Péter Magyar, Hungary's prime minister-elect, has made his first diplomatic priority clear: before heading to Brussels or Vienna, he is travelling to Warsaw to meet Donald Tusk. The visit underscores a deliberate strategy to study and apply the Polish playbook for unwinding years of entrenched illiberal rule.
Both leaders share a strikingly similar to-do list across three critical areas: media, judiciary, and state-owned enterprises. In late 2023, Tusk's government bypassed opposition president Andrzej Duda by using a parliamentary resolution to instantly dismiss state broadcast management, effectively taking the network offline overnight. Magyar is now threatening the exact same shock therapy. Following a heated interview on Hungarian public television, which he likened to North Korean propaganda, he explicitly vowed to suspend the national broadcaster's signal the moment he takes office.
Judicial Reform and EU Funds
For the judiciary, both leaders made joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office a day-one priority, reversing their predecessors' refusals to participate. Tusk is still struggling to implement full judicial reform, facing severe gridlock that requires complex legal acrobatics to bypass presidential vetoes. Magyar, however, wields a two-thirds constitutional majority, giving him a clear path. EU officials are already in Budapest negotiating the release of €10.4bn in recovery funds, knowing Magyar has the parliamentary numbers to push necessary reforms. This dynamic mirrors the broader EU pushback against illiberal policies across the continent.
Magyar's approach has already drawn attention from misinformation campaigns, as detailed in reports of targeted disinformation despite his election victory. His visit to Warsaw also comes amid ongoing energy disputes, including his recent call for Ukraine to reopen the Druzhba pipeline, as covered in Magyar's urging of President Zelenskyy.
State Asset Recovery
Finally, Tusk rapidly purged the management boards of state-owned enterprises, with the oil giant Orlen being the most famous example. Magyar is preparing a similar sweep across Hungary's state-backed institutions. He plans to recover state assets and cut funding to ideological networks like the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC). However, this strategy carries risks. Rushing invites legal missteps, and advocates of the outgoing governments argue that neither Viktor Orbán nor Mateusz Morawiecki directly obstructed the transition.
One thing is certain: from illiberal to liberal transitions, the new approach seems to rely on shock therapy to dismantle the old system overnight. Whether Magyar can avoid the pitfalls that Tusk encountered remains to be seen, but his Warsaw visit signals a clear intent to learn from Poland's experience.
