Péter Magyar Sworn In as Hungary’s New Prime Minister After Tisza Party’s Election Victory

Péter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister on Saturday, May 9, 2026, almost one month after his Tisza party defeated Viktor Orbán in parliamentary elections. m. local time.

Orbán, who had ruled Hungary for 16 years, was not among those sworn in for the first time since the country’s first post-Communist parliament convened in 1990. Tisza secured 141 seats in the 199-seat body, a two-thirds majority that exceeds any single party’s haul in Hungary’s post-Communist history.

Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition fell to 52 seats from 135, while the far-right Mi Hazánk party holds six.

Magyar delivered a speech to lawmakers immediately after taking the oath. "I will not use my office to rule Hungary, but to serve my homeland," he said. "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. " He added that voters had "given us a mandate to open a new chapter in Hungary's history. We must understand, however, that there can be no new beginning without reconciliation.

The new prime minister has vowed to restore democratic institutions and governmental checks and balances eroded during Orbán’s tenure while clamping down on alleged corruption. He plans to create a National Asset Recovery and Protection Office to investigate and reclaim public funds misused in the previous administration.

Magyar has also pledged to suspend the news services of Hungary’s public broadcaster until objectivity is restored. In a visible break with the prior government, the EU flag was raised on the parliament building’s facade on the afternoon of May 9 for the first time since it was removed in 2014.

Approximately $20 billion in EU funds for Hungary remain frozen over rule-of-law and corruption concerns.