{"id":3376,"date":"2026-05-19T21:20:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T01:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vr-news.net\/?p=3376"},"modified":"2026-05-19T21:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T01:20:53","slug":"ode-to-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vr-news.net\/?p=3376","title":{"rendered":"Ode To Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a triumphal move back toward democratic rule, Hungary’s new leader P\u00e9ter Magyar took his oath of office Saturday in a “regime-change” ceremony rich with symbolism before thousands of jubilant constituents. The sense of a hopeful new political era resonated in Magyar’s tribute to a victory for “ordinary, flesh-and-blood people” – and in the gleeful moves and air guitar of unstoppable “dancing machine” and new Health Minister Zsolt Heged\u0171s. Lookit this guy boogie. Damn, we can’t wait. <\/p>\n

The day’s celebration” marked<\/a> Magya’s stunning defeat last month of authoritarian Viktor Orb\u00e1n after 16 years in power. A 45-year-old lawyer who founded the center-right Tisza party in 2024, Magyar won a two-thirds majority over <\/a> Orb\u00e1n\u2019s nationalist Fidesz party, which will allow him to roll back many of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s policies. Tisza now controls 141 seats in the 199-seat Parliament, with over a quarter held by women; Fidesz won 52 seats, down from 135, and far-right Mi Haz\u00e1nk (Our Homeland) took six. Magyar has vowed to restore democratic institutions, clamp down on corruption, repair ties with the EU, where Orb\u00e1n often vetoed key decisions including support for Ukraine, and unlock about $20 billion of EU funds to help jump-start Hungary’s struggling economy, <\/p>\n

Magya was sworn in at the sprawling Parliament building as tens of thousands of Hungarians gathered outside in Kossuth Square. Marking the sea change his victory represents, the EU flag flew for the first time since Orb\u00e1n\u2019 removed it in 2014, and the Beethoven-inspired European anthem Ode to Joy, <\/em>symbolizing peace and solidarity, rang out. “Today, every freedom-loving person in the world would like to be Hungarian a little,” Magya told the crowd in a message aimed at healing the deep divisions of Orb\u00e1n’s rule. “You have taught (the) world that the most ordinary, flesh-and-blood people can defeat the most vicious tyranny…Today is the fulfillment of a long journey made together (to) once again be a common homeland for all Hungarians.” <\/p>\n

As the party went all day and into the night – when Magyar took on DJ duties –<\/a> the high point of its joy and fervor may have come after Magyar’s speech when Zsolt Heged\u0171s, unable to restrain himself, broke out into dancing <\/a>as the singer Jalja began performing The Hanging Tree: “<\/em>Strange things have happened here.” Hungary’s new 56-year-old Health Minister and an internationally recognised orthopaedic surgeon who spent 10 years working for the UK’s NHS, Heged\u0171s had already gone viral <\/a>last month when, on stage after Magyar’s landslide victory, he busted out <\/a>some fiery dance moves and air guitar in his excitement. This time, he said<\/a> he wasn’t planning a repeat performance. Then the music started…And 140 Party members joined in.<\/p>\n

“I could see the audience had been waiting for this,” he said. “I didn\u2019t want to let down the people.\u201d So off he went, delighting <\/a>everyone (except, possibly, his kids if he has any) with his slick moves. The next day, he ascribed it all to his “emotional roller-coaster” since Magyar’s victory, with his chance to repair Hungary’s health care system, take down Orb\u00e1n’s hate-mongering propaganda<\/a>, urge people to focus on their mental health. “It’s not that I’m going to start dancing in Parliament, but I want (to) encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle…Go outside, dance, be together,” he said. “The weight has begun to lift from people\u2019s shoulders.” America, weary, ravaged, hungry for peace, just imagine the miracle of it. And for now enjoy his glee. <\/p>\n