Hungary's Political Shake-up
Hungary Lawmakers Pass Retroactive PM Term Limits, Aiming to Block Orbán's Political Return
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Key Points
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A quoted section of the adopted constitutional text specifies the term-limit calculation: “Anyone who has held the office of prime minister for a total of at least eight years, including interruptions, may not be elected,” and that the “mandate from May 2, 1990, will be taken into account.”
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Critics argued the amendment may not legally bind prime ministers who were already in office when the change was passed—leaving open the possibility that Orbán could still run, even though the measure is retroactive.
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Le Monde reported the amendment passed with 135 votes in favor, 50 against, and six abstentions, and noted Hungary’s rules allow constitutional changes like this to be adopted by a two-thirds supermajority “without needing a referendum.” It also said the change does not permanently block a return because it could be undone later by another constitutional amendment.
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Beyond shutting the Sovereignty Protection Office, the approved package removed the legal basis that had required an independent body to “safeguard” Hungary’s “constitutional identity”—a clause previously used to justify the office’s existence.
Hungary's parliament voted on June 15 to cap prime ministers at eight years in office — a move aimed squarely at keeping Viktor Orbán out of power forever. The amendment passed 135 to 50, with six abstentions, clearing the two-thirds threshold needed to change the constitution, Reuters and Al Jazeera reported.
The rule counts every year a person has served as prime minister going back to May 2, 1990. Orbán has already served roughly 20 years across two stints, making him ineligible under the new law. Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who ousted Orbán in April elections, framed the vote as a historic break. "Together we overthrew the Hungarian regime," Magyar said. "We are restoring democratic checks and balances."
Magyar's April Landslide Made This Vote Possible
Magyar's Tisza Party won Hungary's general election on April 12, taking 141 of 199 parliamentary seats — a two-thirds supermajority. That margin is the magic number in Hungary. With it, a party can rewrite the constitution without holding a referendum, Le Monde noted. Voter turnout hit 78.99%, the highest in Hungary's democratic history, according to Wikipedia.
Magyar was sworn in as prime minister on May 9, ending Orbán's 16-year consecutive run. Just ten days later, two Tisza MPs submitted the draft constitutional amendment. The full package came to a vote roughly four weeks after that, moving at unusual speed for a change of this scale.
The Amendment's Exact Words Leave Room for Legal Challenge
The adopted text says: "Anyone who has held the office of prime minister for a total of at least eight years, including interruptions, may not be elected," and that service "from May 2, 1990, will be taken into account." That retroactive reach — going back 36 years — is highly unusual in a parliamentary democracy, legal analysts told The South China Morning Post.
Some scholars warn the change could be challenged at the European Court of Human Rights. Orbán dismissed the law's legitimacy outright. "The idea that anyone could be kept away from the people is pretty funny," he said in an interview with Index, according to Eurasia Review. "In the end, it's the people who decide." Critics also note the law could be reversed by a future two-thirds majority — meaning nothing here is permanent.
Hungary's Anti-Orbán Reset Goes Beyond the Term Limit
The constitutional package did more than bar Orbán. It shut down the Sovereignty Protection Office, a body created in 2024 that critics said was used to harass independent journalists and NGOs. The European Commission had already warned the office violated EU law. The amendment also removed the legal clause used to justify the office's existence in the first place, according to Euractiv.
Parliament also gave Magyar's government power to break up Public Interest Asset Management Foundations — known as KEKVAs. Under Orbán, 21 universities were handed to these trusts, which were run by Fidesz loyalists. Dissolving them could restore Hungarian students' access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe research programs by late 2026, AcademicJobs reported.
€16 Billion in EU Funds Unlocked as Part of Broader Shift
The constitutional overhaul is tied to a larger economic reset. On May 29, Magyar and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a deal to release €16.4 billion in EU funds that Brussels had frozen over rule-of-law concerns. That breaks down as €10 billion from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, €4.2 billion in cohesion funds, and €2.2 billion for academic freedom initiatives, Crypto Briefing reported.
Hungary will also rejoin the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which will oversee how the money is spent — a safeguard against the corruption that plagued the Orbán years. On the same day as the constitutional vote, parliament passed a separate bill cutting MP salaries by 40% as part of an anti-corruption drive, according to Eurasia Review. President Tamás Sulyok must still sign the amendment, but parliament can override his veto with a second vote if he refuses.
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