Hungary’s prime minister-elect, Péter Magyar, says his government will move fast to target those he described as having “plundered, looted, betrayed, indebted and ruined” the country.
Speaking Monday during a wide-ranging press conference, Magyar framed the election result as more than a change of people in charge. “Our country has no time to waste,” he said. “We will do everything in our power to ensure this truly marks the beginning of a new era … The Hungarian people didn’t vote for a simple change of government, but for a complete change of regime.” He also said the full election results should be confirmed by 4 May and he hoped his government could be installed the next day.
The centre-right Tisza party won at least 138 of the 199 seats in parliament, giving Magyar a decisive two-thirds supermajority. That, he suggested, would allow him to roll back laws used by his far-right predecessor Viktor Orbán to reshape Hungary into an “illiberal democracy” over 16 years in power. Magyar is a former Orbán loyalist, and that background seems to sit behind the tone of his promises—less reconciliation, more reset.
Misryoum newsroom reporting and analysis indicates Orban’s four successive governments have comprehensively eroded the rule of law in Hungary. Courts were packed with judges loyal to him, around 80% of the media became government mouthpieces, and a close group of cronies was enriched. Orbán’s record has also kept Hungary in repeated conflict with the EU, which blocked billions of euros in funds, over justice, migration and Ukraine. Both US president Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin backed him.
Magyar’s plans have a distinct “accountability first” edge. He said his government would swiftly implement anti-corruption measures, restore the independence of the judiciary and ensure freedom of the media, in hopes of a rapid unfreezing of EU cash. “I hope … we can prepare an agreement,” he said, and then pushed further: Hungary would “never again be a country without consequences”, he promised, including creating a national asset recovery office to hold “political and economic criminals” who “stole from the country” responsible.
Alongside reforms aimed at unlocking the €17bn in EU funds, Magyar said Hungary would join the European public prosecutor’s office, giving EU investigators powers to probe fraud cases and examine how the bloc’s money was used under Orbán’s rule. He said the new government would “fundamentally … do everything to restore the rule of law, plural democracy, and the system of checks and balances”, but insisted it would “not use anti-democratic measures to restore the rule of law”. Actually, some of what he announced sounds pretty forceful—like amending the constitution so a prime minister can only serve two terms, eight years, applied retroactively to bar Orbán from running again. If you were watching the room, you might have noticed the way that idea landed.
He also laid out early moves to “stop state-funded propaganda” by suspending news broadcasts from “state-captured” public TV and radio until unbiased coverage could be ensured by a new supervisory board. In a sharp call for leadership changes, Magyar described the top figures of the former regime as “puppets” and urged the heads of the country’s two highest courts, audit office and competition and media authorities, as well as the chief prosecutor and Hungary’s president, to resign. Misryoum newsroom reporting noted he singled out Tamás Sulyok, saying “He was appointed just to sign everything,” and calling on him to leave—otherwise, he added, “we will find a solution.”
EU leaders reacted enthusiastically to Magyar’s victory on Monday. He outlined policies—especially on migration and Ukraine’s accession to the EU—that are likely to strain relations in some areas, but Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz still called it “a good day” that sent “a very clear signal against rightwing populism”. Misryoum editorial desk noted his comments suggested EU decision-making, often hampered by Orbán’s vetos, should get easier, and that a change of government in Budapest could release EU cash “very quickly” for Ukraine.
Orban last visited Moscow in November and had blocked a €90bn loan to Ukraine, accusing it of sabotaging Russian oil deliveries to Hungary, which Kyiv has repeatedly denied. He also delayed—and often opposed—EU sanctions on Russia. For her part, Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels would start work with the new Hungarian government “as soon as possible” to make progress on issues including the release of frozen European funds, reiterating her warm welcome with the line: “today Europe is Hungarian without any question.”
Not everyone sounded so relaxed, though. The Patriots for Europe group in the European parliament—home to Fidesz and other far-right parties such as France’s National Rally (RN), the Dutch Freedom party (PVV) and Italy’s Lega—called the result “a setback” for “forces advocating … for democratic self-determination and traditional European values” within the EU. And somewhere in that disagreement, Hungary’s political future will probably turn on how quickly promises translate into actual institutions, not just speeches—there was a brief buzz of voices in the hall when Magyar emphasized consequences, like the kind you hear when people are trying to decide whether to believe it.
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