Hungary’s voters shunned Orbán – but it may be too early to celebrate end of Europe’s far right

An election poster for Viktor Orbán has been defaced with ‘Liar Fidesz’, referring to the prime minister’s political party, which was shunned by voters because of corruption and frustration over high prices. Photograph: Ferenc Isza/AFP/Getty Images

For Poland’s Donald Tusk, the crushing defeat of Hungary’s illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orbán, after 16 years in office was evidence that the world was no longer “condemned to authoritarian and corrupt governments”.

Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, also believes the two-thirds majority secured by Orbán’s centre-right challenger, Péter Magyar, in Sunday’s elections was “a clear signal against rightwing populism” that showed “the pendulum is swinging back”.