BUDAPEST, July 13 — The shift in Hungary’s constitutional architecture is accelerating, and the latest amendment tells you everything about where power is consolidating. On February 26, 2024, parliament passed the 13th amendment to the country’s 2011 constitution, and this one rewrites the rules on presidential accountability. The original document, drafted by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party and effective January 1, 2012, set a straightforward framework.
The president serves a five-year term, renewable once. Removal was possible only through impeachment or resignation.
That was the baseline. The new amendment changes the calculus entirely. Parliament can now remove a president by a two-thirds vote for any reason.
That is a significant expansion of legislative power. The constitution itself replaced the 1949 constitution, and since taking effect in 2012, it has been amended over 12 times.
Those amendments have touched the electoral system, judicial appointments, and media regulation.
The mechanics of the change
What’s changing is the balance between branches. Under the original 2011 text, the president had a guaranteed term unless impeached for a specific offense or they resigned. That created a degree of independence.
The new provision removes that guarantee, substituting it with a parliamentary vote threshold. Since Fidesz first wrote the constitution, each amendment cycle has moved power toward the parliamentary majority.
The February 2024 amendment is the most direct yet, because it targets the presidency itself. For context, the constitution was adopted in 2011 and came into force on January 1, 2012. It was drafted entirely by Fidesz under Orbán.
That original document set the five-year term and the impeachment-only removal clause. The 13th amendment erases that clause.
What comes next
The immediate consequence is that any future president serves at the discretion of the two-thirds majority in parliament. The practical effect is that the presidency loses its structural independence. What’s next?
The amendment passed on February 26, 2024, is now part of the constitutional text. The removal mechanism no longer requires a specific legal violation—just a political vote.
This is the pattern. Each amendment since 2012 has shifted the institutional landscape. The electoral system was changed.
Judicial appointments were restructured. Media regulation was tightened.
Now the presidency is on the same trajectory. The shift is worth watching because it changes the fundamental relationship between the executive and legislative branches in Hungary. The presidency was the last office with a fixed-term guarantee.
That guarantee is gone.
