The President of Hungary, Tamás Sulyok, announced this Saturday that he has endorsed the constitutional reform that implies the end of his term, despite considering this amendment “a serious and shameful historical example of abuse of political power.” “After careful consideration of my legal possibilities and my conscience, I fulfill my obligation according to the Fundamental Law. My signature is the definitive seal of my obligations as President of the Republic,” declared the head of state, a politician linked to former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in a video.
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The Speaker of Parliament, Ágnes Forsthoffer, will assume the presidential functions on an interim basis until the appointment of a new head of state, for which Parliament has a maximum period of 30 days, according to the HVG.hu portal.
The Hungarian Prime Minister, conservative Péter Magyar, had already promised during the electoral campaign for the legislative elections last April that if he came to power he would dismantle the “Orbán system,” which included the dismissal of the president of the country and other senior officials.
Magyar won the aforementioned elections by a wide majority, ending 16 consecutive years of government by the ultranationalist Orbán, but to be able to dismiss the head of state it was necessary to amend the Constitution.
The package with the corresponding reforms of the Fundamental Law, approved last Monday, included a period of five days for the president to sign it or send it to the Constitutional Court.
Magyar, who had threatened Sulyok with an impeachment process if he refused to sign, confirmed late Saturday that the highest state office will be vacant next Monday. For the appointment of Sulyok’s successor — who took office in 2024 — the prime minister said he expects to receive candidate proposals from “parties, public figures, civil society, and individuals.”
“I am confident that we will manage to elect a President of the Republic who will be capable, in every sense, of creating national unity and representing our beloved homeland with dignity,” Magyar declared in a message and a video published on social media.
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(1/3) @DrTamasSulyok signed the 17th Amendment to the constitution. As a result, his term as President of the Republic will end at midnight on 20 July.
In accordance with the constitution, from 20 July onwards, Ágnes Forsthoffer, Speaker of the National Assembly, will…
— Magyar Péter (Ne féljetek) (@magyarpeterMP) July 18, 2026
The leader welcomed seeing “the last obstacle” overcome for the entry into force of the package of constitutional reforms. Among other measures, the reform stipulates a maximum age of 70 years for judges of the Constitutional Court, which will imply the dismissal of four magistrates, including the president of the high court, Peter Polt, an ally of Orbán.
“With these decisions, we return to the Hungarian people something that the Orbán regime tried to take away for many years: the certainty that power has limits, that public goods can be recovered, and that the State can once again serve its citizens, the free Hungarian citizens,” he said.
For his part, Orbán stated today that the entry into force of the new laws means that in his country “arbitrariness is no longer a threat, but a reality.” “If this could be done to the President of the Republic, then no one will be safe tomorrow. May God protect Hungary!” wrote the former leader on social media from the United States.
His party, Fidesz, accused Magyar and his formation, Tisza, of having led the country to “a period of open tyranny of power.”
Sulyok, a 70-year-old jurist, was elected President of Hungary by Parliament in February 2024 with the votes of Fidesz, which then held two-thirds of the seats.
