Hungary’s new Cabinet was sworn into office Tuesday, completing the transfer of power from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s administration to a center-right government led by Péter Magyar, after Magyar took office last Saturday. The swearing-in of 16 ministers came after only two days of parliamentary committee hearings, a pace that reflected Magyar’s stated push to end the political system his predecessor led for 16 years.
In remarks to lawmakers following the oath, Magyar said “the government now being formed will be the government of all Hungarians” and that it would be “a servant of the nation and not of the prime minister,” a direct critique of Orbán’s legacy. Magyar also said, “We must repair the destruction, division, backwardness and loss of trust over the past two decades by making Hungary a functioning, livable and self-reliant country again.”
Magyar’s Cabinet reflects a shift in Hungary’s governing structure. Hungary now has 16 ministries, up from 12 under Orbán’s last administration, and the new lineup includes separate ministries for health, environmental protection and education that were not present in the previous government.
The coalition in parliament that put Magyar in office gave his party, Tisza, a two-thirds majority. Tisza won 141 seats out of 199 in Hungary’s Parliament, while Orbán’s euroskeptic Fidesz took 52 seats, down from 135 before the election. The far-right Mi Hazánk party holds six seats, and many of the nearly 3.4 million Hungarians who voted for Tisza are looking for the new government to pursue accountability for what they describe as corruption linked to outgoing officials and their business allies.
As part of that effort, Magyar plans to form a National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, an authority tasked with investigating and seeking to recover public funds misused during Orbán’s tenure. He also said Hungary will join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, enabling EU officials to investigate fraud and how bloc money was spent.
Magyar has also outlined steps affecting Hungary’s public broadcaster. He vowed to suspend the news services of the broadcaster—widely described as aligned with Orbán’s party—until what he described as objectivity can be restored. In addition, Magyar said he would ask multiple senior officials appointed by Orbán, who hold long terms, to step down no later than May 31, including the president, the attorney general, the head of the media authority and the chief justice of Hungary’s Constitutional Court.
Hungary’s transition is also expected to reshape dynamics within the European Union, where Orbán frequently vetoed key decisions during his time in office, including support for neighboring Ukraine. Magyar’s government has signaled it will prioritize unblocking about 17 billion euros ($20 billion) of EU funds frozen over rule-of-law and corruption concerns during Orbán’s rule. The funds are viewed as important for restarting Hungary’s economy, which has stagnated for the past four years.
As foreign minister Anita Orbán took office, she described her ministry’s priorities in a video posted on Facebook, saying her ministry’s primary task would be to “bring EU funds home,” and to “consolidate Hungary’s place in Europe and in the EU.” Other Cabinet members who took office Tuesday included István Kapitány as minister of economy and energy and András Kármán as minister of finance.
The rollout of the new Cabinet follows Magyar’s earlier election win and the formation timeline he set for a government change. MSI previously reported that Magyar called for forming the new government quickly after the election win, as he announced his Cabinet in late April.