Péter Magyar maps out grand bargain to reset Hungary’s ties with Brussels

Péter Magyar maps out grand bargain to reset Hungary’s ties with Brussels

What the demise of a small department in an embattled university says about the future of Europe and the world. 

By MAX GRIERA, NICHOLAS VINOCUR and GREGORIO SORGI
in Budapest

Illustration by Natália Delgado/POLITICO

Hungary’s Prime Minister-in-waiting Péter Magyar knows exactly what he wants from Brussels, and Brussels knows what it expects from Budapest.

This is where the grand bargain begins.

Even though Magyar almost certainly won’t take over until May 5 at the earliest, he is already reaching out to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — to whom he spoke Monday evening — to try to rebuild Budapest’s relations with the EU, which collapsed under the 16-year rule of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

For Magyar’s new administration, the No. 1 priority after Sunday’s election victory is to unlock the €18 billion in EU funds that were frozen because of Orbán’s democratic backsliding. He also wants access to some €16 billion in European defense loans and to end the €1 million-per-day fine imposed over Hungary’s defiance of migration law.

But Brussels won’t just hand these goodies to a new leader who is still an unknown quantity. Magyar has several hoops to jump through to qualify for the cash to prove he’s serious about reforming Orbán’s authoritarian state, and Brussels also has its own set of high-level political priorities that Magyar must deliver on.

For Brussels, the key political objective is for Hungary to end its veto on a vital €90 billion EU loan to Kyiv and to back a new package of EU sanctions on Russia. The European Commission also wants Hungary to drop its resistance to the launch of formal accession talks with Ukraine.

Luckily for both sides, everyone seems willing to move, and quickly. For Magyar time is short, as he will lose a major tranche of EU funds if he doesn’t implement the necessary rule-of-law reforms by August.

“I can say that it is extremely important to bring [the money] home, and as quickly as possible,” Magyar said on Monday.

He pledged to agree reform commitments with von der Leyen in Monday’s telephone call, and also stressed the importance of implementing anti-corruption measures — including joining the European prosecutor’s office — while securing the independence of the judiciary and protecting media and academic freedoms.

Von der Leyen struck an optimistic tone on the potential reset on Monday.

“Of course, we will start working with the government as soon as possible … to make a swift and overdue progress to the benefit of the Hungarian people,” the European Commission president said.

Swedish EU Minister Jessica Rosencrantz also agreed the diplomatic environment now appeared propitious. “Just the fact that Péter Magyar is so clear that he wants to rebuild ties and trust with the EU is important in itself,” she said.

Péter Magyar holds a post-election press conference in Budapest on April 13. | Balint Szentgallay/NurPhoto via Getty Images

“That makes for a good start, and it raises expectations that it will be easier to cooperate with Hungary.”

Willing to move

On his first full day as incoming prime minister, Magyar announced he would seek “compromises” at the EU level and that he wanted “to make decision-making easier.”

At a three-hour news conference on Monday he strongly suggested he wouldn’t stand in the way of the EU’s €90 billion loan to Kyiv. He said Budapest had agreed to that financing at a European Council in December, and would now “like to be coherent” with that previous commitment.

He also stressed he now commands a crucial two-thirds majority in Hungary’s parliament that will allow him to carry out sweeping judicial reforms to comply with EU rules and unfreeze Hungary’s funds. He signaled he wanted to keep his distance from Moscow, and that while he opposes Ukraine’s fast-tracked EU accession, his government will “help countries that are ready to join rather than to make them wait in line.”

Less to the EU’s liking, he explained that Hungary still wanted to buy Russian oil, but accepted that sanctions must remain in place during that country’s war on Ukraine. He also didn’t address whether he would support the EU’s 20th package of sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine is a sensitive topic for Magyar — given the strong anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Hungary — but diplomats are confident a compromise can be reached.

“[Magyar’s party] Tisza has said they don’t want a fast track. Sweden also wants it merit-based,” Rosencrantz said. “Ukraine has the merit — they have really done their reforms — and now it’s time to open formally the first cluster in the negotiations.”

Polish paradigm

It’s significant that Magyar’s first foreign visit will be to Poland, which has recent experience of unfreezing EU funds.

He will meet with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who “will be ready to help him and to explain all the details” and “share experiences,” said the head of Tusk’s Civic Coalition party in the European Parliament, Andrzej Halicki.

After Tusk won Poland’s election in 2023, the European Commission in February 2024 unfroze more than €100 billion that had been held back over rule-of-law concerns after Tusk submitted a judicial reform plan and took initial steps to rebuild trust.

In the Polish case, however, hard-right President Karol Nawrocki ultimately blocked the reforms promised by Tusk, leading to complaints that Warsaw had won its funding by merely promising change.

Its bitter experience in Warsaw has made the Commission wary of disbursing funds before it can be sure the reforms are in place, and makes it unlikely Magyar will win early payments.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who will meet Magyar when he makes his first foreign visit since winning the election, at a press conference during his diplomatic visit to Seoul on April 13, 2026. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Still, Magyar’s supermajority means he’s unlikely to face Tusk’s problems with an obstructive president, as he can simply ram measures through at will.

“We have a super majority in the parliament, and that gives us the power to transform state systems and we are going to do that,” Magyar said.

Against the clock

Saying he wants to form a government as soon as possible, Magyar urged the Hungarian president to bring forward the inauguration of his new parliament to May 5 from May 12, allowing him to put forward a formal package to satisfy Brussels’ requirements.

The supermajority means he should be able to work quickly.

“He can do everything, you know, there’s no excuse … he knows exactly what has to be done, the Commission has of course its criteria, and I think he should present a plan: This is how I’m going to do it and within which timeframe” the European Parliament’s lead lawmaker supervising the rule of law in Hungary, Dutch Green Tineke Strik, told POLITICO.

Hungary is also subject to Article 7 proceedings under the EU treaties — the first step toward suspending its voting rights over rule-of-law breaches. The next hearing, where ministers from the other 26 countries will assess Budapest’s position, is scheduled for the end of May.

“That would be a perfect moment to meet, I think, with the other European leaders to discuss the things that are needed to be done and how he sees that,” she said.

Nette Nöstlinger and Carlo Martuscelli contributed to this report.