Magyar has vowed to restore democratic institutions and governmental checks and balances that were heavily eroded during Orban\u2019s rule, and to clamp down on alleged corruption.<\/p>\n
\t His government is expected to transform political dynamics within the European Union, where the former prime minister had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions, most recently concerning support for neighboring Ukraine.<\/p>\n A parliament without Orb\u00e1n<\/p>\n On Saturday, Magyar, a 45-year-old lawyer who founded Tisza in 2024 after years as an insider in Orban\u2019s party, entered the sprawling neo-Gothic parliament building alongside 140 of his party representatives.<\/p>\n Tisza now controls 141 seats in Hungary\u2019s 199-seat parliament. Orban\u2019s Fidesz-KDNP coalition controls 52 seats, down from 135, while the far-right Mi Hazank (Our Homeland) party holds six seats.<\/p>\n The 199 representatives took their oaths of office at around 11 a.m. local time. Orban was not among them for the first time since Hungary\u2019s first post-Communist parliament was formed in 1990.<\/p>\n \t Magyar earlier called on Hungarians to attend an all-day \u201cregime-change\u201d celebration on Kossuth Square outside parliament to mark his inauguration and the end of the Orban era. Thousands had already gathered in the square as the new representatives were sworn in, many waving Hungarian and EU flags and wearing Tisza T-shirts.<\/p>\n As the crowd watched the proceedings inside parliament on large screens, cheers erupted whenever Magyar appeared. The new prime minister was set to address the crowd outside after the completion of parliament\u2019s inaugural session.<\/p>\n Hungary\u2019s new national assembly has 54 women lawmakers, most from the Tisza party \u2014 more than a quarter of the total and the most in Hungary\u2019s history.<\/p>\n One attendee, Andrea Szepesi, an economist from Budapest, said it was \u201cabout time\u201d that more female lawmakers held seats in parliament. Under Orban\u2019s rule, there were fewer women in government than in nearly all of the EU\u2019s other 26 nations.<\/p>\n \u201cFinally, women are able to participate in this new, beautiful democratic system and the flourishing of the country,\u201d she told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Repairing relations with the EU<\/p>\n Magyar has promised to repair his country\u2019s ties with the EU, which Orban had pushed to a breaking point, and to restore Hungary\u2019s place among Western democracies, whose standing had been called into question as Orban drifted ever closer to Russia.<\/p>\n The EU flag was raised on the parliament building\u2019s facade Saturday afternoon for the first time since Orban\u2019s government removed it in 2014.<\/p>\n \t Unlocking about 17 billion euros ($20 billion) of EU funds for Hungary frozen during Orban\u2019s time in office over rule-of-law and corruption concerns is among the incoming prime minister\u2019s top priorities. The money is sorely needed to help jump-start Hungary\u2019s struggling economy, which has stagnated for the past four years.<\/p>\n Another attendee of the celebration, 27-year-old web designer \u00c1ron Farsang, said he expects the new Tisza government to restore Hungary\u2019s democratic institutions and to \u201clead us back toward the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would also really like it if we could get rid of the Russian influence as soon as possible,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m thinking about energy dependency and their general political style.\u201d<\/p>\n Accounting for the past<\/p>\n Many of the nearly 3.4 million Hungarians that voted for Tisza expect Magyar to hold Fidesz officials and their business allies accountable for the perceived misconduct of the outgoing administration.<\/p>\n Magyar plans to form a National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, an authority tasked with investigating and seeking to recover public funds misused during Orban\u2019s tenure. He\u2019s also vowed to suspend the news services of Hungary\u2019s public broadcaster \u2014 widely seen as a mouthpiece of Orban\u2019s party \u2014 until objectivity can be restored.<\/p>\n In his speech to lawmakers Saturday, Magyar referenced his intentions to hold former officials accountable for past abuses, saying voters had \u201cgiven us a mandate to open a new chapter in Hungary\u2019s history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must understand, however, that there can be no new beginning without reconciliation. There can be no reconciliation without justice. And there can be no justice without confronting the past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPeter Magyar takes the oath as Hungary\u2019s prime minister during a ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo\/Denes Erdos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26111334779958-e1778338359508-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tHungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, center, on the tribune during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Ireland and Hungary at the Aviva stadium in Dublin, on September 6, 2025. (AP Photo\/Peter Morrison, File)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AFP__20260509__B2C9494__v1__HighRes__HungaryPoliticsParliament-e1778338718497-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tThe flag of the European Union is flown at the Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest on May 9, 2026, ending the flag\u2019s long absence under Viktor Orban. (Ferenc Isza\/AFP)<\/p>\n
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