"We had our suspicions, and we still do, but I think the situation is worse than any of our suspicions," the prime minister said.

In the interview, he noted that more than 40 days has passed since the election, and the government was formed two weeks ago. "This is the fastest government formation in modern Hungarian history," he added. "The cabinet has started working, all the ministers have been appointed, and all the state secretaries will be announced over the weekend."

"What matters is that governance is under way, and there is no need to defeat Fidesz, as the Hungarian people did that in the 12 April election, and there is no need for a witch hunt," he argued.

"People do, however, have a right to see the reality, and this includes the state of the budget, because one of the most important things Hungarians need to know is the condition in which the previous government left the country," he said.

The salaries of the head of state, the prime minister, ministers, MPs, and mayors will be significantly reduced, the prime minister said in his interview with commercial television broadcaster RTL on Saturday.

He added that the same would apply to the heads, board members, and supervisory board members of state-owned companies, and this would be capped by a reduction in MPs' expense allowances. State secretaries and ministers will receive even lower salaries, adding that it mattered a great deal what kind of example they set for the Hungarian people, their own country, and the wider world.

"We will be able to save 50 billion forints in parliament alone," Magyar said, indicating that under the new regulations, the prime minister's monthly gross salary will be 2.3 million forints, in addition to which, in his case, the basic MP salary will also apply, bringing the total to 3.8 million forints.

The prime minister emphasised that it was not enough to show humanity, self-restraint and humility; MPs and government members must also live by these values and serve the people.

He mentioned that in the future, only the prime minister and the interior ministry will have the right to use blue flashing lights, and even then only in the most necessary cases. In addition, the system of diplomatic passports will be reviewed due to more than a thousand such documents having been issued without justification.

Whether it is a VAT reduction, a tax reduction, the introduction of the pensioner SZEP card, or the 100,000-forint (EUR 280) back-to-school support, all will be available to hundreds of thousands of Hungarian families within a foreseeable period, the prime minister said.

Magyar added that the back-to-school support will be implemented as early as August 2026: "This was our commitment and it remains our commitment, and we have made this very clear to the finance minister as well," he declared.

He noted the Tisza Party's programme had put the number of children in need who could be affected by this measure at 700,000. Since then, he added, the indication has been that the number of children truly in need may be slightly lower than that.

He described the development of the eligibility criteria as a major challenge, to ensure that the support actually reaches the children of families in need. On the question of who qualified as in need, he said this would be a government decision and would depend on many criteria.

He said the country had been wasteful not only in terms of corruption, needless prestige investments, the freezing of EU funds, or expensive financing, but also because family allowances and certain social benefits had gone to families with high per capita incomes. "This must also be stopped," Magyar said.

Social inequalities and disparities must be reduced, he said, adding that this could be done, for example, with the pensioner SZEP card by introducing it in stages and tying it to certain income levels. This would be possible once the new 2026 budget is in place at the beginning of September. He said he would be satisfied if it could be paid out starting from the fourth quarter.

Asked whether next year mothers over 40 with two children will no longer have to pay personal income tax, Magyar confirmed that the plan is to retain every measure that benefits Hungarian families, whether already introduced or yet to be introduced, but the most important thing was for the country to have a sustainable budget based on real foundations.

"Skeletons, or rather not just skeletons but sometimes whole graveyards, are tumbling out of the closet every day in every ministry," Magyar said, commenting on the country's economic situation.

He said that a few weeks before the election, the ministry of defence signed a 1.3 trillion forint agreement, and the former cabinet made a 267 billion forint foundation commitment linked to Nobel Prize-winning researcher Ferenc Krausz. He also drew attention to a 17 billion forint grant from the National Cultural Fund.

At the ministry of transport, there was "an item exceeding 280 billion forints, which is particularly serious because it was not included in the budget," he said. He added that it turned out that in this case, former minister of construction and transport Janos Lazar and former economy minister Marton Nagy were the two responsible ministers whose signatures appear on the relevant section of the budget.

