2019 European Parliament election in Hungary

The European Parliament election, 2019 for the election of the delegation from Hungary to the European Parliament was held on 26 May 2019,[1] electing the 21 members of the Hungary delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union.[2]

2019 European Parliament election in Hungary
26 May 2019
All 21 Hungarian seats to the European Parliament
Turnout43.48% ( 14.51%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader László Trócsányi Klára Dobrev Katalin Cseh
Party Fidesz–KDNP DK Momentum
Alliance EPP (suspended) S&D ALDE
Last election 51.48%, 12 seats 9.75%, 2 seats New party
Seats won 13 4 2
Seat change 1 2 new party
Popular vote 1,824,220 557,081 344,512
Percentage 52.56% 16.05% 9.93%
Swing 1.08% 6.30% New party
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Bertalan Tóth Márton Gyöngyösi
Party MSZP–P Jobbik
Alliance S&D, Greens/EFA NI
Last election 18.15%, 3 seats[lower-alpha 1] 14.67%, 3 seats
Seats won 1 1
Seat change 2 2
Popular vote 229,551 220,184
Percentage 6.61% 6.34%
Swing 11.54% 8.33%

Date of the vote

European Parliament Elections are held every five years in the European Union. The vote had to take place from 23 to 26 May 2019, but the member states could set the exact date.[3] Since Hungarian law states elections can only take place on a Sunday,[4] the only possible date was 26 May 2019. Accordingly, President János Áder announced on 4 March 2019 that the vote would be held on 26 May.[1]

Background

Fidesz

During early 2019, the Hungarian government launched a poster campaign targeting European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros. The government campaign accuses Juncker and Soros of wanting “to weaken member states’ rights to protect their own borders” and claims “they want …migrants’ visas”.[5] Due to the poster campaign, some members of the European People's Party (EPP), which the Hungarian governing party Fidesz is a member of, started moves to remove it from the group.”[6] Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, called those who were calling for his removal from the EPP "Useful idiots".”[7][8] In response to the political ad campaign, Manfred Weber, Spitzenkandidat of the EPP demanded Orbán apologize for and renounce the criticism levied against the EU by him and his party or face Fidesz's suspension from the EPP.[9]

On 20 March 2019, the European People's Party voted to suspend the membership of Fidesz citing its anti-immigration stance, and personal attacks on Jean-Claude Juncker and George Soros. Prime Minister and Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán had threatened to pull out of the EPP if it was suspended.[10]

Parties contesting

According to election law, Hungary consists of a single election district and all parties that collect 20,000 valid signatures from eligible citizens are put on the ballot. By the deadline (23 April 2019, 16:00), eleven parties or party alliances had submitted signature lists. Of those, two parties were refused registration, lacking a sufficient number of valid signatures : the United Hungarian National People's Party (EMNP) and the Tea Party Hungary (TPM).[11] Nine qualified lists were approved by the National Election Committee (NVB) to be put on the ballot, of which two of them are shared lists. All parties represented in the Országgyűlés participated in the election, in addition to four extra-parliamentary parties. The parties appeared on the ballot papers in the following randomly drawn order:

Hungarian parties contesting the 2019 European Parliament election
Abbr. Party Lead candidate Last election EP affiliation
MSZP–P Hungarian Socialist Party–Dialogue for Hungary Bertalan Tóth 10.9%+7.25%[lower-alpha 2] 2+1 seats S&D+Greens/EFA
MKKP Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party Zsuzsanna Döme Did not contest
Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary Márton Gyöngyösi 14.67% 3 seats NI
Fidesz–KDNP Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance–Christian Democratic People's Party László Trócsányi 51.48% 11+1 seats EPP (Suspended)
Momentum Momentum Movement Katalin Cseh Did not contest ALDE
DK Democratic Coalition Klára Dobrev 9.75% 2 seats S&D
Our Homeland Our Homeland Movement László Toroczkai Did not contest
Workers' Party Hungarian Workers' Party Gyula Thürmer Did not contest
LMP Politics Can Be Different Gábor Vágó 5.04% 1 seat Greens/EFA

