Center-right leader Peter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister on Saturday, taking office based on pre-election promises about changes after years of economic stagnation and strained relations between Hungary under the leadership of his predecessor Viktor Orban and key allies. Peter Magyar became the new Hungarian Prime Minister, after the vote in the parliament elected on April 12, in which the nationalist Orban convincingly won. The pro-European conservative, who appeared on the Hungarian political scene just two years ago, was elected with 140 votes in favor, 54 against and one abstention in the parliament where his Tisza party holds 141 of the 199 representative mandates.
The election of the prime minister was held in Orban’s absence because he resigned from his representative position.
After the euphoria of the election victory, in which Hungarians danced and sang in the streets of Budapest, expectations are high for the man who promised a “change of regimes” to end the corruption and attacks on freedoms that marked Orbán’s 16-year rule.
Hungary also faces a number of economic challenges, starting with a stagnant economy and deteriorating public services, which require structural reforms that will take time.
Magyar, aware that the honeymoon period may not last, is keen to adopt reforms to restore European funds frozen due to violations of the rule of law.
This is especially important as Hungary faces a deadline in August, when it could lose 10 billion euros from the post-covid recovery plan.
Last week, Peter Magyar traveled to Brussels, where he held informal meetings with EU leaders, hoping to secure the payment of these funds by the end of May, which he is counting on to fulfill his pre-election promises.
Although he welcomes him with open arms, Brussels could still wait for the adoption of specific reforms before fulfilling his expectations.
Magyar se već obliged to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, fight against corruption and ensure the independence of the judiciary and the media.
To achieve this, he has considerable freedom thanks to his two-thirds majority in parliament, where his Tisza party won 141 out of 199 seats.
He also threatened to amend the Constitution in order to force President Tamas Sulyok, a close ally of Viktor Orban, to leave if the latter refuses to resign, and to remove “all puppets appointed to key positions by the Orban system”, including the Chief Prosecutor and the President of the Constitutional Court.