He also said that the previous government had approved the 2026 budget without providing any funding to cover it. This, he said, entailed criminal liability in addition to political responsibility.

In response to the suggestion that Fidesz-KDNP had concealed anything from the budget, Magyar said that they had failed to mention that they had more than tripled the public debt, failed to bring home the EU funds to which the Hungarian people were entitled, and that under their governance, Hungary had become "the most corrupt and poorest member state" in the European Union.

Magyar noted that in 2025, the budget was approved with a 3.7 percent deficit, which was revised to 5 percent, and then during the government handover, "Marton Nagy and the other officials let it be known that they were expecting a deficit of around 6.8 to 7 percent."

He said that he did not believe the 5 percent deficit was sustainable. "I say this knowing that we haven't seen all the skeletons yet, because not all of them have fallen out of the closet," he said.

He added that the cabinet has therefore asked Finance Minister Andras Karman to prepare a detailed inventory, based on which they will be able to submit the amended 2026 budget toward the end of August.

It was a massive act of irresponsibility on the part of the previous government to build its budgets on "sand and castles in the air", which is why Hungary lost the confidence of investors and could only finance its very high budget deficit and public debt at a much higher cost, Magyar said.

He added that if someone managed the economy as irresponsibly as the previous government had done, they would end up where that government ended up, and Hungary would remain a "poor and corrupt country".

He described the Brussels negotiations on accessing the 10.4 billion euros in EU funds and the thousands of billions of forints in cohesion funds as decisive. In addition, there is the 16 billion euro defence industry development loan framework, which the previous government applied for but was unable to access, and this must also be reviewed, he said.

Speaking about the negotiations with EU institutions on funding due to Hungary, Magyar said it was normal for there to be differences of opinion between the parties. He declared that they would only accept changes that were good for the Hungarian people and Hungarian companies.

He said negotiations were going well and several consultations have been completed, with EU leaders "taking a very positive view" of the matter. He said the task was not straightforward, as the government merely had three months to complete a task that the previous government "failed to do in three years".

Magyar mentioned that the real difficulty lay in compiling the projects to be financed from these funds. Hungary, he said, wanted the European Commission to approve programmes that truly helped the Hungarian people. One example, in addition to transport and energy development projects, is that the government is working to launch a major housing development programme in Hungary, he said.

He added that to achieve this, the structure must be built and the legal framework adopted, so no one in the government or the ministries will go on holiday this summer. He said a huge amount of money was at stake and this was the Hungarian people's money.

Their goal is to recover all 10.4 billion euros stuck in the recovery fund for Hungary, he said. It could not be claimed that 100 percent of it would be recovered, but the money would be used to kick-start the Hungarian economy, he added.

Magyar said Hungary could reach the EU average in terms of development within a set deadline. Asked when Hungary's economy might reach the EU average, Magyar said that if the EU funds could be recovered, corruption stamped out, significant assets reclaimed from stolen state property, and the Hungarian economy kick-started, then the country may achieve growth that is at least 2-3 percent higher than the EU average.

He said if these goals could be achieved starting in 2027 and growth maintained, Hungary could reach the EU average within a set deadline, adding that around 2030, an important goal was for the country to join the euro zone. Regarding public debt, he said that its trajectory is more important than its size. "It must be on a downward trajectory," he said.

Magyar said that they must establish an institutional framework that holds those who stole state assets accountable and can recover a significant portion of those assets. He added that they must then create a structure where "not a single trace of corruption remains".

He cited his trip to Poland and the development he witnessed there over the past 10–15 years, and said that Hungary did not need miracles but rather transparent, truly patriotic, and professional governance.

The prime minister also said he wants transparent government communication, and he pledged that the government would answer every question from the free press.

Magyar added that after August 20, they will go on a national tour to inform the people and answer the questions that arise. "And this is where they could be held accountable for the Working and Humane Hungary programme," he said.

Photo: Getty Images

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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