After the much-acclaimed election on 12 April of Péter Magyar as the incoming Prime Minister of Hungary (to be sworn in on 9 May 2026), much hope has been placed within the European higher education community into re-establishing a more balanced relationship with the European Union, translated, inter alia, into a swift return to the full participation of Hungarian higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programmes. The latter was limited through an EU decision at the end of 2022 that prevented the use of European funds under both programmes by HEIs overseen by public trust foundations in Hungary (i.e. 21 major universities) (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, January 2023).  

Many of the decisions of Mr Magyar since the election – and particularly his ministerial appointments – have been scrutinised from the lens of a potential reset of relations with Brussels. In this context, Mr Magyar ultimately presented Ms Judit Lannert, an established Hungarian academic, as the country’s next Minister for Children and Education. Ms Lennart currently works as Senior Researcher at the T-Tudok Centre for Knowledge Management and Educational Research, where she also served as Managing Director from 2007 to 2012.  Her research focused on a wide variety of topics, covering public education, equity, student progression, pedagogical attitudes and creative learning, as well as issues related to the internationalisation of Hungarian higher education. 

Ms Lannert obtained her first degree (1985) in economics at the Karl Marx University of Economic Sciences. She earned a Master of Arts degree (1990) in social politics at the Faculty of Humanities of Eötvös Loránd University. And in 2005 she obtained a PhD degree in sociology at the Corvinus University of Budapest.  

The nomination of Ms Lannert—which was announced via a podcast in conversation with Mr Magyar and signalling initial openness to discuss matters in substance—was already positively received by the higher education community. Different support messages highlight Ms Lannert’s background of an established researcher experienced in evidence-based approaches to policymaking.  

On 29 April 2026, Mr Magyar completed the first trip to Brussels as incoming Prime Minister and met Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa. The three officials described the first talks as “constructive”, an overarching political agreement being ambitiously targeted for the end of May 2026, when Mr Magyar is expected to return to Brussels.