Why Things Are Going Very Well for Péter Magyar

Jun 8, 2026 | Two months since the election, and things really couldn't be going any better for Péter Magyar. In this video, we're taking a look at Magyar's first eight weeks in government and explain why it's going so well.

Orbán’s Oligarchs on Edge as Hungary Poised to Launch Wealth Tax

THE GUARDIAN: New PM Péter Magyar calls policy a sign of ‘social justice’ after years of political loyalty being rewarded with economic opportunity

This screenshot comes from this article. | Péter Magyar and his party, Tisza, have their sights firmly set on Viktor Orbán’s oligarchs. Photograph: Olivier Matthys/EPA
In a dimly lit television studio, one of Hungary’s richest men is on the verge of tears. It is early May, weeks after the general election that ended Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power, and the advertising mogul Balásy Gyula has an announcement to make.

Gyula tells the interviewer that he has just surrendered his businesses to the state, along with a chunk of his private savings. He has even brought along a notarised deed – a legal document setting out the change of ownership.

“In the current situation, I don’t think that our group of companies has a future,” he says.

Gyula was among the most prominent beneficiaries of the Orbán era. His companies operated a network of poster sites known as the blue billboards, on which a succession of figures from the financier George Soros to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, were designated as public enemies, in propaganda campaigns paid for by the state.

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The wealth tax debate is a global one, with the government in Brazil and trade unions in California pushing for legislation. In the UK the Green party and many Labour MPs back the idea. In France the socialist president François Mitterrand introduced the Impôt sur les Grandes Fortunes in 1982, only for it to be repealed under Emmanuel Macron. Last year the French parliament came very close to reinstating the levy, and it is likely to be a big talking point in next year’s presidential election. For now, however, Hungary looks set to move first. » | Juliette Garside | Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Exclusive Interview with the Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar

May 21, 2026 | After the change of government in Hungary, the new Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, visited Austria and gave an exclusive interview to ORF’s Eastern Europe correspondent, Paul Krisai, about his plans and the future of Hungary in Europe.

What a delightful and sensible political leader! Very likeable indeed. A breath of fresh air after the corrupt Orbán with his antediluvian and fossilized ideas and thinking!

Was für ein entzückender und vernünftiger Politiker! Wirklich sehr sympathisch. Eine Wohltat nach dem korrupten Orbán mit seinen veralteten und versteinerten Ideen und seinem Denken!

Quel dirigeant politique charmant et sensé ! Vraiment très sympathique. Un vrai bol d'air frais après le corrompu Orbán et ses idées archaïques et dépassées ! — © Mark Alexander

How Hungary’s Election Result Could Change Europe | The Economist

Apr 13, 2026 | How could Hungary’s election result reshape Europe? Matt Steinglass, The Economist’s Europe editor and Rosie Blau, co-host of The Intelligence podcast, discuss how Viktor Orban was ousted after 16 years in power, by Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition, and what the resounding result means for Hungary’s economy, democracy and its relationship with Vladimir Putin and the EU.

Orban Loss in Hungary Is a Big Moment for the E.U. Here’s Why.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stymied the European Union for years, and particularly in recent months. Peter Magyar’s election could change that, if only so much.

Viktor Orban has long been a challenge and a frustration for the European Union, and his concession in Sunday’s Hungarian election was greeted by top E.U. leaders as a potential moment for sea change after years of clashes between Brussels and Budapest.

“Europe’s heart is beating stronger in Hungary tonight,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, posted on social media as the votes came in.

Mr. Orban has often stood in the way of critical policy goals for the European Union, including blocking a loan to Ukraine and sanctions packages targeting Russia. His administration has long been viewed as a security risk at sensitive meetings because of its comparatively cozy ties to the Kremlin. With the victory of Hungary’s opposition party, led by Peter Magyar, that could begin to change.

Mr. Magyar and his Tisza party have struck a friendlier tone toward the European Union and NATO alike. As voting was underway, he pointed out that it was taking place on the anniversary of a 2003 vote in favor of Hungary joining the European Union — a potential signal that he wanted to break with Mr. Orban’s animosity toward Brussels.

Most immediately, the new leadership is widely expected to clear the path for a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine that has been frozen for weeks because of Mr. Orban’s objections.

“The election result is a game changer for Europe,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. » | Jeanna Smialek | Reporting from Brussels | Monday, April 13, 2026

NYT: What Orban’s Defeat Means for the Rest of the World »

Orbán Is Terrified of Losing His Seat

Learn more.

Hungary – The Sick Man of Europe? | The Bottom Line

Dec 4, 2024 | By all accounts, the Hungarian economy is not doing well. The country just slid into a technical recession; the statistics office recorded the biggest slump in investment in 30 years; the Hungarian currency, the forint, is doing worse than its CEE peers; and the government's running a big deficit with access to some of the EU funds available to the country severed.

Cutting Loose: Hungary Pays Off IMF Debt, May Eye EU Exit

Hungary is about to pay off its debt to the International Monetary Fund and then wants the creditor gone. The country was saved by Washington-based group with $25 bln loan five years ago but isn't renewing the aid in order to avoid closer scrutiny of its policies. Alexey Yaroshevsky looks at how Budapest is cutting loose.

