Change of power in Hungary

Magyar demands president's resignation: "It's time"

Hungary's new Prime Minister Péter Magyar is demanding the country's president resign on his first day in office, Bloomberg reports.

Just minutes after being sworn in, Magyar said that President Tamás Sulyok failed to speak out when the previous government "destroyed democracy."

"It's time for you to leave with dignity, while you still can," he told the president.

Magyar gave Sulyok until May 31 to resign. 

Péter Magyar sworn in as Hungary's new leader

The Hungarian parliament has elected Péter Magyar as the new prime minister, several media outlets report. He is thus replacing Viktor Orbán, who has been in power for a total of 20 years, the last 16 of which have been in a row.

"I will not govern, I will serve my country." I will serve to the best of my ability, as long as I am useful, as long as I can and as long as Hungary demands, Magyar said in his speech.

The opposition leader and his Tisza party won a landslide victory in the elections on April 12 and now have a supermajority in parliament, with 141 out of 199 seats.

He went to the polls on repairing ties with the EU, fighting corruption and restoring the independence of the media, the judiciary and other institutions.

Viktor Orbán will neither attend nor speak at the opening of parliament on Saturday. It has never happened in Hungary since the fall of communism that a prime minister does not do so, writes Telex.