Authoritarian Putin ally Viktor Orbán declares victory in Hungary election

Hungary's authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Russia, on Sunday declared victory in his country's parliamentary elections.

Orbán, who has been prime minister for more than 15 years, announced his victory for his fourth consecutive term when his Fidesz party had 71% of the votes counted by Sunday evening, CNN reported.

His campaign was overshadowed by Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Orbán, a longtime associate of Putin, has not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is on Hungary's eastern border.

"We have such a victory it can be seen from the moon, but it's sure that it can be seen from Brussels," Orbán said in his victory speech, CNN reported. The prime minister was taking a hit at the European Union, which has accused him of corruption and other problems.

Opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay tweeted "Don't let go of each other's hands!" as translated by Google, shortly after Orbán declared victory. Marki-Zay failed to win his home district in the election.

"The whole world has seen tonight in Budapest that Christian democratic politics, conservative civic politics and patriotic politics have won. We are telling Europe that this is not the past, this is the future," Orbán said in his speech Sunday evening, The Associated Press reported.

Under Orbán, Hungary has refused to send weapons to Ukraine, and has continued to import Russian gas and oil.

"This isn’t our war, we have to stay out of it," Orban said last week.