Overview
- President Tamás Sulyok signed the 17th constitutional amendment after days of hesitation, a step confirmed by the government that makes his office vacant from the coming Monday.
- Parliamentary speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer will assume presidential powers temporarily and the National Assembly has 30 days to elect a new president.
- The amendment enacts an age cap of 70 for constitutional court judges and sets a future limit of 12 years for parliamentary mandates beginning in 2030, measures that will force several senior officials out of their posts.
- Prime Minister Péter Magyar says the changes clear space to create a new constitution and to set up an agency to recover state assets that the government says were lost under the previous era.
- The moves boost Magyar’s approval in polls but draw sharp criticism from Fidesz, legal experts and Amnesty International, who warn the process risks creating dangerous precedents and question whether all legal safeguards were observed.