Magyar moves to bar Orbán from ever returning as prime minister

Hungary’s ruling Tisza Party has submitted a constitutional amendment designed to permanently block Viktor Orbán from returning to power, introducing a retroactive two-term limit for Hungarian prime ministers. The proposal, tabled on Wednesday by Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s governing majority, would prevent anyone who has already served a cumulative eight years in office since 1990 from becoming prime minister again. It is a provision aimed directly at Orbán after his five terms in power between 1998 and 2026.

Beyond the term-limit proposal, the amendment package would also dismantle the legal basis for the controversial Sovereignty Protection Office and allow the state to reclaim control over billions of euros in public assets transferred to politically connected foundations overseeing universities and other institutions.

The package was submitted by Tisza MPs Márton Melléthei-Barna and István Hantosi, chair of parliament’s Justice and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Under the draft amendment, anyone who has already served a cumulative eight years as prime minister, including non-consecutive mandates, would be barred from holding the office again. A separate provision would automatically terminate a prime minister’s mandate once that threshold is reached.

Hungary currently imposes no term limits on the premiership. Orbán has dominated Hungarian politics for more than a decade through successive constitutional reforms backed by Fidesz’s parliamentary supermajority.

Sovereignty Protection Office targeted

The proposal would also remove the constitutional basis for the Sovereignty Protection Office, a body established in 2023 by the Fidesz majority and widely criticised by civil society groups and EU institutions.

Fidesz had previously enshrined in the constitution that “the protection of Hungary’s constitutional identity and Christian culture is the duty of every state body”, while assigning the defence of constitutional identity to an independent authority created through cardinal legislation. Tisza’s amendment would repeal these provisions entirely, paving the way for the abolition of the Sovereignty Protection Office through ordinary legislation.

Constitutional changes could advance quickly

Hungary’s parliament is expected to reconvene next week, when debate on the proposed amendments could begin. Changes to the Fundamental Law require a two-thirds parliamentary majority and would enter into force the day after promulgation. If adopted, the proposal would mark the sixteenth amendment to Hungary’s constitution since it entered into force in 2011.

Tisza leader Péter Magyar who has parliamentary supermajority said last week that further constitutional amendments would follow rapidly, before a broader multi-year constitutional reform process culminating in a national referendum on a new constitution.

Foundations overseeing universities could be dismantled

A third major element of the Tisza’s proposal concerns Hungary’s public interest asset management foundations, known by the Hungarian acronym “kekva”. The foundations were established by the Orbán government to manage large parts of Hungary’s higher education system and other state assets. Twenty-one universities, along with the government-backed Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), currently operate under this model.

Tisza’s proposal states that the assets held by these foundations constitute national property. It would also transfer founding rights from foundation boards back to the government, which would gain the authority to dissolve the foundations entirely. In such cases, all assets and liabilities would revert to the Hungarian state as the universal legal successor.

According to the explanatory memorandum, the outsourcing of public assets and governance rights to the foundations represented “an abuse of legislative power”. The amendment argues that, although the foundations formally operate as private-law entities, their assets should remain subject to democratic oversight because they are ultimately public property.

EU funding dispute remains unresolved

The foundation system has become one of the most significant unresolved disputes between Budapest and the Commission over frozen EU funds. Since May 2023, Hungarian universities operating under the foundation model have progressively lost access to new EU funding because of concerns over transparency and conflicts of interest.

The restrictions affect participation in programmes such as Horizon Europe and Erasmus+. The issue is also tied to several broader EU conditionality mechanisms affecting billions of euros in recovery and cohesion funding earmarked for Hungary.

The Orbán government amended legislation governing the foundations in 2024, but the European Commission deemed the reforms insufficient, listing numerous remaining deficiencies.
Tisza has pledged to restore full access to Erasmus exchanges for Hungarian students and to “re-establish university autonomy” by abolishing the foundation model.

Sources: Telex.hu, Reuters

Caption: Prime Minister Peter Magyar during the press tour of the former Carmelite Monastery, which previously housed the Prime Minister’s Office, in the Castle District of Budapest, Hungary, 16 May 2026. Pre-registered visitors can also visit the Carmelite Monastery on a guided tour during the weekend of the 16-17 May. EPA/Zoltan Balogh