Hungary’s election has ended Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power, with voters backing a conservative challenger promising a return to democratic norms and a closer European path.

Far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Sunday conceded defeat to conservative European lawmaker Peter Magyar in parliamentary elections that ended 16 years of increasingly authoritarian Christian nationalist rule amid overt interference from the Trump administration and alleged covert meddling by Russia.

“The election result is not final yet, but it is understandable and clear,” Orbán said. “The election result is painful for us, but clear. The responsibility and possibility of governing was not given to us. I have congratulated the winner.”

“We will serve our country and the Hungarian nation from the opposition,” he added.

Magyar, who leads the socially conservative but democratic Tisza Party, said on social media that “just now, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has congratulated me on our victory in a phone call.”

Tisza is projected to win 135 seats in the 199-seat Országgyűlés, or Parliament, with nearly half of all votes counted, according to the national election office. Orbán’s Fidesz party is projected to control 57 seats, based........

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