Hungary’s incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar (L) speaks with his brother-in-law and Hungarian politician Márton Melléthei-Barna during his swearing-in ceremony at the Hungarian parliament in Budapest on May 9, 2026.
ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP
The Hungarian PM himself has submitted an amendment to the amendment to the Basic Law sumbitted to parliament by his brother-in-law.
The Tisza Party has announced that a proposed amendment to Hungary’s Basic Law will be modified so as not to include the removing of the sentence “It is the duty of all bodies of the state to protect constitutional self-identity and Christian culture.”
The backtracking comes after opposition Fidesz harshly criticized the proposed modification and more than 40,000 thousand signatures were collected against the move.
Hungary’s recently inducted new prime minister, Péter Magyar had already pledged during the election campaign that his party would scrap the Sovereignty Protection Office, set up by the previous conservative administration to counter the activities of foreign actors jeopardizing national sovereignty. Beside a separate law creating the office, the sentence “An independent body established by cardinal law operates to protect constitutional self-identity” was added to a paragraph of Hungary’s constitution that says “The protection of Hungary’s constitutional self-identity and Christian culture is the duty of all state bodies.”
The original Tisza amendment proposal, submitted by Tisza politician Márton Melléthei-Barna would have scrapped the entire paragraph. Now an amendment to the proposed amendment will be submitted by none other than the prime minister.
Melléthei-Barna is Péter Magyar’s brother-in-law who was nominated justice minister by the PM, but following widespread backlash Melléthei-Barna ‘decided’ not to accept the nomination.
The Sovereignty Protection Office, created in 2024, has come under fire for its extensive powers and its alleged “blank cheque” to label civil organizations and critical-of-the-government media as threats to Hungary’s national sovereignty.
