BUDAPEST, April 12. /TASS/. Elections to Hungary’s unicameral parliament, the National Assembly, will be held on Sunday.

The new parliament will form a government that will shape Hungary’s policies over the next four years, including the country’s relations with the European Union, Russia and Ukraine.

The elections are of particular importance given Hungary’s sometimes dissident approach to EU matters, which in some cases caused disputes between Budapest and Brussels. Several times, as a result of this approach, Hungary vetoed measures related to anti-Russian sanctions, as well as loans and EU membership for Ukraine.

Differences with Brussels had a serious impact on the current election campaign, which was accompanied by fierce internal political rivalry and high-profile scandals involving foreign security services, including Ukrainian ones.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, whose phone was found to be tapped in of these scandals, said that his country saw unprecedented foreign meddling in its domestic affairs during the current campaign. Budapest accused Brussels and Kiev of supporting the opposition and trying to make things harder for the country’s current government.

The parliament has 199 seats, with 106 mandates distributed in single-seat constituencies and 93 - by party lists.

The ruling coalition of Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Alliance and the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) currently holds the constitutional majority of 135 votes.

Fidesz’s leader, 62-year-old Viktor Orban, has been the country’s prime minister since 2010, and prior to that held the post in 1998-2002 - longer than any other European politician.

The ruling coalition’s main political opponent is the Respect and Freedom Party, commonly known by its Hungarian abbreviation Tisza Party, led by P·ter Magyar, a former member of Fidesz, who was elected as Tisza's leader on 22 July 2024.

Polling stations will open at 6:00 a.m. local time (4:00 a.m. GMT) and will close at 7:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT). Exit polls will be published immediately after.