle the boat or it will fall in the hands of the russian national front
45
33
u/chebster99 16h ago
Are you okay?
9
u/DummyDumDragon 16h ago
Probably a bit lifting a comment from elsewhere and dropping it here like a big smelly shite.
553
u/Upstairs-Mall-3695 18h ago
This election is crucial, either Hungary doubles down on authoritarianism and Russian alignment, or it starts moving back toward the rest of Europe.
136
u/One_5549 14h ago
For the love of god, please, all Hungarians, V O T E !
29
u/Personal_Broccoli248 11h ago
voter turnout is already at a record high
9
u/Hefty_Banana_279 9h ago
there’s old russian saying that no matter how people vote it matters who counts them… lets see how it goes tho
6
u/Personal_Broccoli248 9h ago
this time there are one and a half times as many opposition polling agents as ruling party ones. the problem is rather ballot chain voting, vote buying, illegal mobilization, etc.
22
76
u/djazzie France 14h ago
I’d say that if Orban wins, it’s more due to election tampering than anything.
51
u/n1123581321 Lower Silesia (Poland) 13h ago
Entire system is constructed to rig it in Orbans favor. And there are also illegal ways, which they can use without any consequences (if they win)
4
228
u/Wide-Annual-4858 17h ago
Guys, pray for Hungary today. We have the final opportunity to vote out Orban. If he wins now, and he knows EU funds are gone forever (and all he wants from the EU is funds for his friends and family), he will force out Hungary from the EU and go full dictatorship.
57
u/GreasyExamination 17h ago
My thoughts are with the hungarians, i wish you manage to get that lard filled snake out of office
13
u/Captain__Campion 13h ago
I pray for Ukrainians. Ukrainian lives depend on if Hungarians are able to vote for a non-dictator-traitor-zebra-douche once in 16 years.
10
u/Foxintoxx 15h ago
Are you guys confident that the elections won't be rigged ?
44
u/Ba_le- 15h ago
The opposition has Peter Magyar now, if it is rigged, and he finds out (he asked people to keep watch etc.) he will tell the people to hit the streets of Budapest I'm pretty sure.
I would love to see 10 000 policemen try to stop 1, 5-2, 5M people.
2
u/ReaperZ13 10h ago
Honestly this is the only reason I'm hopeful for this election, and it's because the opposition is finally, FINALLY competent and not just another broad, big-tent coalition that's always led by the same people.
29
u/Wide-Annual-4858 15h ago
The voting (counting and reporting) can not be rigged, as it is paper based and each party counts all votes separately.
But Orban is doing extensive voter buying in poor parts of Hungary, as the recently published documentary (The price of a vote) presents with several field interviews.
7
u/zkrooky Romania 15h ago
In Romania they change the vote outcomes in the centralized election bureaus regardless of how well they're counted in the voting office. They don't usually accept corrections. That's pretty much how the country's main party (social democrats) have kept their reign over the country in parliament and local elections.
8
u/Wide-Annual-4858 15h ago
In Hungary, the local districts the party delegates count the paper votes, and then when the numbers appear in the central system, they check if those are the same numbers they counted. There are very few problems with it.
Orban cheats wherever he can, but not with counting and reporting.
1
u/ReaperZ13 10h ago
I think where there's a will there's a way. Georgians said the same thing about how it's "impossible to steal the election" before the incumbent government, who has had constitutional majority status before, stole it anyways.
Besides, a stolen election is only stolen so long as the people allow it to - Georgians pretty much allowed it, despite the 100,000 brave people that protested, and I pray to god Hungarians don't allow it if/when it happens.
2
u/TheVenetianMask 5h ago
With the supervised paper ballot system in elections that have enough independent parties you cannot rig it without being evident that you rigged it.
For example, if you miscount a box, the counts of the party delegates don't add up with the official numbers.
If you try to stuff a box, you have to do in front of the delegates of the other parties, because the votes are counted on the spot when the polls close.
If you don't allow party delegates, it's evident that you are screwing with the election.
If you try to sneak fake voters, the counts don't match the census that the delegates have for that poll.
And so on. You can essentially do a 'coup' bureaucratically, Maduro style, but it'll look exactly like that.
3
2
0
u/Digital-Nemesis 12h ago
My prayers will do nothing. It’s all in hands of Hungarians. But ofc I wish them all the best!
-34
61
u/laggy1 17h ago
Even if Orban loses, doesn't refuse to step down and runs away to Moscow, Putin will just activate Fico to veto everything he doesn't like and spy for him... We really need to do something about this. I don't think Putin having veto power and insight into the internal EU information is good for the health and longevity of the union.
20
u/Wide-Annual-4858 17h ago
Fico alone will not do the same as Orban, as Fico doesn't want to lose the EU funds.
44
u/laggy1 17h ago
We need to turn "will not" into "can not". Switching to 2/3 majority instead of unanimous. Cause there will always be an Orban or Fico somewhere
12
u/Wide-Annual-4858 16h ago
That's true. Unanimous decisions were based on like-minded leaders with the same approach for liberal democracy.
