Prime Minister Viktor Orban is considering taking over as president of Hungary and changing the law to maintain control over Hungary regardless of the outcome of parliamentary elections in April 2026, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, December 11.
According to the source, Orban is considering the idea of taking over the presidency and rewriting the laws so that he becomes the person with the most powerful position in the country. On December 10, the Hungarian parliament approved a bill from Orban's Fidesz party that would make it more difficult for lawmakers to remove the president from office in the future. Such moves increase the likelihood that the prime minister could reform the presidency.
"The idea of transforming the ceremonial role of the head of state into something powerful may be just the musings of a leader who has transformed Hungary into a self-proclaimed "illiberal" democracy. But given precedents in Turkey and russia, Budapest says Orban will not go quietly if he loses his first election in two decades," the article says.
Bloomberg notes that the shift in the balance of influence between the president and the prime minister is one manifestation of an authoritarian strategy.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on November 6, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that he was traveling to Washington to discuss bilateral relations between the countries and peace after the war in Ukraine with US President Donald Trump.
On October 14, US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Orban "fantastic" and said he was confident that his Fidesz party would win the 2026 parliamentary elections.
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