Hungary’s Viktor Orbán stumbles in EU election

Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party is on track to receive its worst ever result in a European Parliament election, after early results showed a new challenger took nearly 30 percent of the vote Sunday.

Péter Magyar — a former ruling party insider-turned-rival — and his Tisza party scored 29.7 percent, with 99 percent of ballots counted. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz and its smaller allies scored 44.6 percent, significantly lower than polls had predicted.

Fidesz has only won less than 50 percent of the vote once in the past two decades, scoring 47.4 percent in 2004. The preliminary results would give Orbán 11 MEPs and Magyar seven seats.