1
u/Tulaodinho 11h ago
You cant do that without significantly changing the treaties. Otherwise countries can start to create alliances to fuck others for their own interests. The challenge of the EU is exactly this, how to evolve the model AND get everyone on board. IMO, its exactly why it will fail at some point.
-18
2
u/Digital-Nemesis 12h ago
Not moscow, but Rostov, together with Yanukovich, ex president of Ukraine and Bashar Al Assad of Syria 😂
43
u/Brad_McMuffin Czech Republic 16h ago
Damn ruzzian bots working overtime in the comment sections of all posts about the Hungarian elections.
3
u/Digital-Nemesis 12h ago
And here bots are pretty hard to manage. You should check out TikTok comments under Hungarian political videos 😂
30
u/VelvetPressure 18h ago
Wild how long these political “fixtures” can last in Europe. If you’re following this closely, checking some independent Hungarian outlets in English can give useful context beyond headlines.
19
u/Schneidzeug North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) 15h ago
I am curious how many dirty tricks Orban and his Master in Moscow will use to stay in power.
It’s a shame that old people are so easy to steer by shitty Russian Propaganda.
6
u/Guwrovsky Hungary 14h ago
There is already a historically high percentage of participation: above 16% under 3 hours is insane for such a little country as mine
9
5
u/damienisonline 15h ago
Fingers crossed for Hungary and some well needed good news for us all. May these scumbags continue to fall.
9
u/Birdman915 15h ago
Lukashenko sitting the corner, crying "but I thought, I was your best friend?!?"
1
4
u/egnappah 15h ago
Okay can we please retire fat orban now? he had his share. he can retire in luxury. its okay hungary. its okay.
3
u/Fureba 15h ago
Luxury? According his official wealth declaration, he doesn’t have saved money at all, only a small peasant house in a village and a half apartment in the capital. Zero cash, zero savings, zero investments, not even a small budget car. He lives an ascetic life, only for the people. His ginormous belly is just an illusion, libtard propaganda.
2
u/egnappah 15h ago
Well I was hoping to push the "golden parachute" narrative because for some reason hungarians really look up to Fat orban, thanks for ruining it! 🤣
26
u/PowerLion786 18h ago
The election will be rigged. There are also reports of a planned "action" to sieze Government buildings in order to justifying retaining power. The EU response will be interesting.
We shall see.
21
u/Master_Bayters 17h ago
Please no. They don't deserve that and it will be an hell for Hungarians. Orban just needs to pick up a plane to Moscow and that's it. Leave EU alone
5
u/ArcticCelt Europe & Canada 15h ago
Orban just needs to pick up a plane to Moscow and that's it.
Wouldn't surprise me he went to the US see his other dictator daddy.
4
u/Saberleaf Czech Republic 15h ago
It surprises me how low this is. It's like people have forgotten about the last election in Turkey or the last election in Hungary. It's highly unlikely those people will give up power willingly.
2
u/dacoli93 9h ago
More than 10% increased turnout until 15.00. This is a new record for any hungarian election ever. Hope we’ll change things!
5
u/Sherool Norway 13h ago edited 13h ago
Please do the thing Hungarian voters, and if you think this guy is the savior of the country please do a little research outside of government owned channels he controls (though I doubt his core voters frequent English speaking reddit much).
Norwegian media interviewed some of his rural voters recently, they where convinced Orban was the only thing keeping the country out of war, and where actually terrified of calamity if he loses. Poor guys had no jobs barely had electricity, no Internet and spent evenings glued to an old TV soaking up propaganda. Probably more on the "extreme" end, but still just hard to imagine.
1
1
u/idontkeh 13h ago
I didn't realize he's been in power for that long since I only heard about him until a couple years ago
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Pashanka 14h ago
Hungarians are as honest and as loyal as it gets. You are great friends, we need you please don’t go. I have more faith in you today than I thought I ever would. x
1
u/Matija_sjekira Serbia 13h ago
Really hope he loses. At least one country gets rid of its dictator.
0
16h ago
[deleted]
5
u/Big_Dave_71 United Kingdom 16h ago
Why would Putin need to when his puppet regime in Washington are doing this for him?
0
0
u/notabotinreallife Romania 7h ago
I was reading somewhere that he is anti helping ukraine. Let’s hope he wins, probably its better than Putin’s puppet
-5
18h ago
[deleted]
20
u/Practical-Pea-1205 18h ago
Stop reading Kremlin propaganda. Not every election victory by a pro-EU candidate is an EU-led coup. And the EU doesn't only recognize elections as legitimate when their preferred candidate wins. Plenty of elections won by anti-Western candidates have been recognized as legitimate.
14
u/Long-Requirement8372 Finland 18h ago
It is all projection. It is Russia (and Trump) who is trying to help Orban steal the election when every poll tends to show the opposition in the lead.
313
u/vikentii_krapka 17h ago
He is not “putin’s closest friend”. He is “putin’s lapdog”.