Peter Magyar, leader of the Tisza Party, named seven ministers and a further nine ministries in his incoming government in a two-hour press conference in Budapest on April 20, after the first meeting of the party's parliamentary group at Hungexpo, the country's largest conference hall.

Magyar had already named former global director at Vodafone Group and former travelling ambassador for energy security, Anita Orban, as foreign minister, Andras Karman, the party's budget and tax policy expert, as finance minister, and Istvan Kapitany as minister of economy and energy for the Tisza government. Zsolt Hegedus, whose dance moves on election night went viral on social media, will be the head of the new Health Ministry, which is currently part of the Ministry of Interior.

Former zoo director Laszlo Gajdos will be minister of the environment, while former army chief Romulus Ruszin-Szendi, who was the first "big transfer" of Peter Magyar, will serve as minister of defence. Agricultural engineer and entrepreneur Szabolcs Bona will head the Ministry of Agriculture.

Magyar announced that his cabinet will include ministries for the prime minister's office, interior, justice, transport and investment, education, social affairs, rural development, digital and technological affairs, and a portfolio covering science, sport, civil society, churches, and media regulation. The precise titles of the ministries will be disclosed when the nominees are presented, he said, and the remaining names will be revealed later.

The new 141-member faction of the Tisza Party, the largest since the transition, will be led by Andrea Bujdoso, who has led the party's Budapest faction since June 2024.

Agnes Forsthoffer, who worked in the hotel industry before joining Tisza in 2025, will serve as Speaker of Parliament.

The appointment of two women to senior roles signals a clean break with the past and the start of a new political culture, he added.

He said decree-based governance and legislation serving oligarchic interests will be abolished. The prime minister's salary will be cut to HUF2.5mn from over HUF7mn, and other benefits for MPs will also be scaled back.

Fielding questions, Magyar confirmed he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hungary for the 70th anniversary of the October 23, 1956 revolution, while informing him that Hungary will not withdraw from the International Criminal Court as the withdrawal process can still be halted before June. Magyar said it is unambiguous that if the Israeli leader sets foot in Hungary, he must be arrested, and whilst he did not spell this out explicitly to Netanyahu, he assumes all parties are aware of the legal obligations.

Magyar sent a direct message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urging him to honour his commitment and reopen the Druzhba oil pipeline, saying: "This is not a game." He said he will not yield to pressure, and that European leaders would not accept such an approach either. He added that once the pipeline flows, there will be no grounds to block the €90bn loan, though he noted the outgoing government had made the same argument previously.

He said Zelenskiy has expressed interest in negotiating over seized Ukrainian assets after Hungary's anti-terrorist group TEK raided two armoured vehicles transporting cash from Austria to Ukraine through Hungary.

Magyar said talks on the issue can begin once he has been sworn in. He also said he wants to discuss with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico the laws threatening Hungarians in Slovakia with imprisonment and the status of the Benes decrees before any other topics, including sanctions.

He also noted that the emergency decree currently in force expires on May 13, and said the outgoing government should extend it to May 31. Around 160 pieces of legislation are tied to the emergency legal order, and the new parliamentary majority will need several weeks to amend them.

Magyar made clear that he expects so-called "Orban's puppets" in state bodies,  including the chief prosecutor, head of the State Audit Office, president of the Kuria (Supreme Court) and the Constitutional Court,  to resign by May 31, or face removal using the government's two-thirds parliamentary mandate.

Magyar warned that taking stock of the state the outgoing government leaves behind will be essential, saying "entire cemeteries, not just skeletons, may fall out of the closet." He pledged to establish an Asset Recovery Office to handle volumes of cases beyond the capacity of the police and the tax authority. Full transparency and the publication of crimes committed against children in state care going back 20 years were also promised.

He added that Tisza will not initiate legal challenges in two constituencies where criminal proceedings are underway for alleged vote-buying and irregularities in signature collection, as doing so would delay the formation of the government. Fidesz is believed to have won another rural district by a thin margin through fraud, backing an independent candidate also named Peter Magyar, who received approximately 900 votes.

The prime minister-elect, recalling the informal meeting between outgoing Economy Minister Marton Nagy and Andras Karman, acknowledged that the 5% deficit target may be unsustainable and could reach 6%. He said no firm commitments can be made until the new government reviews actual figures, secret contracts and outstanding payment obligations.

GKI, in its new forecast, recalled that the new government will have to make fiscal adjustments and reduce expenditure, or the deficit could swell to 6.5%. The government approved the 2026 budget with a deficit target of 3.7% last summer.  Investment expert and former manager of Citadella funds Viktor Zsiday warned that honouring Tisza's election pledges would lead to significant fiscal loosening equivalent to several percentage points of GDP.

Magyar confirmed that a wealth tax will be introduced regardless of opposition. 

The capital markets reacted positively to the political change and to the pledge that the Tisza government wants to maintain a stable budget and bring home frozen EU funds, which could further strengthen the forint, keep inflation low and unlock investment.

Magyar expects to sign a political agreement with the European Commission,  setting out a legislative timetable for modifications needed to release EU funds by 31 August, around 15–20 May, while describing the outgoing cabinet's management of EU funds as "a betrayal."

On state-backed investments, he said the government intends to use the special-priority investment framework sparingly and that deviations from standard rules will no longer be tolerated. He added that the Budapest–Belgrade railway line and the Paks 2 nuclear expansion will both be reviewed, including classified government decisions and financing structures. He said the Paks project remains important and necessary, but its costs and competitive tendering will be re-examined.

At the press briefing, Magyar, who will be one of the youngest prime ministers in Hungary's history, said society demands a new Fundamental Law, but that the process will not be the incoming Tisza government's top priority and will be preceded by consultations that could stretch to years. Magyar indicated the process could be completed within a four-year parliamentary term and put to a referendum. Tisza will also initiate amendments to the Fundamental Law and to cardinal laws as necessary to restore the country's functionality and drive its development.