The following speech was delivered on 9 May 2026 in Budapest, on Kossuth Square, in front of the Parliament.
Péter Magyar’s Speech to the Nation
Dear compatriots, Dear friends, Hungarians from within and beyond the borders!
We warmly welcome you to a free, democratic Hungary.
So look around in this wonderful square! Look into each other’s eyes. Look at this beautiful city, this beautiful country.
It has been a long time since we have seen so many smiles, so many liberated looks and so much hope at the same time in Hungary as in recent weeks, since the April 12 election.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[Chanting.]
Today is not simply the day of the inaugural session of the new parliament. Today is the fulfillment of the long, long journey that we have made together in recent years. It is the fulfilment of the common belief that Hungary is indeed capable of getting back on its feet, is able to believe in itself again, and is once again able to be a common homeland for all Hungarians.
But look behind me, at this building!
The most beautiful building in the world, the Hungarian Parliament. For how many years has this building been a symbol of oppression, arrogance of power, and self-indulgence? And now it’s yours. You took it back. Your representatives are sitting there again, the representatives of all Hungarians.
This wonderful day, this story, was not written by us, the representatives. It was not written in party headquarters. It was not made by background people, nor by propaganda machines. You wrote it. With work, patriotism, hope, worry, determination and serenity.
This is your regime change, your homeland, your Parliament, and we thank you for that.
You were the ones who have now set an example to the world that there is no need to be afraid, that you can get up and start it. You have shown the world that although the galley is above and the river of water is below, the water is the master.
Every continent of the world has watched and continues to observe with amazement and envy the miracle that the Hungarian people have accomplished and are performing. A world has learned to say that the Tisza is flooding.
The Tisza is flooding.
Well, today, my dear compatriots, every freedom-loving person in the world would like to be a little bit Hungarian.
My compatriots!
For years, they wanted to teach us that there are no miracles. They wanted to teach me that war is peace, that freedom is slavery, that ignorance is power. That those who think differently are less Hungarian, less valuable, less part of this beautiful homeland.
But did you succeed? No!
You have taught the country and the world the opposite, just the opposite. That the most evil despotism is defeated by the most ordinary flesh-and-blood people. That against the machinery of power, we do not need another power machine, but flesh-and-blood people who are capable of anything for their country, their neighbours, their relatives and their community, from mailbox to mailbox, from house to house, in winter, frost and rain.
There is no greater force than this.
It will be taught in history books that light conquers darkness, love conquers hate, honesty conquers evil.
Dear friends,
You, tens and hundreds of thousands, have shown the more beautiful and humane face of Hungary. This Hungary wants to do something, this Hungary is cheerful and cheerful. This Hungary knows nothing impossible.
Dear compatriots,
Today is a day of celebration. We would like to be grateful for what we have received from the Hungarian people in recent years, months and weeks. How you came with us on the road, how you helped us up when we fell, how you believed in us even when no one had done it before. That you gave this wonderful homeland a chance to be a happy, free, functional and humane home again.
I promise you that we will always, always remember this. We will always remember the power of the freedom-loving, patriotic Hungarian people to change the regime.
Today let’s hug each other, let’s hold each other’s hands. Let us thank each other, strangers and acquaintances, for the opportunity to stand here in this wonderful country, in this wonderful city, in this wonderful square, in front of the most wonderful building in the world.
Thank you.
[Chanting.]
My friends!
In the past two years, I have visited more than seven hundred settlements in Hungary. I met countless people. I don’t have the opportunity to thank everyone individually, so I would like to send a message to everyone who shook hands with me, asked me a question, took a photo with me, hugged me, prayed, encouraged me that I will never, ever forget you.
What you taught me about Hungary in Tarnazsadány, Komló, Püspökladány, Ózd, Gyula and all over the country, what I received and learned from you, I will take with me for life. You have changed not only the country, but also me.
Thank you!
I learned from you that one of the most important tasks in the coming years will be to learn to see ourselves as a community again.
Therefore, I ask you to turn to our compatriots who are disappointed today, who are afraid, who experience this period as a loss. You don’t want to defeat them, you don’t want to humiliate them. Listen to them. Talk to them. Tell them that this country is theirs, because it belongs to everyone, that they are also needed. After all, everyone is needed.
And that we will rebuild Hungary together, together, because there is no right, no left, only Hungarian.
[Chanting.]
And please, please, turn to those who are destitute, who are lonely, who have lost their faith, who feel that no one can see them anymore. Because the real strength of a country is not measured by the number of parliamentary mandates of the victors, but by how we treat the most vulnerable people. And no one knows this better than you.
Many people congratulate me. But they know me well: now the work really begins.
Now is the time to build communities, to talk, to debate, to help each other, and to learn again and show each other that politics can be a decent, humane, brave, honest, beautiful and useful thing.
If now, God forbid, you regret it and go home, then politics will be left alone again. And without you, we do not want to govern and we will not govern.
Dear compatriots, we will represent all Hungarians, but we also need you to do this.
I ask you to continue to form islands and organize local communities. Get to know each other. Be curious about each other. And be curious about Hungary.
(We would like to ask for a doctor. On the director’s left, at the Rákóczi statue, people are waving at the statue. I ask the organizers to go there.)
Be curious about each other. And be curious about Hungary. Because this country is full of wonders, full of fantastic people. This wonderful country is not a land of hatred, not a land of fear, not a land of hopelessness. Hungary is a home of talented, free, brave and honest people.
My compatriots, Hungarians!
I would like to ask you to keep something from this day. Preserve this serenity, this openness, this love. Because this is what Hungary will need most in the years ahead.
Take it, take this day as a memory. Remember this day for the rest of your life. Remember what Hungary looked like today.
Maybe one day you will show your children and grandchildren that this is what the first day of a free, democratic Hungary was like in 2006.
(We would like to show you a little girl who lost her parents. Come up for a moment. Please help him. Got it? Here’s a little girl. What is his name? It’s there, sorry.
Here in front of me, over there. The lady raises her hand. A child was lost there. So if someone is looking for their child, please come there.)
So I ask you to take this day as a memory.
And once again, allow us to thank you. We thank you for your trust, for the amazing amount of work. We thank you for the prayers, kindness and encouragement, and thank you for the many, many kind words and love we have received.
And I ask you, all Hungarians, to celebrate now. I ask you to hug each other, to sing, to laugh, because it has been a very, very long and often bumpy road to get here, but today we are finally allowed to rejoice, and there is something to be happy about.
So let’s be happy and finally have a dance.
[Chanting.]
Let him go. Allow me to say goodbye and wish everyone a very good, peaceful, serene fun here and throughout the country.
Thank you for being with us.
God bless a free Hungary. God bless all Hungarians at home and around the world.
The homeland comes before everything.
Editor’s notes
The above text is partly based on a live word and partly based on a video recording and was translated to English from Hungarian, so there may be mistakes in it. We apologize for that!
The (parenthetical texts) were spoken during the speech, and although they were not part of the original speech, as Péter Magyar was reflecting on the events that took place there and then, we who were present felt that it perfectly expressed the personality of the new prime minister that he interrupted his speech once to help doctors get to a patient, and secondly, to help a lost child get back to his parents.
We thought we would indicate that they are not part of the written speech, but they still fit organically into the speech.