Hungary ends state of emergency imposed during pandemic, Ukraine war

Hungary’s emergency governance framework, first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and later extended under wartime provisions following the war in Ukraine, officially ended Thursday after years of rule by decree.

“As of today, after four years, the wartime state of emergency in Hungary is ending,” Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on US social media company X.

“We are returning to normality,” he added, saying the move also ends the decree-based emergency rule introduced under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The broader special legal framework allowed the government to rule by decree for several years, with more than 170 emergency-related decrees issued in connection with the war in neighboring Ukraine, according to local media.

The system was initially introduced in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic and was later extended in 2022 after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Orban declared a wartime state of emergency in May 2022, shortly after forming his fifth government, citing security and humanitarian risks stemming from the conflict.

Magyar’s Tisza Party defeated Orban in the April 12 parliamentary elections, ending his 16-year rule and leading to a political transition in the country.