The party of Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who had described the European elections as “historic”, came in first on Sunday but recorded a clear decline, according to almost complete official results.
Fidesz collected more than 44% of the votes, based on 90% of the ballots counted, compared to a result of 52.5% in the previous election in 2019.
It could be his worst performance since Mr Orban returned to power in the central European country in 2010.
The 61-year-old leader is paying the price for the meteoric rise of the Tisza movement, led by a former civil servant who went into rebellion, Peter Magyar, who won some 30% of the vote.