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Hungary’s new PM pursues change after Orban era

What's happened

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s party, Tisza, has won a two-thirds majority, enabling constitutional changes and a shift away from Orban’s long rule. Orban has been re-elected by delegates but faces pressure from loyalists to step back. EU funds are poised to resume, and LGBTQ rights face renewed scrutiny under the new government.

What's behind the headline?

Analysis

  • The election signals a decisive transition in Hungary’s political landscape as the Tisza party consolidates power and begins undoing Orban-era policies.
  • EU funding resumption and potential constitutional reforms could reshape Hungary’s governance and its role within the bloc.
  • LGBTQ rights posture is at a crossroads; observers expect a review of anti-LGBTQ legislation and a push to align with EU standards, though concrete timelines remain unclear.

What’s driving the change

  • A two-thirds majority gives Magyar’s government broad constitutional authority, enabling rapid policy shifts.
  • Persistent discontent with Fidesz’s governance has eroded support even before the new term begins.

Reader takeaway

  • Expect legislative and judicial reforms in the near term that could redefine civil rights, media freedom, and Hungary’s EU alignment.

How we got here

The election brought a political realignment as the pro-Orban Fidesz era appears to be ending. Magyar’s party secured a supermajority, allowing major constitutional moves. Hungary’s stance toward LGBTQ rights and its European Union relationships are likely to shift as the new government takes power.

Our analysis

Al Jazeera, The Times of Israel, France 24 provide contemporaneous coverage of the political shift and its implications for Hungary’s domestic policy and EU relations.

Go deeper

  • What are the concrete reforms Magyar has promised?
  • When could EU funds restart and on what conditions?
  • How might LGBTQ rights be affected under the new government?

More on these topics

  • Hungary - Country in Europe

    Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Spanning 93,030 square kilometres in the Carpathian Basin, it borders Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest, a

  • Fidesz - Hungarian political party

    Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance is a political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán. It was the country's main ruling party from 1998 to 2002 and dominated Hungarian politics from 2010 to 2026 during the Orbán era. Classified as right-wing to far-right on the political spectrum, the party closely adheres to the beliefs and doctrines of the Catholic Church in Hungary, which has a close relationship with the party and received significant amounts of money from the Fidesz–KDNP government. The party has been described as authoritarian, and has increasingly identified itself as illiberal. It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége, with the acronym FIDESZ) as a centre-left and liberal activist movement that opposed the Hungarian People's Republic, which was ruled by a Marxist–Leninist government. It was registered as a political party in 1990, with Orbán as its leader. It entered the National Assembly following the 1990 Hungarian parliamentary election. Following the 1998 Hungarian parliamentary election, it successfully formed a centre-right and conservative government. It adopted nationalism in the early 2000s but its popularity...

  • Viktor Orbán - Prime Minister of Hungary

    Viktor Mihály Orbán is a Hungarian politician who has been Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010; he was also Prime Minister from 1998 to 2002.


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