Hungary recently put an end to 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s rule when Péter Magyar’s Tisza party defeated him, winning a majority government in the country’s general elections. The result marks a major political turning point that’s likely to redefine the country’s institutions and its relations with the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

Hungary’s political transition is not merely a change of government. It marks the beginning of a period of uncertainty about the direction the country will take in the future.

As an associate researcher at the Raoul-Dandurand Chair of the Université du Québec à Montréal and a specialist in international relations, I analyze politics in central Europe and issues relating to new technologies.

Péter Magyar’s victory is partly explained by his career path. The leader of Tisza (Respect and Freedom Party), Magyar had worked within Orbán’s Fidesz party for 20 years, starting in the 2000s. After Fidesz won Hungary’s elections in 2010, Magyar held various posts within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then at Hungary’s Permanent Representation to the European Union and finally in Prime Minister Orban’s office in 2015.

Magyar severed ties with Fidesz and joined Tisza in the middle of a political crisis in 2024, sparked by Orbán’s decision to grant a presidential pardon to a former deputy........

© The Conversation