The deal hinges on a series of anti-corruption and rule-of-law reforms, with an ambitious deadline of August.
The European Commission has shown its political will. “We can already feel a strong wind of change across Hungary,” Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said at the press conference with Magyar.
No rest for the new government
Indeed, the wind seems to be blowing in a very different direction than what Hungarians are used to after 16 years of Fidesz rule. The new parliament is unlike any the country has ever seen.
Women hold 55 of the 199 seats – that's 27.6%, more than ever before and more than the formerly ruling Fidesz-KDNP bloc, which is now reduced to 52 seats.
In the government, women hold a quarter of ministerial posts (in the last administration there were none) and a third of state secretary positions.
One of the two deputy prime ministers, who is also the foreign minister, is a woman; so are the speaker of parliament and all three government spokespersons.
The family minister is Vilmos Kátai-Németh, a blind member of parliament who has become Hungary's first minister with a visual impairment.
Independent press is now invited to regular press conferences, the EU flag hangs from the parliament again, and Fidesz' notorious propaganda posters have vanished from the streets.
The six-year state of emergency – which had allowed Viktor Orbán's previous government to rule by decree since the Covid-19 pandemic – was terminated.
The government also submitted a constitutional amendment to cap prime ministers' term at eight years, effectively barring Orbán from coming back.
Don't pop the champagne yet
To get the EU funding, Magyar's government will have to keep up the pace: it'll have to join the European Public Prosecutor's Office, revise public procurement laws, and unwind the system through which Orbán gave control over public institutions to political loyalists.
Once it's released, Magyar wants to spend the money on health, transport, the energy grid, and education – areas underfunded by Orbán.
The deal matters domestically as much as diplomatically. A major post-election polling study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) found that three-quarters of Magyar's voters expected the frozen funds to be released.
Voters' top concerns were the cost of living, public services, corruption, and jobs, precisely the sectors Magyar has said the money will fund. EU relations ranked fifth.
The same poll found most Hungarians oppose halting Russian energy imports (on which the country depends), while only 30% would support it.
Ukraine is more divisive still. A majority still oppose unblocking Ukraine's EU membership negotiations, and an even bigger majority oppose Hungarian financial and military contributions to Ukraine's war effort, both among the general population and Magyar's voters.
During his campaign, Magyar pledged to hold a binding referendum on Ukrainian EU membership (which is, in fairness, still far in the future). ECFR researchers said this move means Magyar tied his own hands on one of Europe's most consequential decisions.
A “no” vote to Ukraine's EU membership bid would risk a fresh collision with Brussels.