Thousands surged to the riverbanks of the Danube in Budapest on Sunday night to celebrate Peter Magyar's Tisza party victory in the general election. Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's defeat, after 16 years in power, has ignited hopes for radical change amid economic despair. RFI spoke to some of those cheering for change.
"I feel the freedom. I’ve never been so happy. Sixteen years of Orban was way too much," says Marcus, a man in his thirties who came with his girlfriend to the square that overlooks the Danube. "Change will be hard. But I am so relieved."
He is one of thousands of people who took to the streets on Sunday night to watch election results trickle in. When it became clear, around 10pm that Peter Magyar’s Tisza party had won, likely with a two-thirds majority, the crowds exploded with joy.
Fireworks went off, as people embraced and danced on the square next to the parliament, amid chants of: "Russians Out, Russians Out" and "Hungaria - Hungaria!"
Budapest's yellow metro carriages were crammed with Tisza supporters, mostly young people, carrying Hungarian flags, bottles of wine and champagne and posters of Magyar.
They gathered on both sides of the Danube, where one side overlooking the Parliament buildings was reserved for a stand where Magyar himself gave his victory speech.
Magyar, who arrived waving the Hungarian flag, told the cheering crowd that voters had "liberated Hungary", calling his party's win a "miracle" in the central European country of 9.5 million people.
"Today, the Hungarian people have said 'yes' to Europe," the 45-year-old former government insider and political newcomer told supporters.
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He promised to "restore the system of checks and balances..., guarantee the democratic functioning of our country" and put Hungary "back on track".
Acknowledging it was an "enormous" task, he called for unity, saying the victory belonging to "all Hungarians".
"I’m so happy," says Josef, a young man with a beard and a hoodie. The political tide is changing. Sixteen years … it was bad. Very bad. It is going to be better now."
Janine, a girl in her early twenties wearing a blue sweater is carrying a poster of Magyar. "Especially people of my age are so relieved."
She "kind of expected" Magyar’s victory. "Because we were watching Instagram, and there was that idea."
But she now wants t see change. Magyar will "change things that Orban didn’t," she hopes. "Everything is so expensive, and he has to bring the prices down."
A group of students are heading towards the riverside carrying Hungarian flags with large round holes in them. "It is a symbol," declares David, one of them. "It goes back to 1989, when we kicked out the Soviets."
At the time, the Hungarian flag had a Soviet-style wreath-and-red-star emblem in the middle. After the fall of communism, the symbol was abolished.
"People cut it out as a symbol of independence," David says. "We feel a bit like that now."
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But some of the students are not too sure about Magyar. "His biggest point is that he is not Orban," says David.
"We’ll see in four years what he’s up to. We are here mainly for the atmosphere of change."
The group just finished high school and it's the first time they can vote. Anne, another of this group of friends, says this "is good timing."
Antonia, a woman in her fifties, expects that the new government can now start working on change. She says she was shocked by the about-face of Orban over the decades, who, he says, "changed from a liberal into an extreme right wing poltiician."
She recounts how she once got stuck in an elevator with Orban.
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"I was working at a bank as a young clerk, and Orban had just founded his Fidesz party and he came in to get funding."
But the elevator got stuck for minutes. "I remember him as very polite. But I knew who he was and what his ideals were - anti Russian, liberal. But when he got to a position of power he completely changed. And all these young people gathering here never saw the young Orban. They just want to get rid of the old elite," she says.
Fidesz supporters gathered for the results-watching event in Budapest were stunned.
"I am a Fidesz supporter with all my heart," Juliana Varga Szabo, a 58-year-old teacher, told French news agency AFP, tears in her eyes, saying that perhaps she had been living in a "bubble".
"Now that bubble is burst. I won't change my values. We'll just have to see what the future brings," she added.
With 98.15 percent of precincts counted, Tisza secured a two-thirds majority with 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament on 53.6 percent of the vote, according to official election results. Orban's Fidesz took 55 seats on 37.9 percent of the vote.
Turnout in the election reached a record 79.50 percent, according to the near-complete vote count.
