As Hungary Goes To The Polls, What’s At Stake In This Key Election?

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. and were scheduled to close at 7 p.m (1700GMT). Orbán and his top challenger, Péter Magyar, arrived at separate polling stations in Budapest at nearly the same time to cast their votes.