Hungary, Parliamentary elections, 12 April 2026

Following an official invitation from the authorities of Hungary to observe the parliamentary elections to be held on 12 April 2026, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 15 to 19 December 2025. The ODIHR NАМ included Kseniya Dashutsina, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser and Martina Barker-Ciganikova, ODIHR Election Adviser. The NAM was joined by Daria Boyarskaya, Senior Adviser of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the parliamentary elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections, and if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions, as well as with representatives of political parties, media, civil society, and international organizations. A list of meetings is annexed to this report.