Magyar sworn in as Hungary's PM, ending Orbán's 16-year rule

On Saturday morning, Péter Magyar walked into Hungary's neo-Gothic Parliament building and took an oath that would end sixteen years of Viktor Orbán's rule. The 45-year-old lawyer, flanked by 140 of his Tisza party representatives, became prime minister after his center-right movement achieved something unprecedented in post-Communist Hungary: more votes and parliamentary seats than any party in the nation's modern history. The victory was not close. Tisza secured a two-thirds majority—141 of 199 seats—leaving Orbán's Fidesz-KDNP coalition with just 52, down from 135.

Outside Parliament, thousands gathered on Kossuth Square waving Hungarian and European Union flags, many wearing Tisza T-shirts. They had come for what Magyar called a "regime-change" celebration, watching the proceedings on large screens and erupting in cheers whenever the new prime minister appeared. The EU flag, which Orbán's government had removed from the Parliament building's facade in 2014, was raised again on Saturday afternoon—a symbolic gesture that captured what voters had demanded: a return to the West.

Magyar founded Tisza in 2024, just two years before the election, after spending years inside Orbán's party. He left Fidesz that same year, publicly denouncing what he called a culture of mass corruption. In his inaugural address to lawmakers, he spoke not of ruling but of serving, and he acknowledged the weight of what voters had entrusted to him. "I'm not standing here because I'm different from anyone else in the country," he said. "I stand here because millions of Hungarians decided that they want change." Nearly 3.4 million people had voted for Tisza, and many expected Magyar to hold the old regime accountable.

His government has already outlined its priorities. A new National Asset Recovery and Protection Office will investigate and recover public funds misused during Orbán's tenure. Magyar has vowed to suspend the news services of Hungary's public broadcaster—long seen as Orbán's mouthpiece—until objectivity returns. In his speech, he framed these actions as necessary: "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."

The economic stakes are substantial. Hungary's economy has stagnated for four years, and roughly $20 billion in EU funds remain frozen due to rule-of-law and corruption concerns under Orbán. Unlocking that money is among Magyar's top priorities. He is also far more aligned with the European Union and far more skeptical of Russia than his predecessor. Where Orbán frequently vetoed key EU decisions and cultivated ties to Moscow, Magyar has promised to repair Hungary's relationship with Brussels and reduce the country's energy dependency on Russia.

The new Parliament reflects a demographic shift as well. Of the 199 representatives sworn in at around 11 a.m. local time, 54 are women—more than a quarter of the total and the most in Hungary's history. Under Orbán, women held fewer government seats than in nearly all of the EU's other 26 member states. One attendee, economist Andrea Szepesi from Budapest, called it "about time." Another, 27-year-old web designer Áron Farsang, said he hoped the new government would restore democratic institutions and "lead us back toward the European Union" while ridding Hungary of Russian influence.

Orbán was not present for the swearing-in—the first time since Hungary's first post-Communist Parliament formed in 1990 that he was absent from such a ceremony. As Magyar prepared to address the crowd outside Parliament, the magnitude of the transition was unmistakable. Hungary's political alignment, its relationship with Europe, its approach to corruption, and its stance toward Russia all hung in the balance. What happens next will reshape not just Hungary but the European Union itself.