Hungary's new prime minister vows to lead the country back into the European mainstream.

(Budapest) Hungary's new Prime Minister, Mazar, was sworn in on Saturday, officially ending the 16-year rule of the pro-Russian and anti-EU Viktor Orbán. Mazar pledged to reverse the country's trend toward authoritarianism and bring Hungary back into the European mainstream.

Mazar's Tiza party won a landslide victory in the April parliamentary elections. He was elected prime minister in the elections held in the new parliament on Saturday (May 9).

In his inaugural address, Mazar vowed to recover the misappropriated state assets and completely dismantle Orbán's political system. He demanded that President Szúlíok, who was allied with Orbán, resign by May 31, stating that the latter had turned a blind eye to Hungary's slide toward authoritarianism and was no longer fit to serve.

Orban did not attend Mazar's inauguration ceremony as is traditional. Mazar said this showed that Orban "refuses to take responsibility, lacks self-reflection, and exercises power without consequences."

Mazar has repeatedly apologized publicly for various lapses in the Orbán government's administration, including its crackdown on journalists and civil society. He said, "I want to declare: I do not seek to rule Hungary, but to serve my homeland." He pledged to amend the constitution to limit executive power.

Symbolically, the EU flag was raised outside the Hungarian Parliament building for the first time in 12 years. As the inauguration ceremony drew to a close, members of parliament sang the EU anthem and Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" after the Hungarian national anthem. Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the Parliament building also waved Hungarian and EU flags in celebration.

Source: [Lianhe Zaobao] (https://www.zaobao.com/news/world/story20260510-9026745)