Hungary's president ends his own term in bow to new premier

Zoltan Simon and Thomas Escritt, Bloomberg News on Jul 18, 2026

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Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment ending his presidency, capping Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s rapid effort to dismantle key pillars of the Viktor Orban era.

The measure, approved this week by parliament, fulfills one of Magyar’s central campaign pledges to remove senior officials appointed under Orban. He argued they were entrenched to preserve the ex-premier’s influence after Magyar ended Orban’s 16 years in power with an election victory in April.

Parliament, which is dominated by Magyar’s Tisza party, will elect a new head of state before the Aug. 20 national holiday celebrating Hungary’s statehood.

Magyar is reshaping Hungarian politics after his predecessor cracked down on civil society and independent media to build a self-styled illiberal state, provoking conflict with other European Union members over the rule of law.

“With Sulyok’s signature, the last obstacle to our shared decisions taking effect has been removed,” Magyar said Saturday in a social media post after the president signed the measure leading to his own ouster.

Sulyok, who’s less than three years into his five-year term, is leaving office after Magyar targeted him during the election campaign as putting political loyalty above his responsibility be the guardian of democracy.

The president had failed to speak up on issues ranging from the systemic abuse of children in state care to the targeting of journalists and civil society workers in the last phase of Orban’s increasingly autocratic rule.

The amendment Sulyok signed also sets an age limit of 70 for constitutional court justices, which will lead to the ouster of several members, including the court’s president, Peter Polt.

(Marton Kasnyik contributed to this report.)