Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has declared a state of emergency in his country because of the war in neighboring Ukraine.
The rule was due to come into effect at midnight on Wednesday.
The right-wing politician announced this in a video on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
The state of emergency allows Orbán to repeal current laws and take coercive measures by decree.
"The world is on the brink of an economic crisis," said the right-wing nationalist head of government on his Facebook page.
"Hungary must stay out of this war and protect the financial security of its families." This requires "flexibility and immediate action".
Orbán had had the constitutional basis for this type of emergency created in parliament just a few hours earlier.
With the two-thirds majority of the right-wing nationalist Fidesz party, the parliament approved the corresponding constitutional amendment.
According to this, the government can declare a state of emergency if a neighboring country is affected by armed conflict, war or a humanitarian disaster.
Ukraine, against which Russia has been waging a war of aggression for three months, is one of Hungary's neighbors.
Orbán has only half-heartedly condemned Moscow's aggression.
He does not allow arms deliveries to Ukraine to pass through his country.
Only a fraction of the Ukrainian refugees who have come to Hungary to date have applied for asylum there.
In the EU, Orbán blocked the planned oil import embargo against Russia with a veto threat.
The corona emergency will also apply in Hungary until the end of the month.
Orbán imposed it at the beginning of the corona pandemic in spring 2020, and since then parliament has extended it several times.
The power-conscious head of government, who has been in office since 2010, also used it for purposes that could hardly be justified by dealing with the health situation.
These included measures to financially damage opposition-governed communities or to give advantages to pro-government businessmen.