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Hungary enters post-Orbán era after new prime minister sworn in

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by Sophie Brams - 05/09/26 12:50 PM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 05/09/26 12:50 PM ET

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Péter Magyar was sworn in Saturday as Hungary’s new prime minister, ushering in a new era in the country that had been under the autocratic rule of Viktor Orbán for 16 years.

Magyar’s center-right Tisza party notched a landslide victory in last month’s elections, securing a two-thirds majority in parliament despite a last-minute push from both Vice President Vance and an endorsement from President Trump.

“I’m not standing here because I’m different than anyone else in the country,” Magyar told lawmakers in a speech after taking his oath of office, according to The Associated Press.

“I stand here because millions of Hungarians decided that they want change,” he continued. “And this trust that we have received is both a weight of honor and a moral obligation, but also a wonderful feeling.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar, center front, poses with members of the Tisza party after the inaugural session in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

The AP reported that the 199 members of Hungary’s parliament were also sworn in on Saturday, with the occasion being the first time since the first post-Communist Parliament was formed in 1990 that Orbán was not there.

Tisza now holds 141 seats in the governing body, while Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition controls 52 seats. The far-right Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party holds six seats, according to the outlet.

Magyar also invited Hungarians to attend an all-day “system-changing national festival” in Budapest’s Kossuth Square outside Parliament to mark his inauguration.

“Let’s write Hungarian history together, and step through the gate of the regime change as one!” he wrote on in a Friday post on the social platform X.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar stands in front of the Hungarian Parliament, after taking his oath of office in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

The new prime minister has promised to restore Hungary’s democratic institutions, which critics argued had been eroded under Orbán’s rule as he consolidated power. He also vowed to repair the country’s relationship with the European Union, which has been fractured due to Orbán’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The EU flag was reportedly raised on the Parliament building’s façade on Saturday for the first time since 2014, when the previous government removed it.

Magyar made his first appearance on Hungary’s public broadcaster in nearly two years shortly after the April election, announcing the government would suspend the station’s news programming until objectivity could be restored, according to AP.

The new leader made his intentions to hold former Orbán administration officials accountable clear in his inaugural speech, saying that voters had given a mandate to “open a new chapter in Hungary’s history.”

“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,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed.

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