{"id":65359,"date":"2026-05-10T22:29:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T22:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/65359\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T22:29:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T22:29:24","slug":"magyar-takes-over-as-hungarys-pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/65359\/","title":{"rendered":"Magyar takes over as Hungary\u2019s PM"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORBAN GONE:
\n Magyar has pledged that one of his government\u2019s first steps would be to create an office to investigate corruption over the past 20 years <\/p>\n

Peter Magyar, a pro-EU conservative, was sworn in as Hungary\u2019s new prime minister on Saturday, closing the chapter on the 16-year rule of his nationalist predecessor, Viktor Orban. <\/p>\n

The former government insider turned critic whose Tisza party resoundingly won April 12 legislative elections, vowed he would bring in \u201cregime change.\u201d That was underlined by the speaker of the new parliament ordering the EU flag be reinstalled on the building, after a 12-year absence under Orban, just ahead of Magyar taking his oath of office in the legislature. <\/p>\n

The EU has been effusive in its welcome of Magyar, seeing his arrival as Hungary\u2019s leader as drawing a line under years of hostility and obstructionism from Budapest. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: AFP<\/p>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on X said his premiership held \u201cthe hope and promise of renewal in these challenging times.\u201d <\/p>\n

Magyar\u2019s inauguration drew tens of thousands of people to giant screens around the parliament, where they waved Hungarian and EU flags to watch the ceremony and then party into the night. <\/p>\n

Inside the parliament, Magyar vowed: \u201cI will not rule over Hungary; I will serve my country.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo: AFP<\/p>\n

He afterward addressed his supporters outside, emphasizing that the country \u201cbelongs to everyone … and that together we will rebuild Hungary.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that we could resolve peacefully and didn\u2019t have to rise up against the oppressive power,\u201d Zoltan Markus, 25, said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward with hope in our hearts to what comes next, as well as to the complete arrest of the former government,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Magyar, 45, has pledged that one of his government\u2019s first steps would be to create an independent office to investigate corruption over the past 20 years and recover public assets from those who \u201cillegally acquired\u201d them. <\/p>\n

He also wants to undo changes introduced under Orban \u2014 who fostered close ties with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin \u2014 that eroded the judiciary, media, universities and other institutions. <\/p>\n

His Tisza party won 141 of parliament\u2019s 199 seats, a comfortable two-thirds majority with the power to amend the constitution and push through key reforms. <\/p>\n

Among Magyar\u2019s most urgent priorities is unlocking billions of euros in EU funds frozen by Brussels over rule-of-law concerns. <\/p>\n

Hungary faces a stagnating economy and deteriorating public services \u2014 problems analysts say require deep structural reform. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of patience and goodwill toward the new government, but the expectations are through the roof and need to be met in the short-term as well,\u201d said Andrea Virag, strategy director at the liberal Republikon Institute think tank. <\/p>\n

In his inaugural speech, Magyar said many state institutions had \u201csquandered\u201d public trust, reiterating an earlier call for Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and other Orban allies to resign by the end of the month. <\/p>\n

Orban said last month that he would not take up his seat in parliament for the first time since Hungary\u2019s transition to democracy in 1990. <\/p>\n

He also skipped Saturday\u2019s ceremony, breaking with decades of tradition. The 62-year-old, who openly championed \u201cilliberal democracy\u201d and curtailed rights, said he would instead focus on the \u201creorganization of the national camp.\u201d <\/p>\n

The new cohort of lawmakers on Saturday elected hotelier Agnes Forsthoffer as speaker \u2014 one of several women tapped for senior roles by Tisza, which seeks to offer broader representation than Orban\u2019s coalition. <\/p>\n

History teacher Krisztian Koszegi was elected Hungary\u2019s first-ever Roma deputy speaker. <\/p>\n

Other nominations included lawyer Vilmos Katai-Nemeth as social and family affairs minister, who would be the country\u2019s first visually impaired Cabinet member. <\/p>\n

Celebrations in and around parliament were heavy with symbolism, featuring flags and music highlighting Hungary\u2019s EU membership, its Roma minority and ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORBAN GONE: Magyar has pledged that one of his government\u2019s first steps would be to create an office…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132],"tags":[2641,350,2640],"class_list":{"0":"post-65359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-viktor-orban","8":"tag-the-taipei-times","9":"tag-viktor-orban","10":"tag-2640"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116552647616771294","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}