The day after the parliamentary elections on Sunday 12 April, which his party won by securing 138 of the 199 seats with 53.07% of the vote, compared to 55 seats and 38.43% for the outgoing Prime Minister’s party, Péter Magyar is preparing to take over as head of the Hungarian government, bringing to an end Viktor Orbán’s 16 years of political domination.
The EPP MEP, a former member of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party who has become leader of the centre-right Respect and Freedom (Tisza) party and thus the main face of the opposition, promised - at a press conference on Monday 13 April, as reported by AFP - to do everything possible to usher in “a new era in Hungary”. He went on to say that voters had not chosen “a simple change of government”, but “a complete change of regime”.
Because it alters a balance that has been in place for several years between Budapest and the European Union, this result is not just a change of government, but should result in a radical change in the country’s political direction.
With a two-thirds majority in the Hungarian Parliament, Péter Magyar has the necessary means to intervene in the Constitution and initiate reforms long-awaited by the EU on justice, corruption, and the functioning of the State.
European funds still blocked. However, for several years now, the dispute between Budapest and Brussels has centred on European funding. On 1 January 2026, around €7.6 billion in cohesion funds remained blocked for Hungary. In addition, there is the post-Covid-19 recovery plan, worth €10.4 billion, of which only an advance of around €920 million has been paid under REPowerEU (see EUROPE 13845/2).
Access to these funds depends on a series of reforms that the future government will have to undertake quickly: the expected measures must be implemented between mid-May and the end of July to enable payments to be made before the end of August 2026, the deadline set for the recovery facility.
On Monday, in her report on the College meeting, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, hailed it as a day “to celebrate”, saying that the Hungarians had resumed “a European path” and announcing that she would promptly be working with the new authorities to push ahead with reforms and European funds, “because the Hungarian people deserve it”.
She also spoke of the lessons to be learned from the deadlocks of recent years, mentioning the possibility of greater use of qualified majority voting in foreign policy.
Similarly, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, congratulated Péter Magyar on the X social network, saying that “Hungary’s place is at the heart of Europe”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, welcomed a “constructive approach” and said he wanted to make progress in cooperation with Budapest.
A possible end to Hungarian vetoes. Apart from the budgetary issue, the Hungarian election took place at a time of repeated tensions within the European Union. Under Viktor Orbán, Hungary opposed a number of decisions, notably on Ukraine.
For example, Hungary was still blocking the finalisation of a €50 billion European loan to Kyiv for 2026 and 2027, as well as the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, finalised in February.
The result on 12 April is seen as a possible end to these repeated blockages.
However, Péter Magyar’s position is not a complete break.
He has already ruled out Ukrainian membership of the European Union while the war is going on, and has made any improvement in bilateral relations dependent on resolving the issue of the Hungarian minority living in Ukraine, as AFP noted.
In addition, he was not in favour of an accelerated accession by Kyiv and refused to send Hungarian weapons, even if a constructive abstention by Budapest at European level was still possible (see EUROPE 13845/2).
French political scientist and Central Europe specialist Jacques Rupnik believes that a Magyar government “would not veto aid to Ukraine”, while remaining cautious about enlargement (see EUROPE 13845/1).
Finally, the significance of this election goes beyond the institutional framework. Viktor Orbán had gradually turned Hungary into a fulcrum for several national-conservative right-wingers in Europe and beyond. His defeat weakens these networks, notes AFP, mentioning in particular the MAGA camp of US President Donald Trump, which had supported him (see EUROPE 13843/12). Jacques Rupnik also felt that an electoral setback would undermine Viktor Orbán’s ambition to influence the reconstitution of the European right (see EUROPE 13843/12).
However, the problem of transforming the system that has been in place for the last 16 years remains, as a political change would not be enough to reform structures in which State apparatus is intertwined, economic interests and the media. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)