End of an era. A very sober ceremony inside the Hungarian Parliament, a dazzling neo-Gothic building, has ended 16 years of illiberal democracy in Hungary led by one of the heroes of international ethno-nationalist populism: Viktor Orbán. The new prime minister, the conservative Péter Magyar, 45 years old, took office with a long speech that puts an end to Orbán’s term, leader of the far-right Fidesz. “I ask all members of Parliament to listen to what the Hungarians have expressed: the citizens do not want a change of government, but of system,” he stated after the vote, which passed with 140 votes in favor (those of Tizsa, his platform) and 54 against (from Fidesz, Orbán’s party).
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A crowd cheered him on the banks of the Danube, where a long celebration awaits him this Saturday: Magyar encouraged citizens to “rewrite history” and “to cross the door of a regime change.”
Orbán plunged the country into corruption for more than three decades. He made his friends millionaires at the head of large public and private companies. He colonized the media. He reformed the Constitution and electoral laws to perpetuate himself in office. He destroyed the independence of the judges. But he is being swept away by economic stagnation and the weariness of a society tired of continuous confrontations with Brussels, of his closeness to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the American, Donald Trump, and of a way of doing politics that consisted of creating enemies and destroying the foundations of liberal democracy.
Magyar promises to restore the rule of law and dismantle that kind of autocracy in the heart of Europe, on the banks of the Danube. There is enormous consensus to push through internal reforms. But polls show less agreement when it comes to changing foreign policy: Hungarians want a rapprochement with the EU that allows unlocking 18 billion in European funds, but they are wary of Ukraine’s access to the EU and want to continue enjoying energy from Russia.
Brussels reacted immediately. “Congratulations to Péter Magyar on assuming the office of prime minister of Hungary,” said the president of the European Council, the Portuguese António Costa, in a message published on social media.
“The Hungarians have given us the authority to end decades of stagnation, to open a new chapter, and we will learn to live as one nation again,” he said before the national Parliament. Backed by a parliamentary supermajority that will allow him to reform the Constitution if necessary to undo Orbán’s legacy, Magyar has promised to recover the allegedly diverted public money and completely dismantle the political network built by his predecessor. And he has given an ultimatum to high-ranking officials close to Orbán to leave their posts before the end of the month.
His first goal is to unlock the European funds that Brussels denied Orbán due to his illiberal drift. Markets take this for granted: the Hungarian currency (the forint) has appreciated 8% in recent days against the euro in anticipation that at least part of that amount will be released. Budapest could even consider joining the euro, although experts believe that the Hungarian economy would need to undertake a hard adjustment in that case, which seems unlikely if Magyar does not want to abruptly end his honeymoon with the citizenry. The new minister’s priorities are different: to change his relationship with Brussels, and therefore with Moscow and Washington; undo Orbán’s most controversial measures and try to ensure that the effervescence of his overwhelming electoral victory on April 12 allows the first reforms to be undertaken without unpleasant surprises.
“A system change is coming,” Magyar emphasized in a long hour-long speech before parliament, before taking a mass bath with a second outdoor speech, before the citizens.