Fitch Downgrades Hungary to Junk
Jan. 6 - Hungary's government said it was surprised by ratings agency Fitch's decision to downgrade the country's credit rating to junk, which followed similar moves by Moody's and Standard & Poor's. Joanna Partridge reports

Hungary Resists Austerity Moves Despite Market Drops
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BUDAPEST—Hungary's government said the International Monetary Fund and European Union are ignoring the economic risks of excessive austerity measures and that Budapest can't make deeper spending cuts now, despite a punishing reaction from markets after bailout-loan talks between the two sides broke off this weekend.

The Hungarian currency, the forint, on Monday fell to its lowest level against the euro in more than a year, and the cost of insuring Hungarian government bonds against default jumped sharply after the IMF and EU walked out of talks with Budapest on Saturday, saying the government wasn't doing enough to shrink its budget deficit.

Anxious investors also pushed down the currencies of Hungary's neighbors Poland and the Czech Republic. In the wake of serious debt troubles in Greece, which have prompted Europe-wide efforts to shore up confidence, markets have focused on governments' commitment to strengthening their finances and reining in spending.

"The pressure is clearly going to remain on for some time," said Robert Beange, a senior emerging-markets strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in London. "The markets really want a deal" between the IMF, EU and Hungary. >>> Gordon Fairclough and Margit Feher | Monday, July 19, 2010

Hungary's Economic Woes Punish Euro, Roil Markets
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Pessimistic words on the economy from senior officials of Hungary's newly elected ruling party plunged the euro to a four-year low Friday, and refocused concern on a region that European Union leaders had hoped was recovering from the wounds it suffered in the early days of the financial crisis.

Lajos Kosa, vice president of the right-leaning Fidesz party, which won an overwhelming victory in the April elections, said Thursday that Hungary was in a Greek-style sovereign-debt crisis. And Friday, the prime minister's spokesman, Peter Szijjarto, roiled markets by saying the economic situation is severe and that Hungary isn't likely to meet budget-deficit targets prescribed by the International Monetary Fund.

Hungary in 2008 became the first EU country since the U.K. in 1976 to take an IMF bailout. That fall, it lost access to capital markets and couldn't raise money to cover its deficits.

Mr. Szijjarto's remarks clobbered the Hungarian forint and the euro Friday. The reaction spilled over into sovereign debt-insurance markets across Europe and into the currencies of Poland and the Czech Republic, the two other large non-euro countries in the former Communist east.

The euro sank below $1.20 to a fresh four-year low, trading at $1.1966 late Friday in New York. The cost to insure against sovereign debt default rose sharply early Friday in Europe—to the highest levels in nearly a month for Greece and Portugal. Bigger economies, such as Spain and Italy, also saw debt-default insurance costs rise to their highest levels since at least the start of 2009, according to data provider Markit. >>> Charles Forelle in Brussels and Veronika Gulyas and Margit Feher in Budapest | Friday, June 05, 2010

Euro Slides as Hungary Says Economy in Trouble
TIMES ONLINE: The euro slumped to a four-year low against the dollar yesterday amid concerns that Europe’s debt crisis will worsen still further after Hungary said that its economy was in a “very grave situation”.

Stock markets in Europe and the United States also slid sharply lower as concerns about the worsening debt crisis combined with figures from the US showing slower than expected growth in American employment figures — and rumours of trading losses at Société Générale.

In London, the FTSE closed down 1.6 per cent at 5,126 points. In Frankfurt the Dax dropped more than 2 per cent, in Paris the CAC 40 was down 2.8 per cent, while Madrid slumped by an even more severe 3.8 per cent. In New York the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 3 per cent, slipping under the 10,000 level to close at 9,931.97, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices both suffered losses of about 2.7 per cent. >>> Alexandra Frean, New York and Adam Sage, Paris | Saturday, June 05, 2010

Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home
THE GUARDIAN: Serious Fraud Office investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering

British investigations into BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, appear to have revived today after it was disclosed that a key BAE agent has been raided.

Investigators from the Serious Fraud Office arranged for the agent, Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, to be raided in Austria.

Austrian prosecutors said the raids were carried out at the request of the SFO investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering.

The Austrian police seized a quantity of documents from the home and office of Mensdorff-Pouilly, who has been accused of receiving millions of pounds from BAE for promoting deals. He is the Viennese laird of a Scottish castle.

The SFO's investigations into BAE have been controversial as the government stopped its inquiry into Saudi arms deals. Critics have alleged that the government is soft on BAE and has placed the company above the law and effectively made it immune from prosecution - an accusation denied by ministers. Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home >>> Rob Evans | September 30, 2008

REUTERS:
RPT-Austria Raids Lobbyists in Jetfighter Bribery Probe >>> | September 30, 2008

WALL STREET JOURNAL:
Police Look for Bribery Evidence in Case Against BAE >>> By David Crawford and Daniel Michaels | October 1, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Austrian Addresses Visited in BAE Serious Fraud Office Probe: Police in Austria have visited a number of addresses as part of a UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into claims that defence company BAE Systems was involved in bribery to secure aircraft contracts in the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The police visited the Austrian home and office of Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, a lobbyist who owns a castle in Perthshire.

The SFO is thought to have asked the Austrian authorities for help with its continuing probe into the defence company. The lobbyist's lawyer, Harald Schuster, said any allegations of wrongdoing were groundless.

Despite abandoning its investigation into BAE's dealing with Saudi Arabia, the SFO has continued to look at the company's defence contracts in other countries, including South Africa and Tanzania. >>> By Russell Hotten | October 1, 2008

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