BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) 鈥� Hungary’s incoming prime minister, , arrived Saturday at the Parliament building to be sworn into office, ending ‘s autocratic 16-year rule.
Magyar鈥檚 center-right Tisza party defeated Orb谩n鈥檚 nationalist-populist Fidesz in last month, gaining more votes and seats in Parliament than any other party in Hungary鈥檚 post-Communist history.
The win, which gave Tisza a two-thirds parliamentary majority, will allow it to roll back many of the policies that gave Orb谩n a reputation among many of his critics as , clamp down and transform political dynamics within the European Union, where the former prime minister had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions.
A Parliament without Orb谩n
On Saturday, Magyar entered the sprawling neo-Gothic parliament building alongside 140 of his party representatives, controlling 141 seats in Hungary’s 199-seat parliament. Orb谩n鈥檚 Fidesz-KDNP coalition will control 52 seats, down from 135, while the far-right Mi Haz谩nk (Our Homeland) party will hold six seats.
The 199 representatives took their oaths of office at around 11 a.m. local time. Orb谩n was not among them for the first time since Hungary鈥檚 first post-Communist Parliament was formed in 1990.
The new national assembly has 54 women lawmakers, most from the Tisza party 鈥� more than a quarter of the total and the most in Hungary’s history.
Magyar, a 45-year-old lawyer who founded Tisza in 2024 after years as an insider in Orb谩n鈥檚 party, has vowed to end official corruption, which he argues has robbed Hungarians of economic opportunity.
The new prime minister has an all-day 鈥渞egime-change鈥� celebration outside Parliament to mark his inauguration and the end of the Orb谩n era. Several thousand people had already gathered as the new representatives were sworn in.
After he takes his oath at around 3 p.m. local time, Magyar is set to address the crowd outside.
Repairing relations with the EU
Magyar has promised to repair his country鈥檚 ties with the EU, which Orb谩n had , and to restore Hungary鈥檚 place among Western democracies, whose standing had been called into question as Orb谩n .
($20 billion) of EU funds for Hungary frozen during Orb谩n鈥檚 time in office over rule-of-law and corruption concerns is among the incoming prime minister鈥檚 top priorities. The money is sorely needed to help jump-start Hungary鈥檚 struggling economy, which has stagnated for the last four years.
In a sign of that commitment, Tisza officials say they will once again fly the EU flag on the Parliament building鈥檚 facade after Orb谩n鈥檚 government removed it in 2014.
A party to celebrate the end of Orb谩n’s rule
Budapest鈥檚 liberal mayor, Gergely Kar谩csony, posted an open invitation to a party by the Danube River later Saturday to celebrate Orb谩n鈥檚 fall and the formation of the new government.
Kar谩csony wrote in a social media post the party was to express gratitude to Hungarians who have spent years speaking out against Orb谩n鈥檚 system: 鈥淭eachers fired, civilians and journalists humiliated, small churches torn apart.鈥�
鈥淲e can finally leave this era behind us 鈥� but first, let us remember the everyday heroes and express our gratitude with a farewell to the system,鈥� he wrote on Facebook.
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