Opinion polling
Polling firm Fieldwork date Fidesz-
KDNP		 MSZP-P DK Jobbik Momentum LMP MKKP Our Home Lead
2019 election 26 May 2019 52.62 6.62 16.09 6.37 9.83 2.17 2.61 3.30 36.81
Nézőpont 25 May 2019 55 10 11 9 7 3 2 2 41
Politico 24 May 2019 55.08 8.51 10.68 9.53 6.02 3.34 3.00 1.53 44.40
Publicus 16-22 May 2019 52 13 11 13 6 4 1 1 39
Medián 15-18 May 2019 52 10.5 10 11.5 5.5 4 3 3 40.5
Századvég 10-18 May 2019 54.8 7.5 11.8 9.7 6.5 3.2 0 3.2 43
MR Center 15 May 2019 42.1 9.5 8.3 9.8 6.2 1.8 3.5 8.3 32.3
Nézőpont May 2019 54 10 10 10 6 5 3 2 44
Závecz Research 4-14 May 2019 53 12 11 12 4 5 2 2 41
Idea Institute 2-6 May 2019 50 12 9 13 3 5 2 0 37
Nézőpont 1-26 April 2019 57 10 8 10 5 4 2 2 47
Závecz Research 15-25 April 2019 57 13 11 6 5 4 2 1 44
MR Center 16-26 April 2019 50.30 9.23 10.20 10.35 6.25 3.70 4.70 1.40 49.95
Századvég 10-21 April 2019 54 10 9 14 4 4 0 2 40
Závecz Research April 2019 53 12 9 12 4 4 2 2 44
Medián Mar-Apr 2019 53 12 8 11 5 7 2 0 41
Idea Institute 29 Mar-1 Apr 2019 48 12 9 14 6 4 3 2 34
Publicus 13-20 March 2019 52 15 6 16 6 3 2 0 36
Závecz Research March 2019 50 13 9 14 5 4 1 2 36
Nézőpont 1-28 March 2019 56 11 6 12 4 5 4 2 44
Idea Institute 28 Feb-3 Mar 2019 47 12 9 17 4 3 4 2 30
Nézőpont 31 Jan-22 Feb 2019 54 11 6 13 4 5 4 3 41
Nézőpont 31 Jan-22 Feb 2019 54 11 6 13 4 5 4 3 41
European Parliament 5-15 February 2019 53.0 12.3 8.3 13.3 3.7 4.7 1.7 2.0 39.7
Závecz Research 3-10 February 2019 49 12 9 14 4 4 2 2 35
European Parliament 6 February 2019 49.3 13.3 7.2 15.5 5.0 4.5 3.7 1.2 33.8
2014 election 25 May 2014 51.48 10.90 9.75 14.67 – 5.04 – – 36.81

Results
 Summary of the results of Hungary's 26 May 2019 election to the European Parliament
← 2014 • 2019 • 2024 →
National party EU Party EP Group Main candidate Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Fidesz + Christian Democratic People's Party (Fidesz–KDNP) EPP EPP László Trócsányi 1,824,220 52.56 1.08
13 / 21
 1
Democratic Coalition (DK) None S&D Klára Dobrev 557,081 16.05 6.30
4 / 21
 2
Momentum Movement (Momentum) ALDE ALDE Katalin Cseh 344,512 9.93 New
2 / 21
 New
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) + Dialogue for Hungary (P) PES S&D Bertalan Tóth 229,551 6.61 4.29
1 / 21
 2
Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) None NI Márton Gyöngyösi 220,184 6.34 8.33
1 / 21
 2
Our Homeland Movement (Our Homeland) None László Toroczkai 114,156 3.29 New
0 / 21
 New
Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party (MKKP) None Zsuzsanna Döme 90,912 2.62 New
0 / 21
 New
Politics Can Be Different (LMP) EGP No MEPs Gábor Vágó 75,498 2.18 2.86
0 / 21
 1
Hungarian Workers' Party (Workers' Party) INITIATIVE No MEPs Gyula Thürmer 14,452 0.42 —
0 / 21
 0
Valid votes 3,470,257 99.48
Blank and invalid votes 17,757 0.50
Totals 3,488,014 99.98
Missing votes 309 0.02
Totals 3,488,423 100.00 —
21 / 21
 0
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 8,008,353 43.56 14.59
Source: Valasztas.hu

