Mid-May could be when Hungary’s election winner, Péter Magyar will swear in his cabinet, he said on Wednesday. He's due to take office as prime minister after last weekends elections. He's pledged swift action to unlock billions in suspended European Union funding.
Magyar’s TISZA (Respect and Freedom) party won a landslide victory in Sunday’s election, ending right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule.
He said his strong mandate would allow him to amend the constitution and roll back Orbán’s rule-of-law reforms that led the E.U. to block funding. He outlined four areas where his cabinet could move swiftly to avoid losing around €10 billion in E.U. pandemic recovery funds ahead of an end-of-August deadline.
These included anti-corruption measures, such as joining the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, restoring and strengthening the independence of the judiciary and investigative authorities, and reinstating media and academic freedoms.
Magyar said he had spoken with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday (14 April) and that they had agreed to begin informal consultations before the new government is formed.
“As they say in Brussels, full stop,” Magyar said.
He also stressed he would not accept conditions he believed harmed national interests.
“I explained it clearly to her as well, and we have made it clear before, that we can only comply with conditions that are good for Hungarian people, good for Hungarian businesses and, in general, for our country.”
It was not immediately clear whether Magyar’s remarks signalled an effort to narrow the list of conditions ahead of what he has described as an “extremely tight” deadline.
Orban has denied eroding democratic standards and said his government aimed to protect Hungary’s “Christian character” against liberal ideas promoted by the European Union.
President Tamás Sulyok, who is backed by Orbán’s Fidesz party, told Magyar on Wednesday he would ask him to form Hungary’s next government. Meanwhile, Magyar increased pressure on the president, who was elected in 2024, to resign.
“I told the President … that Hungarian people have voted for a change of regime,” Magyar said. He added that Sulyok, during what he described as an otherwise amicable meeting, said he would “consider” the request.
Magyar said that if Sulyok does not resign, he would use his party’s strong mandate to amend the constitution and other legislation to force him from office, along with other “puppets” appointed by the Orbán government.
Analysts and rating agencies have warned that the reform path could still prove complicated, despite Magyar’s sweeping victory, with Orbán loyalists likely to retain control of many key public posts for years to come.
Making a rare appearance on public media, Magyar clashed with news anchors he accused of serving Orbán’s agenda for years while giving his party little unbiased coverage.
As part of broader efforts to restore press freedoms after taking office next month, Magyar said he would suspend state media news broadcasts, which critics at home and abroad say became a government mouthpiece under Orbán.
“Every Hungarian deserves a public service media that broadcasts the truth,” Magyar said on Kossuth state radio, where Orbán had been a weekly guest while opposition politicians were rarely invited.
“We will need a little time to pass a new media law, a new media authority and setting up the professional conditions for state media to actually do what it is meant to do.”
Critics have said Orbán presided over a gradual decline in independent media, with dozens of newspapers and broadcasters critical of his government changing hands in recent years. The Central European Press and Media Foundation, created by Orbán loyalists in 2018, now controls more than 400 outlets, from Echo TV and Hír TV to news websites and regional newspapers.
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