![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Me-1-1778058603.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 9 May 20269 May 2026<\/p>\n
Peter Magyar has been sworn in as Hungary\u2019s new prime minister, almost a month after parliamentary elections that ended Viktor Orban\u2019s 16 years in power.<\/p>\n
Magyar, 45, who leads the centre-right Tisza party, was propelled into office on promises of change after years of economic stagnation under Orban, and strained ties with key allies, including the European Union.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Magyar invited Hungarians to \u201cstep through the gate of regime change\u201d.<\/p>\n
His party has a huge parliamentary majority, winning 141 of the 199 seats.<\/p>\n
However, Magyar faces several challenges in his new role, including restoring Budapest\u2019s relations with the EU, reviving the economy and tackling a budget deficit that reached almost three-quarters of its full-year target by April.<\/p>\n
A ceremony was held inside Hungary\u2019s neo-Gothic parliament building as Magyar was sworn in. The EU flag, removed under Orban, was displayed inside the chamber for the first time in 12 years.<\/p>\n
The newly appointed parliamentary speaker, Agnes Forsthoffer, used her first decision in office to order the flag\u2019s reinstatement, describing the move as \u201cthe first symbolic step on this path [back to Europe]\u201d.<\/p>\n
The new prime minister aims to strike a deal with the EU that would unlock around $20bn in frozen funding. The money was withheld over concerns about worsening human rights under Orban and a decline in the rule of law.<\/p>\n
\u2018Uprooting\u2019 the previous establishment<\/p>\n
During Orban\u2019s tenure, Hungary drifted further away from the EU as ties with Moscow deepened. The former prime minister used his veto in the European Council to oppose sanctions on Russia and block support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Theofanis Exadaktylos, a professor of European politics at the University of Surrey, told Al Jazeera that Magyar will need to prove he is different from Orban while dealing with the bureaucracy left behind by his predecessor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenges for the new PM are primarily related to the extensive presence of the previous regime. Orban was in power for such a long time and he has managed to change Hungary substantially from an administrative point of view. To that end, uprooting the previous establishment will be a challenge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second [challenge] will be to establish himself as different to the previous regime. Considering his background there will be sceptic voices, however let\u2019s not forget that ideologically he belongs to the right,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cNonetheless, his election marks a turning point in Hungary showcasing that the previous regime had started to lose ground in its popular basis. The third challenge is the way he will reconnect Hungary to the European Union: to that end, he has a bit of work to do from a diplomatic point of view to create new allies within the Union.\u201d<\/p>\n
Magyar\u2019s rise to prime minister is widely regarded as a remarkable feat. He was largely unknown in Hungarian politics until early 2024, when he became embroiled in a public dispute with Orban\u2019s ruling Fidesz party, of which he had previously been a prominent member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Magyar\u2019s Tisza party secured a huge parliamentary majority in last month\u2019s election. Published On 9 May 20269 May…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[33,299,1234,2190,12,285,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-948664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-elections","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-government","11":"tag-hungary","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116545612751253352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}