Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has announced he will amend the country's constitution to remove President Tamás Sulyok after the president refused to resign by a May 31 deadline. Magyar met Sulyok at Budapest's Sándor Palace on Monday morning, but the talks ended without agreement. Emerging from the meeting, Magyar told reporters he would instruct lawmakers from his Tisza party to begin the "necessary procedures" immediately, a process he estimated would take around a month.

Magyar and his Tisza party swept to power in April with a landslide election victory that ended Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule. Crucially, Tisza secured a two-thirds majority in parliament — the threshold required to amend Hungary's constitution — giving the new government sweeping powers to dismantle institutional structures built under Orbán. Sulyok was installed as president in February 2024 by Orbán's Fidesz party, without a direct public election, following the resignation of his predecessor over a child sex abuse scandal. His term is formally set to run until 2029. Magyar has repeatedly called Sulyok "Orbán's puppet," accusing him of failing to defend democratic norms, including not speaking out when the previous government passed legislation banning LGBTQ+ Pride events or when Orbán made what Magyar described as dehumanising statements about political opponents.

While the Hungarian presidency is largely ceremonial, it carries meaningful practical powers: the president signs legislation into law and can refer bills passed by parliament to the constitutional court for review. Supporters of the new government have expressed concern that Sulyok could use this power to obstruct Magyar's reform agenda. The president has shown little intention of stepping aside quietly. Sulyok warned on Monday that the stand-off "deepens social divisions and damages the international judgement of Hungarian democracy," and suggested it could jeopardise the unlocking of EU funds — though Brussels last week signalled that up to €16.4 billion could soon flow to Budapest following reforms by the new government.

Orbán's Fidesz party has condemned Magyar's approach as an "unlawful ultimatum," with Fidesz caucus leader Gergely Gulyás arguing that "in a constitutional democracy, it is not conceivable that a president is forcibly removed before his term of office ends." Sulyok's office has also requested a legal assessment of the dispute from the Venice Commission, a body of constitutional law experts attached to the Council of Europe, Europe's leading human rights organisation.

The confrontation reflects a broader purge that Magyar has signalled since his election campaign. He has indicated the constitutional change would target not only Sulyok but all officials he characterises as holdovers from the Orbán system who "contributed to the dismantling of democracy." Separately, Tisza has already proposed a constitutional amendment limiting any future prime minister to eight years in office — a direct measure aimed at preventing Orbán from returning to power.