As the Biden White House and the European Union no doubt looked forlorn, near-final results from Hungary showed Monday morning that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his conservative Fidesz Party scored a resounding 53 percent of the vote in national elections.
The vote is even more reassuring because of the significant opposition Orban has faced from within and outside of Hungary.
Both the strong economy and what supporters call Orban's "sensible conservatism" — policies that increased the birth rate and kept Hungary neutral in the Russo-Ukraine War — were key to the big win by Fidesz.
Hungarian sources told Newsmax that Orban's conservative agenda has meant a strong economy, and he translated that into a big win in parliament.
The election result means Orban will hold a record fourth consecutive term as prime minister — with 135 seats for Fidesz and the six-party opposition alliance only 56 seats.
So crushing was the victory by Fidesz that opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay lost his own district where he had been a popular mayor.
With the economic growth rate at 7.1 percent in 2021 and unemployment at roughly 3 percent, the economy was clearly on the side of Orban.
Despite the international media repeatedly dubbing Orban a "Putin Ally" and citing his convivial relationship with the Russian president, Hungarian voters apparently liked their prime minister's policy of neutrality toward Russia and Ukraine.
Hungary has criticized the invasion and taken in refugees, but has not offered to assist Ukraine's military resistance.
Despite repeated urging from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to send arms and impose sanctions on Russia, Orban has refused.
''His message is that Hungary should avoid participating in this war and therefore he is against weapons delivery,'' Orban campaign strategist Ágoston Mráz told us. ''And the average Hungarian voters agree very much with this.''
Hungary has been a strong member of NATO, but has been careful not to antagonize their largest neighbor, Russia.
According to a spokesman from the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., "Hungary so far has welcomed nearly 600,000 refugees from Ukraine, making Hungary the second-biggest host country after Poland. Hungary will continue to help those fleeing the war.''
Orban also got high marks from voters for his policy of "support for responsible child bearing" — notably that mothers who have four children are exempt from federal income taxes for life.
The fruits of this pro-family policy (in which the government invests 5% of Hungary's Gross Domestic Product for family support) includes an increase in the fertility rate of 24% in the last decade — "the largest in Europe," Minister of Families Katalin Novak told Newsmax last October.
Additionally, Novak told us, marriages are up by 43% in 10 years and abortions have decreased by 41% over the past 10 years.
With Orban's support, Novak was elected Hungary's first woman president and will be sworn in next month.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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