Hungary election candidates hold final rallies

已複製連結

Leaders of Hungary's two biggest parties held their final election rallies on Saturday to close a turbulent campaign that will reach its apex in Sunday's election. 

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is facing the biggest political test of his career as his challenger Péter Magyar 's center-right Tisza party has charted a meteoric rise and is leading by double digits in most independent polls. 

If Tisza wins, it will bring Orbán's 16-year grip on power to a dramatic end. 

Yet many observers expect the result to be closer than polls are predicting, and that Orbán's Fidesz party can successfully mobilize its significant base of support in the countryside. 

Magyar, a 45-year-old lawyer and former member of Fidesz's political elite, has toured Hungary relentlessly for two years, visiting hundreds of cities, towns and villages in an effort to win over some of Orbán's rural support. 

He appeared before thousands of supporters on Saturday on University Square in Debrecen, Hungary's second-largest city and traditionally a Fidesz stronghold. 

Magyar struck a confident tone, saying the election would "enter Hungarian history books as the day of resurrection, the renewal of the Hungarian nation, and of the real change of regime."

He also gestured toward supporters of Orbán, saying his camp would begin the "reunification" of Hungary after election day, something he called a "national reconciliation." 

"As the winner of the election, we will have to extend a hand to our fellow countrymen," he said. 

Orbán, who ended his campaign on Budapest's opulent Castle Hill, has campaigned primarily by sounding the alarm on myriad external dangers he says are threatening Hungarians - particularly the war in neighboring Ukraine.

Orbán doubled down on that message, telling thousands of supporters that "we are in an age of danger."

"Hungary is facing serious challenges," he said. "We need to say no to major power groups in the world in order to defend ourselves, and this requires knowledge, experience and routine."