Jubilation in Budapest as new leader invites people to ‘step through gate of regime change’

The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.

Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.

In Budapest wird Péter Magyar als neuer Ministerpräsident vereidigt. Ein Tag voller Symbolkraft – und mit einem tanzenden Minister.

Der neue Regierungschef will Ungarn verändern und mit Brüssel verhandeln. Der Kampf gegen die Korruption und die „Heimholung“ der gesperrten EU-Hilfen stehen auf Magyars To-do-Liste ganz oben.

Der neue Regierungschef will Ungarn verändern und mit Brüssel verhandeln. Der Kampf gegen die Korruption und die „Heimholung“ der gesperrten EU-Hilfen stehen auf Magyars To-do-Liste ganz oben.

As ceasefire begins, Zelenskyy says ‘Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be brought home’

Here are some images coming out of Hungary ahead of the inauguration of Péter Magyar as the new prime minister:

While Russia celebrated Victory Day with a scaled-back military parade in Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday, the Donetsk region of Russian-controlled Ukraine commemorated the day as well:

New leader urges Hungarians to help him end illiberalism as he faces calls to investigate years of corruption

Inside Hungary’s dazzling neo-Gothic parliament, the scenes will be solemn on Saturday as the new leader, Péter Magyar, is sworn in. Outside is where the party is expected to unfold, as people pour in from across the country to mark a pivotal moment: the formal end of Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.

It comes weeks after Magyar and his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in a result that rattled the global far right, reset Hungary’s long-strained relationship with the EU and set off all-night celebrations along the banks of the Danube River.

Let’s not draw the wrong conclusions from Hungary’s election or the US president’s troubles

Viktor Orbán’s crushing defeat in last month’s Hungarian election has led to an outbreak of democratic optimism. Across the globe, democrats are drawing lessons from the results and speculating about the decline of the far right. There is simultaneously a consensus that Donald Trump has gone from inspiration to “liability” for the global far right.

While the fall of Orbán has great symbolic significance and important consequences for EU politics (see the EU-Ukraine deal), we should be very careful not to read too much into it for three reasons.

Cas Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia, and author of The Far Right Today

Exclusive: Voters remain split on issues critical to EU, such as support for Ukraine and dependence on Russian energy

More than three-quarters of Hungarians who voted for Péter Magyar in last month’s election want his government to do more to address the climate crisis, and more than 70% want him to protect LGBTQ+ rights, a poll has found.

Magyar’s opposition Tisza party won a supermajority in the vote, bringing an end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. The new prime minister will be sworn in on Saturday, weeks after the results set off celebrations in Budapest and Brussels.

Journalists brace for sweeping reforms after years of pro-government control under Viktor Orbán

For years they operated as government mouthpieces, using their sprawling reach into homes across Hungary to bolster Viktor Orbán and vilify those he cast as enemies, from the philanthropist George Soros to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

But on Saturday, as Péter Magyar’s swearing-in officially ends Orbán’s 16 years in power, the country’s once powerful state media are facing the prospect of going dark.