BUDAPEST, Hungary: Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on June 1, after meeting President Tamas Sulyok, that if the president does not step down, the government will start legal steps to remove him from office.

Magyar's center-right Tisza party won a landslide victory in April, defeating Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and promised to remove several people appointed by Orban to key positions over the past 16 years.

Magyar has asked Sulyok, who was elected in early 2024 by Orban's Fidesz party, to resign, saying he has failed to represent national unity and is serving Orban's interests. However, Sulyok has refused to quit.

Magyar said that if Sulyok does not change his position, he will inform Tisza lawmakers about new legal proposals and begin the removal process immediately.

He added that the process could take about a month and would aim to remove those he described as "puppets" involved in weakening democracy and the rule of law.

Orban's Fidesz party accused Magyar of making an illegal threat and said Sulyok is serving a lawful term until 2029 and cannot be removed.

Sulyok was previously the head of Hungary's top court, a role he also got with Fidesz's support in 2016.

Although the president's role in Hungary is mostly ceremonial, Sulyok can send laws back to parliament or refer them to the Constitutional Court, which could slow down or block Magyar's reforms.

Magyar has said he plans to use his party's two-thirds majority in parliament to change the constitution and other laws to force Sulyok out of office.