Budapest: Hungary’s election winner, Péter Magyar, called Monday on the country’s president to convene the parliament to form a new government “as quickly as possible,” in hopes that he can take over from Viktor Orbán as prime minister as early as May 5.
With an overwhelming new mandate, Magyar pledged to cooperate with other European countries, ending Orbán-era obstruction of Europe-wide policies, while also representing Hungarians’ wishes.
At a news conference Monday in Budapest, he promised to restore rule of law and overhaul government structures to make them more independent and able to fight corruption, and to create new ministries to address acute problems in areas like public health, environmental protection and education.
He said he opposes fast-track EU membership for Ukraine while the country is still in a war.
But he suggested he wouldn’t veto a 90-billion-euro EU loan for Ukraine, as Orbán did, and instead wants Hungary to ?opt out? of participating in the loan because of its own financial struggles.
He didn’t immediately address his eventual relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, who supported Orbán’s campaign.
Magyar said his Tisza party received “a never-before-seen mandate,’’ a super-majority that would allow it to embark on ambitious program and reforms.
“The Hungarian people didn’t vote for a simple change of government, but for a complete change in regime,” he said.
In his campaign, Magyar also pledged to end Hungary’s drift toward Russia.