Hungary elections live: Orban fights to remain in power as voters head to polls in key test for Europe

US vice president JD Vance is in Budapest in a last minute attempt to boost the campaign of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, a key European ally of the Trump administration, ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

Orbán’s Fidesz political party is lagging in the polls, with the opposition Tisza party – led by Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider – well ahead at 58% to Orbán’s 35%.

The populist right wing leader will be battling to extend his 16-year grip on power, during which he has turned the central European country into what he calls an “illiberal democracy”.