Hungary PM’s Euro Pledge to Test Public Appetite for Reform – And His Popularity

Hungary’s new government hasn’t shied away from making symbolic gestures since it was elected on April 12. Flying the EU flag over the Parliament Building, opening up Viktor Orban’s former office to the public and appointing a visually impaired person as social affairs minister all generated big headlines and boosted its popularity. But its pledge to take Hungary into the eurozone will likely require sacrifices that neither the government nor the public is ready for.

“The euro introduction is like a marathon run: you don’t fight your rival, you fight yourself,” is how one expert, speaking on a podcast by Concorde Group, Hungary’s leading investment and private banking company, compared it to recently. “Are you willing to go for a run even in minus degrees in the winter, or would you opt for some mulled wine at home?”

The new government now has the herculean task of convincing the Hungarian people to take up running instead of quaffing wine.

In its governing program , Peter Magyar’s Tisza party clearly formulated its intention to fulfil the conditions for joining the European single currency by 2030, allowing for adoption around 2032-33 at the earliest.

Public trust in the euro is historically high in Hungary at 75 per cent. This is far higher than in Czechia, whose new government has recently decided to no longer even produce its annual report on readiness to adopt the euro given its opposition to joining it, and Poland, where just 46 per cent in a poll last year said they were in favour of joining. In fact, 41 per cent of the Hungarian population would like to adopt the single currency as soon as possible, even though 72 per cent admitted the country is not yet ready to join.

Much of the reason behind such a high level of support can be explained by the decades of macroeconomic and financial mismanagement by successive governments, which has undermined faith in the Hungarian currency, the forint, and led many to associate the euro with rising living standards and a “European way of life”.

However, experts are quick to point out that the euro itself is not a miracle cure for Hungary’s woes. There would be a long road ahead, at least four or five years of preparation and prudent fiscal policies, which could easily and quickly erode public support.

“Hungarian society has always wanted to have the euro – just not the work which is necessary to reach it,” the analysts at Concorde concluded.

Hungarian PM Peter Magyar addresses a press conference following a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 29 May 2026. EPA/OLIVIER MATTHYS

Golden opportunity

Dora Gyorffy, an economics professor at Corvinus University of Budapest, is a longtime advocate of euro adoption. She believes that although the process of joining may be extremely arduous, the Tisza government now has a rare opportunity to put the country on a path to healthy and sustainable economic growth.

“The euro is like a straitjacket for an economy. It is uncomfortable but I believe Hungary needs it,” Gyorffy tells BIRN.

Under the Maastricht criteria, countries wishing to become part of the eurozone need to meet strict conditions . Inflation cannot exceed by 1.5 percentage points the best three data in the eurozone; state debt needs to be under 60 per cent of annual GDP; and the budget deficit should be kept under 3 per cent.

Hungary does not meet any of those criteria. Inflation might be on track at 2.1 per cent, but it is expected to hit 3.2-3.8 per cent by the end of the year; national debt stands at 75 per cent; and the budget deficit is expected to reach around 7 per cent this year.

“The main problem is the [budget] deficit, the others can be managed,” Gyorffy believes.

Hungary runs a structural deficit of 5 per cent, and this year’s 7 per cent is seen as an inheritance of the profligacy of the previous Fidesz government. Reducing it below 3 per cent would take years and require significant spending cuts and possibly tax hikes as well. Yet the Tisza government has promised just the opposite: further tax cuts for average Hungarians and increased spending on health, education, social affairs and transport. A recently floated billionaire tax would not compensate for the extra spending, though by adopting the euro, Hungary – a heavily export-oriented economy – could save up to 1 per cent of GDP currently lost to currency conversion and exchange-rate costs.

“You can always restructure the budget, but the fact is that society has enormous demands for public spending,” Győrffy warns.

The government was quick to reassure voters that it would keep prices for fuels and basic foodstuff capped , as well as maintain Fidesz’s signature low utility price policy for private consumers. All these measures require budgetary compensation. Tisza’s finance minister, Andras Karman, has already acknowledged that many of these capped prices are not compatible with free market rules, but…