Magyar calls for fast handover of power in talks with Hungary's president

The man who ended Viktor Orbán's 16 years in office, Péter Magyar, has pushed for as early a transfer of power as possible during talks with Hungary's president three days after his party's landslide election victory.

Magyar met Tamás Sulyok at the presidential palace, telling reporters afterwards he wanted the first meeting of the new National Assembly to be held on 4 May - the day that official election results are expected.

Sulyok, writing on social media, said he had told Magyar he would convene parliament "at the earliest possible date after the final result is announced".

He did not comment on Magyar's demand that he step down, although the prime minister-elect said the president told him he would consider it.

Sulyok said he would "officially propose" Magyar for the position of prime minister at the first meeting of the new parliament, which will elect the new government. Magyar said that was likely to be 6 or 7 May, although he wanted that to take place earlier.

Magyar, 45, says the president "is unworthy of representing the unity of the Hungarian nation" and wants him to leave as soon as the new government is formed: "He is not fit to serve as a moral authority or a role model."

He arrived for the talks at the presidential palace shortly before 10:00 (08:00 GMT). The two other party leaders with MPs in parliament met the president afterwards, but the outgoing prime minister avoided reporters who were at the time speaking to Magyar outside the front of the palace, and slipped in through a side entrance near his office.

Magyar broke with Orbán's party in March 2024 and over two years attracted a cross-section of public support for his Tisza party, which swept the ruling Fidesz from power on Sunday with a so-called super-majority of two-thirds of the seats in parliament.

He said 70-80% of Hungary's media had been requisitioned by Orbán allies, insulting him and his party with 300 lies every day, not allowing him a single appearance on state TV since September 2024.

But that changed early on Wednesday, first with a fiery half-hour interview on state-run Kossuth radio and followed by an equally combative appearance on M1 TV, in which he confirmed his aim to suspend their news coverage and form a new broadcast authority to ensure press freedom.

"Every Hungarian deserves a public service media that broadcasts the truth," he told Kossuth radio, explaining he was not after personal revenge, even though he and his family had been insulted "morning, noon and night".

At times he clashed with both interviewers, telling them that their outlets had broadcast propaganda and accusing them of asking absurd questions, such as whether he had spoken to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. Orbán had focused his election campaign on accusations that Magyar was a puppet of both Zelensky and the European Union.

Magyar is in a rush to overturn years of Orbán policies that turned Hungary into what the European Parliament termed an "electoral autocracy". Hungarians became angered by repeated scandals involving corruption and cronyism, and Magyar has spoken of his predecessor's administration robbing his country bare.

Billions of euros of EU funding was frozen over rule of law and other issues, and Magyar talked to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday in a bid to unlock the cash.

Hungary's economy has been languishing for some time and Von der Leyen said there was "swift work to be done to... restore the rule of law. Realign with our shared European values".

An estimated €17bn (£14.8bn) has been suspended, but Hungary is also waiting for €16bn more to be approved in defence loans.

In an ironic twist, Orbán is expected to be still in place as caretaker prime minister when EU leaders meet for an informal summit in Cyprus on 23-34 April.

EU leaders are urgently pushing for Hungary to overturn a veto imposed by Orbán on €90bn in aid to Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the election.

Magyar has made clear he does not consider the veto to be relevant, as Hungary was one of three countries that opted out of the loan to Ukraine last December. However, it is not clear how the veto will be lifted and whether Orbán will himself be involved.

Orbán himself has largely kept quiet since his landslide election defeat. He posted a message on Facebook making clear he intended to rebuild his party: "The work begins. Let's reorganise ourselves and keep fighting for the Hungarian people!"

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Magyar was a "good man", having actively campaigned for Orbán.

"I think the new man's going to do a good job," Trump told ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, having previously called on Hungarians to "get out and vote" for his friend and close ally, Orbán.