Making his first speech to Parliament today after becoming Prime Minister, Péter Magyar promised a bill on the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office would be among the first to be submitted by the new Tisza Party government, saying the new body will be “one of the most important institutions of the 2026 change of regime.” He also issued a public apology to abuse victims in two state children’s homes.

Magyar told MPs that Hungarians deserved to know the steps that led to “a significant portion of the nation’s common wealth being concentrated in the hands of a narrow political and economic elite,” how “public funds became private wealth, how state assets turned into political influence, how public procurement became a feudal system and how concessions became privileges,” state news agency MTI reported.

The office will be tasked with uncovering abuses of public assets, investigating corruption and the concealment of assets, supporting criminal proceedings, and reclaiming illegally acquired public wealth. It would investigate “transactions suspected of harming public assets, abuse of office, embezzlement, money laundering, budget fraud or the concealment of assets,” he added.

Magyar said the office would not be a political tool under government control but would operate as an independent, autonomous state body, accountable solely to parliament. Its independence, professionalism and transparency were essential, he said, arguing that “Justice can only be credible if the institution itself stands on the rule of law.”

Magyar also apologized to the victims of abuse at the Bicske children’s home and the former Szőlő utca young offenders’ institution in Budapest’s District III. The building was sold in May to Sándor Scheer’s Market Asset Management Zrt., part of Market Group, for HUF 2.6 billion.

Scars of Abuse
He said what had happened was “unacceptable” and apologized to “the children still suffering today and the adults still carrying the scars of abuse and neglect which the Hungarian state failed to prevent,” MTI said.

He insisted the victims were “not alone” anymore and that Hungary “will no longer look the other way from now on.” In what felt like a nod to the LGBTQ+ community, though it was far from explicit, Magyar also apologized to all those who, over the decades, had experienced “a state that did not protect or respect its citizens equally.”

Elsewhere in his speech, he vowed to build a country where “all Hungarians are true citizens of this country, not just the rich, the powerful, or the politically loyal.” The previous regime had turned Hungarians against one another, Magyar said. “By cynically stoking fear, this politics has poisoned the soul of an entire nation.” In its place, Magyar called for the “enormous task of reuniting the nation to begin now.”

He pledged “to rebuild the state, restore trust, fix public services, ensure fair competition, strengthen national unity and renew hope step by step and brick by brick.” He asked his countrymen and women to keep a close eye on their politicians, “hold them to their promises and engage in debate with them.”

The Tisza Party leader promised to “build a functional, humane country” where the state would educate, defend, provide security, and create opportunity, while also accounting faithfully for the nation’s assets. He promised a government that “will never forget the human lives behind every decision.”

Hungary’s place is in Europe, the prime minister insisted, adding, “We will build a Hungary that regains respect in Europe and the world, and no longer drifts from its chosen alliances by bowing to foreign interests,” in an apparent reference to Russia.

Hungarians Deserve Better
He didn’t just blame Fidesz; he also complained that the opposition parties had failed to hold the former government accountable. “What happened was not the fault of the Hungarian people,” he said, adding that they “deserve better than the elite and politics they’ve been saddled with.” Every political side, he said, now had to confront its own responsibility, starting by acknowledging “the personal and moral damage caused by its leaders.”

He warned that “only after confronting the past can there be justice.” That will be essential for renewal, because the country will not be able to construct a new era on a foundation of “silenced crimes, hidden contracts, public assets plundered for private gain and unpunished abuses of power.”

Many public institutions had lost public trust in their independence. The former government had hollowed out the system of checks and balances, Magyar said, and he repeated his call for the heads of public institutions appointed by the Fidesz regime “to resign today, but no later than May 31, and let President Tamás Sulyok be the first to do so.”

On a more personal note, Magyar said he feels and understands “the weight of my responsibility.” He vowed “with faith, determination and love of country” to live up to the example of predecessors like Lajos Batthyány (Hungary’s first prime minister during the 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence), Imre Nagy (PM during the 1956 Hungarian Uprising) and József Antall (Hungary’s first post-communist prime minister after the 1990 elections).

Magyar urged Fidesz MPs to be tough critics when his government erred, but also called on them to be partners in building a clean, transparent Hungary. “The opposition can show that defeat need not breed more hatred, that it can give rise to responsible, constitutional, patriotic opposition.”

The new prime minister closed by recalling the words of Bela Varga, a Smallholders’ Party politician, in the first freely elected post-transition parliament in 1990: “It is sometimes harder to be free than to be a prisoner.” Magyar said these words were as relevant today as they had been then. “Freedom is a heavy responsibility. It is up to us how we use the freedom the Hungarian people have now entrusted to us.”