The first round of the Hungarian six-party opposition primaries ahead of the 2022 general elections, an unprecedented democratic experiment with a remarkably high turnout, concluded with the results being announced on in the early morning hours on 1 October. Gergely Karácsony, the Green candidate supported by the European Green Party, secured the second place with 27.31% of the votes. He is confidently entering the second round, in which he will face two other leading candidates in early October.
Thomas Waitz, Co-Chair of the European Green Party and MEP adds:
“As European Greens, we warmly congratulate Gergely Karácsony and all the elected Green candidates for their result in the first round of the Hungarian opposition primaries.” “This unique democratic exercise for Hungary has already demonstrated its success with a turnout of over 600 000 voters, more than 8% of the entire electorate. This first round clearly shows there is a democratic wave in Hungary. A wave for restoring strong democratic standards, a wave to fight corruption, a wave to bring unity to a hugely divided country.“ “Gergely Karácsony is the best positioned to ensure this wave shows Orban the door at the elections next year. The European Greens strongly support his ambitious platform to fight corruption, bring together Hungarian citizens to stop the state capture by a small elite, and to engage the country in a just transition bearing opportunities for all.” “However, the hardest race is still ahead of the Prime Ministerial candidates: in the second round they need to make a convincing case to the electorate that they have the best chances at defeating the Fidesz-KDNP alliance in 2022. For this, the Hungarian opposition needs a consensual candidate who can gain the backing of not only a devoted core support base, but also of a wide-ranging coalition of voters. Our conviction is that from the two front runners, only Gergely Karácsony is capable of achieving this.”