Hungarian election winner Magyar nominates key ministers

BUDAPEST, April 20 – Hungarian election winner Peter Magyar on Monday nominated Andras Karman as finance minister, Anita Orban as foreign minister and Istvan Kapitany as economy and energy minister in his incoming government, as previously indicated.

Magyar’s centre-right Tisza (Respect and Freedom) won a landslide victory in an April 12 election, ending the 16-year rule of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban that had become a template for many conservative rulers across the West.

The result could allow Magyar to overhaul some of Orban’s contested reforms in order to unlock billions of euros of funding that the European Union froze over rule-of-law concerns.

“We have said it several times already, this is an enormous mandate, an enormous majority, and at least as large a responsibility,” Magyar said after the first meeting of his parliamentary group.

“This was the key point of today’s parliamentary group meeting, to discuss with our fellow lawmakers what this responsibility means and how we can live up to this responsibility 24/7, every day of the year.”

Karman, a former Erste Bank executive, also worked as a member of the board at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and was a state secretary at the Economy Ministry after Orban’s election in 2010.

Kapitany, a former global executive vice president at Shell, who also led a Hungarian association of executives between 2020 and 2025, has said the release of EU funding and predictable policies would help revive the economy.

Anita Orban – no relation to Viktor – worked as public affairs director at Vodafone and held various diplomatic roles at the Foreign Ministry in his first government between 2010 and 2015.

Magyar said his government could take power during the week of May 11 after he is expected to take the oath of office on May 9 or 10 at the inaugural session of parliament. REUTERS