Péter Magyar took the oath of office Saturday as Hungary's new prime minister, ending Viktor Orbán's 16 years in power and immediately prioritizing the restoration of billions in frozen European Union funds critical to reviving the nation's stagnant economy. Magyar's center-right Tisza party secured a historic landslide victory in parliamentary elections last month, winning more votes and seats than any party in Hungary's post-Communist history with 141 seats in the 199-seat parliament and a two-thirds majority.
The 45-year-old lawyer, who founded Tisza in 2024 after years as an insider in Orbán's party, entered the neo-Gothic parliament building alongside 140 of his party representatives at approximately 11 a.m. local time. Orbán was not among the 199 representatives taking their oaths of office for the first time since Hungary's first post-Communist Parliament was formed in 1990. Orbán's Fidesz-KDNP coalition now controls just 52 seats, down from 135, while the far-right Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party holds six seats.
Economic Recovery and EU Relations
Unlocking approximately 17 billion euros, or $20 billion, of EU funds frozen during Orbán's time in office over rule-of-law and corruption concerns ranks among Magyar's top priorities. The funds are needed to help jump-start Hungary's struggling economy, which has stagnated for the past four years. Magyar has vowed to repair Hungary's ties with the EU, which Orbán had pushed to a breaking point, and to restore Hungary's place among Western democracies. Magyar also met twice with EU officials and sent back the millions of Hungarian forints donated to him by an Orbán-linked supporter.
In his inaugural address to lawmakers, Magyar said he would not use his office to "rule" Hungary, "but to serve my homeland." He told the chamber, "I'm not standing here because I'm different from anyone else in the country. I stand here because millions of Hungarians decided that they want change. And this trust that we have received is both a weight of honor and a moral obligation, but also a wonderful feeling." Magyar said voters had "given us a mandate to open a new chapter in Hungary's history," adding, "We 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."
Institutional Reforms and Corruption Crackdown
Magyar has vowed to restore democratic institutions and governmental checks and balances that were heavily eroded during Orbán's rule, and to clamp down on alleged corruption. He plans to form a National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, an authority tasked with investigating and seeking to recover public funds misused during Orbán's tenure. Magyar also vowed to suspend the news services of Hungary's public broadcaster, widely seen as a mouthpiece of Orbán's party, until objectivity can be restored.
Thousands gathered on Kossuth Square outside Parliament for an all-day "regime-change" celebration Magyar had called for to mark his inauguration and the end of the Orbán era. Many waved Hungarian and EU flags and wore Tisza T-shirts. At each glimpse of Magyar, the crowd cheered, while some booed lawmakers from Fidesz and the extreme right Our Homeland party. Erzsébet Medve, 68, who had come from Miskolc in north-eastern Hungary, said, "This is the first time I feel like it's good to be Hungarian," and added, "I feel like I could cry." She said that as a school teacher she had long watched in frustration as Orbán and his Fidesz government left the education system deprived of funds. Sitting next to her, Marianna Szűcs, 70, said she hoped Hungary would become a more livable country and said, "Now we feel like our children and grandchildren have a future here."
Symbolic Changes and EU Integration
Cheers erupted when the newly elected speaker of the house, Ágnes Forsthoffer, announced that the EU flag would be returned to the building after it was taken down by Fidesz in 2014. The EU flag was raised on the Parliament building's facade Saturday afternoon for the first time since Orbán's government removed it in 2014. More than a quarter of lawmakers will be women, a record high in the country's post-communist history. The lawyer Vilmos Kátai-Németh was to become the country's first visually impaired minister, taking on the portfolio of social and family affairs.
Magyar's government is expected to transform political dynamics within the European Union, where Orbán had frequently vetoed key decisions, most recently concerning support for neighboring Ukraine. Budapest's liberal mayor, Gergely Karácsony, wrote on social media: "Teachers fired, civilians and journalists humiliated, small churches torn apart. We can finally leave this era behind us – but first, let us remember the everyday heroes and express our gratitude with a farewell to the system."
Why This Matters:
The restoration of Hungary's access to frozen EU funds represents a critical test of whether institutional reforms and fiscal discipline can revive an economy stagnant for four years. Magyar's two-thirds parliamentary majority provides the authority to restore checks and balances and pursue corruption investigations without obstruction, potentially recovering misused public funds. His commitment to repairing EU relations and ending Hungary's pattern of vetoing key decisions could stabilize European policy-making, particularly regarding support for Ukraine. The establishment of a National Asset Recovery and Protection Office signals accountability for past governance failures. For Hungarian taxpayers and businesses, unlocking $20 billion in EU funds could jumpstart economic growth, while restored democratic institutions may attract investment deterred by rule-of-law concerns. The shift from nationalist-populist governance to center-right reform demonstrates voters' preference for market-oriented solutions and Western integration over isolationist policies that constrained economic opportunity.