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.

Hungary’s economy has stagnated for the past four years. Magyar is more pro-EU and anti-Russia than Orbán while maintaining strong conservative anti-immigration positions. He has stated that the EU requires robust border protection and that he opposes the redistribution of asylum-seekers across member states.

The new national assembly includes 54 women lawmakers, the highest number in Hungary’s history, with most from the Tisza party. Under Orbán, Hungary had fewer women in government than nearly all of the EU’s other 26 nations. Magyar had called on Hungarians to attend an all-day "regime-change" celebration on Kossuth Square outside parliament.

Thousands gathered there as the swearing-in took place, waving Hungarian and EU flags and wearing Tisza T-shirts. Cheers erupted whenever Magyar appeared on the large screens broadcasting the proceedings. Áron Farsang, a 27-year-old web designer who attended the event, said he expects the new government to restore democratic institutions, lead Hungary back toward the European Union and reduce Russian influence in energy and politics.

Andrea Szepesi, an economist from Budapest, told The Associated Press it was "about time" more female lawmakers held seats. "Finally, women are able to participate in this new, beautiful democratic system and the flourishing of the country," she said.

The new parliament and government take office with a mandate that shifts Hungary’s posture within the EU while preserving certain conservative policies on migration.

How quickly the frozen EU funds can be released and how the National Asset Recovery Office operates will shape the early months of the administration.