Magyar’s Vision for Hungary

Speaking on Monday, hours after his Tisza party was declared to have unseated Viktor Orban’s Fidesz following 16 years of “illiberal” rule, Magyar said he would fight corruption and change the constitution to limit future prime ministers to two terms, according to Al Jazeera.

Magyar said he will introduce sweeping anti-corruption reforms, Orban’s regime having been accused of widespread graft, with a new office to investigate suspected incidents and another to oversee government spending, according to Al Jazeera.

“We will do everything to restore the rule of law, plural democracy, and the system of checks and balances,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.

Constitutional Changes and Orban’s Legacy

Magyar said the constitutional amendment means that Orban will be prevented from returning as prime minister; Orban changed the constitution numerous times to tilt the electoral system and retain power, according to Al Jazeera.

“He had a great opportunity to do huge things in the national interest to ensure that Hungary became a developing European country… He did not use this chance, but abused it,” Magyar said, according to Al Jazeera.

The departure of Orban – who has spent years crafting Hungary’s democratic pillars to retain his grip on power, obstructing the EU, and pulling the country back towards Russia – has been welcomed across Europe. However, the focus is now on Magyar and where he will lead the Central European nation of nine million, according to Al Jazeera.

Foreign Policy and Ukraine

Orban’s foreign policy. Which secured cheap Russian energy by tilting towards Moscow, had isolated Hungary within the EU. Magyar said throughout the campaign that he would seek to turn that around, although his approach towards Brussels and Ukraine remains something of an unknown, according to Al Jazeera.

Magyar insisted that Hungary will remain committed to both the EU and NATO, describing them as key guarantees of peace. He reiterated that he would end Hungary’s reliance on Russian oil and gas by 2035 and pledged to pursue a cooperative approach with the EU, while still defending national interests, according to Al Jazeera.

“We will have discussions with the European Union, but we are not going there to fight,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.

The new government hopes to unlock around 18 billion euros ($21bn) in EU funds, and Tisza’s victory should also unlock a 90-billion-euro ($105bn) loan to Ukraine that Orban blocked last month, according to Al Jazeera.

However, Magyar’s approach to Kyiv is unclear. On the one hand. Magyar told reporters on Monday that “everyone knows Ukraine is the victim in the war” and promised he would press Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to “end the killing” in Ukraine. Yet he also reiterated that his foreign policy vision does not support fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession to EU membership, according to Al Jazeera.

“It is completely out of the question for the European Union to admit a country at war,” he told reporters, adding that a restoration of ethnic Hungarian minority rights will be a precondition for rebuilding ties with Ukraine, according to Al Jazeera.

Orban spent years arguing that the Hungarian minority’s language and education rights are under threat in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region; the long-running disagreement has been a recurring obstacle to Ukraine’s EU relations, according to Al Jazeera.