Europe09 May, 20262 min read
Péter Magyar Sworn In As Hungary Prime Minister, Ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-Year Rule
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Péter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary's prime minister. Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule in Hungary ended with Magyar's swearing-in.
Magyar ends Orbán era
Hungary’s Péter Magyar was sworn in as prime minister on Saturday, ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule, after Magyar arrived at the Parliament building to take office. The Associated Press said Magyar’s center-right Tisza party defeated Orbán’s nationalist-populist Fidesz last month, winning more votes and seats in Parliament than any other party in Hungary’s post-Communist history.
AP reported that the win gave Tisza a two-thirds parliamentary majority, with Tisza controlling 141 seats in Hungary’s 199-seat parliament. In the same ceremony, AP said Orbán was not among those taking oaths of office at around 11 a.m. local time, while Magyar entered the neo-Gothic parliament building alongside 140 of his party representatives.
EU funds and vows
Magyar pledged to repair Hungary’s ties with the EU, which Orbán had pushed to the breaking point, and to restore Hungary’s place among Western democracies.
AP said unlocking about 17 billion euros ($20 billion) of EU funds for Hungary frozen during Orbán’s time in office over rule-of-law and corruption concerns is among the incoming prime minister’s top priorities.
In a speech to tens of thousands of supporters gathered outside parliament, Magyar told the crowd, “Today, every freedom-loving person in the world would like to be Hungarian a little.”
The Guardian reported that Magyar also told parliament that Hungarians had given his party a mandate to launch a “new chapter” in the country’s history, adding, “A mandate not only to change the government, but to change the system as well. To start again.”
Parliament numbers and reactions
AP reported that Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition will control 52 seats, down from 135, while the far-right Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party will hold six seats. AP said the 199 representatives took their oaths of office at around 11 a.m. local time, and it also reported that the new National Assembly has 54 women lawmakers, most from the Tisza party.
In the crowd outside parliament, AP quoted Budapest’s liberal mayor Gergely Karácsony, who posted a message that included “Teachers fired, civilians and journalists humiliated, small churches torn apart.” The Guardian reported that the crowds roared their approval at Magyar’s comment that the first to resign should be Tamás Sulyok, and it also quoted Magyar saying, “What connects us will be stronger than what divides us.”