Hungary election: PM Viktor Orban concedes defeat to opposition, ending 16 years in power

[0:01] Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has conceded defeat in the country's election, ending 16 years of power. [0:09] He has congratulated opposition leader Peter Magyar, whose party is on track to win a two-thirds majority in parliament. [0:17] Nearly half of the votes have been counted. [0:19] Hungary's election committee reported a record turnout. [0:22] All right, we're going to go live on this breaking news to our correspondent, Steppe Vassen. [0:27] She joins us now from Budapest. [0:28] Steppe, obviously this is a huge result for the opposition. [0:32] What are you seeing? What are you hearing where you are? [0:34] What an evening here for the people here in Hungary. [0:41] It's all over for Viktor Orban after 16 years. [0:45] They can barely believe it, but it's absolutely happening. [0:48] It is a landslide victory for opposition leader Peter Magyar, who only worked for like two years to reach this unbelievable result. [0:58] He has now a very comfortable two-thirds majority projected for him to win, because this is very important. [1:08] A two-third majority in parliament is important to change the constitution, which was so well crafted and changed by Viktor Orban in the last 16 years, [1:18] to get more control over the state institutions, over the democratic institutions, to control the media. [1:26] So this is all that Peter Magyar can change, and his party can change when he gets his seats in parliament. [1:32] And this is also very telling for populists around the world that a populist leader who has used the propaganda machine of the state, [1:42] who has silenced the media, can still be beaten. [1:46] And this is something that this party and this leader, Peter Magyar, has basically managed to show. [1:51] So this is also a result that will not go down well in Washington. [1:56] The endorsement by U.S. President Donald Trump didn't help Orban. [2:00] The visit, last-minute visit by J.D. Vance here to Budapest last week didn't help Orban. [2:06] Netanyahu has issued his support, didn't help. [2:09] The far-right leaders from Europe were all gathering here in Budapest in the last couple of weeks. [2:15] It all didn't help. [2:16] The people here have decided something completely different. [2:19] They want to be closer to Brussels, something that Viktor Orban has really managed to destroy, basically, in the last couple of years. [2:29] The relationship has been very bad. [2:31] He's blocking money for Ukraine, for weapons for Ukraine. [2:37] So Peter Magyar has already announced he wants to have a better relationship, [2:42] to get the money back that Brussels has been blocking for Hungary, to improve the economy and to fight corruption. [2:48] But it all has to be seen because Magyar, from the other hand, is coming from the Fidesz party, from Orban. [2:55] He was a loyalist for many, many years. [2:58] So he has a lot of the same ideals and values as Viktor Orban. [3:03] The only things that are really different is his relationship he wants with the European Union. [3:09] So people here have voted for Peter Magyar because he was uniting the opposition in the last two years. [3:17] People have reluctantly voted for him as well. [3:20] But they had only one goal, and that was to get rid of Viktor Orban. [3:25] That's how much they were exhausted by his rule and also frustrated by the limits that he put on the democratic institutions here. [3:36] Yeah, and Seb, it looks like you are, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, [3:38] but it looks like you are waiting for the opposition leader, Peter Magyar, to speak where you are. [3:43] We can see these live pictures of the crowds and what we're seeing behind you as well. [3:47] But Viktor Orban has conceded this election. [3:51] Has he spoken? What exactly has he said? [3:58] He has conceded, and he has conceded very early on, you would say. [4:02] But he was speaking, and he said that he accepts the result. [4:07] He congratulates Peter Magyar. [4:09] He says he will go and support the opposition. [4:12] It's not clear, of course, if he will have a role in the opposition himself. [4:16] But he says, we are not done. [4:18] The fight is not over. [4:19] So it shows, basically, that he is willing to accept the results. [4:25] And all the talk that was happening in the last couple of days, [4:30] that there could be protests, that there could be resistance from whoever is going to lose, [4:35] that there could be violence even, [4:37] it seems now all gone with Viktor Orban coming out and very clearly saying, we lost. [4:44] All right, that is Al Jazeera's Step Basin reporting amidst the historic scenes in Budapest. [4:50] 16 years of rule from Viktor Orban is coming to an end tonight. [4:55] Step, thank you. [4:57] Well, a court in France is set to deliver a verdict on Monday in a landmark case. [5:02] French cement firm Lafarge is accused of finance.