HUNGARY’S INCOMING PRIME minister Peter Magyar has vowed to shut down his country’s public service broadcaster until he can “ensure it is impartial”.

Magyar brought an end to the 16-year rule of Viktor Orban following an election on Sunday.

Magyar said the new Hungarian parliament could convene as early as May 4.

He has vowed that one of the first measures his Tisza party would take is to “suspend public media news services until we can ensure the conditions for objective, impartial reporting”.

When Orban took office in 2010, Hungary’s media underwent a radical overhaul, with international observers indicating public media outlets had become a mouthpiece for his government.

“The manufacture of lies will end once the government has been formed,” Magyar told M1 public television, saying he would suspend the news service “until press freedom is restored.”

Magyar earlier had given a series of tense interviews hosted by what he described as “propaganda media”.

These interviews, on both radio and TV, were marked by sharp exchanges and interruptions.

And in an appearance on Hungary’s national broadcaster MTVA, Magyar’s first in 18 months, Magyar said that the “fake news broadcast here must stop”.

At one point in the interview, Magyar said: “In this studio, it has been said several times that my minor children do not speak to me – while they live with me.”

Long unofficially banned from appearing on state TV, incoming Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar appears on a channel to which he was previously not allowed only to announce an end of "North Korean" style Orban media monopoly. pic.twitter.com/eRBlQX2I3F

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) April 15, 2026

He added: “What has been happening here since 2010 is something that Goebbels or the North Korean leadership would admire – not a single true word being spoken. This cannot continue.”

Magyar later told a press conference earlier this week that “one of the first measures the Tisza government will take is to suspend public media news services until we can ensure the conditions for objective, impartial reporting”.

Hungary's new Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar said his government would suspend state media broadcasts until they adhered to 'objective and impartial reporting', as he slammed the public media of being a mouthpiece of outgoing prime minister Viktor Orban https://t.co/ecZEDrkY7D pic.twitter.com/jTx9k6LkWW

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 15, 2026

He said this would be done on a “parity basis” by “bringing together all parliamentary parties or other leaders to form a committee that ensures objective and impartial news reporting”.

Magyar said he will “create independent, objective and impartial conditions” which will rival or “exceed” BBC standards.

He added that this will enable opposition politicians under his government to “appear on broadcasts to express their views and engage in debate”.