New Delhi, April 4 -- Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar says a crucial election next week where he's facing pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will be a "referendum" on whether Hungary continues on its drift toward Eastern autocracies, or can retake its place among the democratic societies of Europe.

Magyar, once an Orban ally, poses the most serious threat to the nationalist prime minister's hold on power since he took office in 2010.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Magyar said the European Union's longest-serving leader has led the country on a "180-degree turn" in recent years, endangering its Western orientation while cozying up to Moscow.

Yet despite that drift, "Hungarians still see that Hungary's...