Peter Magyar, Prime Minister of Hungary, delivers a speech in the Hungarian Parliament before the agenda in Budapest, June 15, 2026.
(London, June 25, 2026) – The new Hungarian government’s plan to make sweeping changes to key institutions through a rushed 17th amendment to the constitution, risks halting advances to restore the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said today. The plans to remove the country’s president and the head of its constitutional court lack due process safeguards.
If the 17th Amendment is passed, the current term of Hungary’s President Tamás Sulyok would cease the following day. He would be replaced by a new president elected by parliament for a maximum term of five years, or until a new constitution enters force. Prime Minister Péter Magyar has made clear that replacing the sitting president, elected by a Fidesz majority parliament in 2024, is a priority for his government. Sulyok has refused to resign.
“Hungary’s new government has a mandate to set right the damage done to the rule of law during 16 years of Fidesz rule, including reversing its arbitrary stacking of key state institutions with Fidesz loyalists,” said Benjamin Ward, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But restoring the rule of law requires respecting due process and taking time to ensure genuine consultation before enacting sweeping constitutional changes.”
A proposed 17th Amendment to the constitution, published on June 22, 2026, would make wide-ranging changes to Hungary’s government, with the impact of summarily removing the president and the head of the constitutional court. The president can already be impeached under the constitution, although any such process would be conducted by the constitutional court. The government has chosen not to pursue that route and instead to change the constitution to remove the president, Human Rights
