Hungary’s likely next prime minister, Peter Magyar, in his first major news briefing outlined some of the policy changes the country can expect since his Tisza party ended the 16-year rule of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz.
One of the factors that brought Magyar victory was his pledge to distance Hungary from Russia and roll back his predecessor’s EU skepticism, especially as Budapest is facing financial struggles and is in desperate need of EU funds.
“If Vladimir Putin calls, I will answer the phone,” he told reporters on Monday.
“Russia remains a security risk,” he said.
Hungarian political scientist Peter Kracko told DW that with the Magyars, “Hungary will no longer be Russia’s Trojan horse in the EU or NATO.”
America is still important despite Trump’s issues
Magyar said he had no plans to call US President Donald Trump, who had openly supported Orbán – so much as sending Vice President J.D. Vance to support him during the campaign. At the same time, the Tisza leader said the US remains “an important ally”.
He also vowed to root out corruption and proposed a constitutional amendment to prevent Orbán from returning to power.
Orbán’s successive governments have been accused of restricting the independence of the media, the judiciary and the electoral process.
“We will do everything we can to restore the rule of law, plural democracy and the system of checks and balances,” Magyar said.
Is there anything in common between Magyar and Orbán?
Both Fidesz and Tisza are considered conservative, populist parties. However, over the past few years, Fidesz has been moving more and more to the right, portraying Orbán as defending Hungary from malign forces abroad. In particular, Orbán has repeatedly obstructed EU efforts to provide aid to Ukraine amid Russian aggression.
On Monday, Magyar said he supports Ukrainian EU membership, but would not support “fast-track” accession to the bloc.
He said, “For one thing, we are talking about a country at war; it is completely out of the question for the EU to accept a country at war.”
Magyar said that every member state should be treated equally, and that he would need strong guarantees on the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine to fully support his bid.
Like Orbán, Magyar has taken a strong stance against immigration. According to Peter Cracow, he “has emphasized that he would like even less immigration into Hungary than the previous government.”
Cracow did not think Hungary would see much of Orbán in the future, he said. “His political return, even in the medium or long term, is doubtful,” Craco said, noting how Hungarians view his friendship with Russia.
In Sunday’s election Tisza won 138 seats in Hungary’s 199-seat parliament with 53% of the vote, while Fidesz took 55 seats and only 38% of the vote. As soon as parliament convenes, Tisza’s two-thirds majority is expected to swiftly elect Magyar as prime minister.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic