Magyar has a parliamentary supermajority. But the reforms must be drafted, enacted and survive legal challenges. Key posts — including the presidency, the head of the constitutional court and the prosecutor general — remain occupied by Orbán loyalists who could obstruct reforms.
Trying to remove them could trigger a constitutional crisis, said John Morijn, professor of law and politics in international relations at the University of Groningen.
“It’s extremely difficult to restore the rule of law without breaking the law,” Morijn said. Removing court leaders would be “a very draconian thing to do,” he added. “He would be breaking the constitution as well, and the Commission does not want to be associated with that. You would face a constitutional crisis.”
Magyar has acknowledged some limits. After saying he would submit Hungary’s intention to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, he added: “We cannot accept proposals for amendments that might conflict with the Hungarian constitutional system. I think that the European Commission will understand this.”
Poland is also weighing on Brussels.
After Donald Tusk came to power in Poland’s 2023 election, the Commission unfroze more than €100 billion after Warsaw submitted a judicial reform plan and took initial steps to rebuild trust. But President Karol Nawrocki, loyal to the Law and Justice party, later blocked key reforms, fueling criticism that the Commission had released funds on promises rather than actual changes.