Results by county and in the diaspora
County results in %[12] Fidesz-
KDNP		 DK Momentum MSZP-P Jobbik Our Home MKKP LMP Workers' Party Total Votes Cast Turnout
Baranya 50.13 18.43 9.44 6.63 6.06 3.13 2.89 2.84 0.46 125,673 41.35%
Bács-Kiskun 58.81 13.43 7.27 5.08 7.05 3.67 2.19 2.10 0.39 166,013 39.80%
Békés 52.70 16.74 6.80 6.17 8.65 4.09 2.14 2.01 0.46 109,775 38.65%
Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén 51.65 15.77 5.79 7.15 11.69 4.02 1.82 1.52 0.59 202,268 38.31%
Budapest (capital) 41.17 19.79 17.35 9.04 3.18 2.32 3.83 2.98 0.34 689,526 52.51%
Csongrád 49.32 13.89 9.47 11.53 5.38 4.95 2.99 2.07 0.42 145,393 43.90%
Fejér 53.83 16.01 9.15 5.31 7.03 3.69 2.58 1.98 0.43 148,563 43.38%
Győr-Moson-Sopron 59.17 13.74 8.44 4.90 5.79 3.26 2.28 2.07 0.35 166,602 46.36%
Hajdú-Bihar 57.37 14.16 7.96 5.54 7.14 3.17 2.21 1.95 0.47 156,691 36.55%
Heves 52.63 16.12 7.14 5.83 10.26 3.95 1.88 1.74 0.46 100,093 41.38%
Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok 53.44 14.95 6.00 6.53 9.60 5.28 1.93 1.58 0.70 113,542 37.42%
Komárom-Esztergom 50.08 19.65 8.56 5.59 7.34 3.50 2.61 2.22 0.43 101,790 41.40%
Nógrád 56.90 15.65 5.11 7.27 6.76 4.47 1.57 1.40 0.86 61,936 39.38%
Pest 51.38 15.55 11.70 5.64 5.29 3.34 3.23 2.54 0.34 449,270 44.20%
Somogy 55.30 17.22 6.44 5.38 8.90 2.87 1.79 1.67 0.43 102,981 40.70%
Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg 60.66 13.45 5.32 6.27 8.25 2.92 1.45 1.25 0.42 170,754 38.05%
Tolna 59.02 14.40 6.63 5.98 6.11 3.53 2.01 1.88 0.43 73,036 40.17%
Vas 61.03 13.03 7.42 5.63 6.43 2.40 2.01 1.76 0.29 100,169 48.80%
Veszprém 54.75 15.20 8.22 5.96 7.53 3.50 2.39 2.06 0.38 129,678 45.32%
Zala 58.13 15.63 6.91 4.84 6.81 3.58 1.86 1.89 0.34 100,565 44.72%
Foreign representations 41.30 9.60 29.04 6.37 2.29 2.07 5.22 4.00 0.11 17,749
Diaspora 95.97 0.60 0.96 0.45 0.32 0.63 0.58 0.36 0.12 57,777
Total 52.56 16.05 9.93 6.61 6.34 3.29 2.62 2.18 0.42

European groups
European group Seats 2014 Seats 2019 Change
European People's Party EPP
12 / 21
13 / 21
 1
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats S&D
4 / 21
5 / 21
 1
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE 0
2 / 21
 2
Non-Inscrits NI
3 / 21
1 / 21
 2
The Greens–European Free Alliance Greens-EFA
2 / 21
 0 2
21 21

List of seat winners

Analysis

These elections marked the change of balance in Hungarian politics. Although Fidesz-KNDP remained largest and dominant party, but MSZP and Jobbik were replaced by Democratic Coalition and Momentum Movement as leading opposition parties. LMP was wiped off from political sphere. The results of the European elections in Hungary were also viewed with interest for their potential implications in the upcoming local elections in 2019. András Bódis of Válasz Online noted possibility that in some municipalities joint opposition candidates can defeat Fidesz-KNDP candidates.[13]

Notes
  1. Joint result of MSZP and Együtt–PM in the last EU election
  2. Common list with the now-defunct Together in the 2014 election
  3. Bertalan Tóth was elected but did not take his seat.

References
  1. Zoltán, Dull Szabolcs, Kovács (2019-03-01). "President of the Republic announces date of European Election in Hungary". index.hu. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  2. "EU elections: how many MEPs will each country get in 2019? | News | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 2018-01-02. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  3. "Council agrees dates for the 2019 European Parliament elections - Consilium". www.consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  4. "Nemzeti Jogszabálytár". njt.hu. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  5. Rankin, Jennifer (February 19, 2019). "Brussels accuses Orbán of peddling conspiracy theory with Juncker poster" – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. "Orban faces boot by EU centre-right group". March 5, 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  7. Karnitschnig, Matthew (March 2, 2019). "Viktor Orbán calls EPP critics 'useful idiots'". POLITICO.
  8. "Hungary's Viktor Orban calls his EU party critics 'useful idiots' | DW | 04.03.2019". DW.COM.
  9. "European conservative gives ultimatum to Hungarian leader". Reuters. 2019-03-05. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  10. de la Baume, Maïa; Bayer, Lili (21 March 2019). "Hungary's Orbán clings on to Europe's power center". Politico. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  11. Kilenc listára lehet majd szavazni az EP-választáson – Index.hu, 2019-04-25.
  12. "Eredmények 2019 - Európa Parlamenti választás".
  13. https://www.valaszonline.hu/2019/05/29/ep-valasztas-eredmenye-varosi-bontas-onkormanyzat/
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