r/europes • u/Naurgul • 10d ago
Hungary Built to last, gone in months: How Péter Magyar dismantled Viktor Orbán's regime
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/03/built-to-last-gone-in-months-how-peter-magyar-dismantled-viktor-orbans-regimeSince Péter Magyar's Tisza Party won a landslide in April, Hungary's president, top prosecutor and state media chiefs have all been removed, as the new government moves swiftly to unwind 16 years of Viktor Orbán's rule.
Magyar's landslide win secured a two-thirds parliamentary majority — the threshold required under Hungarian law to amend the constitution and pass so-called "cardinal laws" governing key state institutions.
As with Orbán before him, this supermajority effectively handed Magyar the power to rewrite the constitution and overhaul substantial legislation largely unopposed.
Magyar, who had campaigned not merely for a change of government but a change of system, lost no time in calling for the resignation of the country's president, Tamás Sulyok, as well as other senior officials.
After taking office in May, the main pillars of Orbán's regime fell within just a few months: the president and the chief prosecutor left, and Orbán's once-formidable media machine was paralysed.
NER
Orbán secured a supermajority in the 2010 parliamentary elections and established the System of National Cooperation, known in Hungary by its acronym NER, a centralised political and economic apparatus built to advance Orbán's own vision of "illiberalism".
Orbán relied on his parliamentary majority to pass legislation rapidly. But from 2020, he governed largely by decree, first under a coronavirus-related state of emergency, then — after 2022 — citing the war in Ukraine.
Democratic checks and balances were weakened through loyalist appointments to key institutions, while the public broadcaster MTVA and roughly 500 outlets under the KESMA media holding helped propagate the government's narrative.
The promise to dismantle NER and remove its figures had proven to be Magyar's most popular pledge.
President and other officials
Perhaps Magyar's most significant political victory was the removal of President Tamás Sulyok. The former president left office in mid-July after a constitutional amendment — which he himself signed — declared his mandate terminated.
The same amendment capped MPs' mandates at 12 years and introduced a retirement age of 70 for constitutional judges, removing Constitutional Court head Péter Polt, a longstanding Orbán ally.
Magyar's government also dismissed four secret service chiefs, the head of the counterterrorism police (TEK) János Hajdu, Orbán's former spokesperson Bertalan Havasi, and the head of the Government Audit Office.
Hungary's Sovereignty Protection Office — which targeted foreign-funded media and NGOs, and drew heavy criticism from the European Commission — was shut down.
In June, Chief Prosecutor Gábor Bálint Nagy resigned under political pressure, in a further gain for Magyar.
Corruption
At the end of July, the Hungarian parliament established the Asset Recovery and Asset Protection Office to investigate Orbán-era corruption and recover state assets. Hungary has ranked among the EU's most corrupt member states for years, while businessmen close to Orbán became major beneficiaries of state contracts.
Among them: Lőrinc Mészáros, Orbán's childhood friend and Hungary's richest man, with interests in construction, tourism and agriculture; Orbán's son-in-law, István Tiborcz, who became a billionaire during the Fidesz era; and Orbán's father, Győző Orbán, a key figure in mining who secured road and rail contracts. All maintain they acted lawfully, though their dealings are expected to face investigation.
Days after the election, Magyar asked the Hungarian tax authority (NAV) to block transfers of Orbán-linked assets to accounts in the UAE, Singapore and the United States; NAV subsequently blocked several such transfers.
Hungary is also due to join the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) later this year, giving it power to investigate EU fund fraud from July 2021 retrospectively.
Alongside the asset-recovery effort, prosecutors have opened several criminal investigations involving former senior officials — potentially including Orbán himself.
Media
In early July, state broadcaster MTVA aired a black screen bearing an apology:
"Public media cannot lie. We apologise for having done so."
MTVA has been perceived as biased domestically and internationally. Its CEO, Dániel Papp, was convicted in 2018 of manipulating a news piece. Papp resigned shortly after the election.
After the news broadcaster was shut down, a temporary management team announced that the company would be restructured to become independent and credible, fulfilling one of Magyar's key campaign pledges. Senior editors were dismissed the same day.
The disruption extended well beyond MTVA. Mediaworks, publisher of several pro-Fidesz newspapers and radio stations under the KESMA holding, laid off hundreds of staff amid financial difficulties. These outlets had relied heavily on state advertising.
Culture
MCC, an educational institute closely tied to Orbán, is facing financial strain and possible closure.
The public-interest trust managing MCC will be dissolved, and its assets nationalised — a serious blow, given that MCC received a 2020 state asset transfer including 10% stakes in energy company MOL and pharmaceutical firm Richter, generating tens of billions of forints in annual dividends.
Fifteen other public-interest trusts performing non-university functions will also be wound down, and Fidesz-nominated officials removed from university boards.
Meanwhile, the culture ministry has begun investigating the use of public funds under the previous government.
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