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Katalin Novák

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The native form of this personal name is Veresné Novák Katalin Éva. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Katalin Novák
Novák in 2023
6th President of Hungary
In office
10 May 2022 – 26 February 2024
Prime MinisterViktor Orbán
Preceded byJános Áder
Succeeded byTamás Sulyok
Minister for Family Affairs
In office
1 October 2020 – 31 December 2021
Prime MinisterViktor Orbán
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of the National Assembly
In office
8 May 2018 – 1 May 2022
Personal details
Born
Katalin Éva Novák

(1977-09-06) 6 September 1977 (age 47)
Szeged, Hungary
Political partyFidesz
SpouseIstván Veres
Children3
EducationCorvinus University of Budapest (MSc)
University of Szeged (JD)

Katalin Éva Veresné Novák[1] (Hungarian: [ˈkɒtɒlin ˈnovaːk], born 6 September 1977) is a Hungarian politician who served as president of Hungary from 2022 to 2024. Elected at the age of 44, she was the first woman and youngest person ever to hold the post. Prior to her presidency, she had been a member of the National Assembly for Fidesz from 2018 to 2022, during which time she had also served as Minister for Family Affairs in the fourth Orbán government, from 2020 to 2021.

In early 2024, Novák became embroiled in—and eventually resigned due to—a scandal involving her April 2023 presidential pardon of Endre Kónya, a former deputy director of an orphanage in Bicske who had been imprisoned due to his involvement in a pedophilia case implicating the orphanage's director.[2]

Education

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After completing her secondary education at the Ságvári Endre Secondary School [hu] at Szeged in 1996, Novák studied economics at the Corvinus University of Budapest and law at the University of Szeged. While a student, she also studied abroad at the Paris Nanterre University. In addition to her native Hungarian, Novák speaks French, English, German, and Spanish.[3][4]

Political career

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Novák with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasília, 20 June 2022

Novák began working at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2001, specializing in European Union and European matters. In 2010, she became a ministerial advisor. and was appointed Head of Cabinet of the Ministry of Human Resources in 2012.[3]

In 2014 she became State Secretary for Family and Youth Affairs at the Ministry of Human Capacities, eventually becoming Minister of Family Affairs in October 2020. She held this position until December 2021.

She served as Vice President of Fidesz between 2017 and 2021.[5]

On 21 December 2021, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that Novák would be Fidesz's nominee in the 2022 presidential election.[6] On 10 March 2022, she won gaining 137 out of 188 votes in the National Assembly.[7] Novák is the first woman to hold the office of president in its history.

Presidency

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Novák with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome, 31 January 2023
Novák with North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski in Skopje, 6 February 2023
Novák with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, 5 November 2023

In April 2023, the National Assembly passed a bill enabling and encouraging citizens to report same-sex couples who raise children to the state authorities, such as police and child protection.[8] Novák vetoed the bill, and formally prevented it from becoming enacted into law.[9] In May 2022, she condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[10]

In the context of the 2023 Israel-Gaza war, she condemned Hamas' attack on Israel and expressed her support for the latter's right to self-defence. On 5 November 2023, Novák visited Israel to express solidarity with the country.[11]

Pardon affair and resignation

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Further information: Katalin Novák presidential pardon scandal

In April 2023, prior to and in commemoration of Pope Francis's pastoral visit to Hungary, Novák issued a series of presidential pardons, including that of far-right activist and domestic terrorist György Budaházy[12] and Endre Kónya. Kónya had been the deputy director of an orphanage in Bicske who had been convicted of covering up the director's molesting of children at the institution. When Kónya's pardon—later thought to have been issued under pressure from Zoltán Balog, Novák's erstwhile mentor and synodal president of the Hungarian Reformed Church[13]—was made public on 2 February 2024, national controversy ensued, becoming known as the "pardon affair" (Hungarian: kegyelmi ügy).[14] Protests erupted in Budapest demanding Novák's resignation,[15] with commentators viewing the scandal as especially damaging to Fidesz's credibility as a defender of traditional family values.

On 9 February, Novák cut short her attendance at the World Water Polo Championships in Qatar and flew home to Budapest, where she announced her resignation shortly after arriving on 10 February.[16] In her resignation address, she also apologized to Kónya's victims.[17] Judit Varga, who was serving as Minister of Justice in 2023 and had countersigned the pardon, also resigned as a member of parliament and withdrew her candidacy for member of the European Parliament in the 2024 election.[18][19][17][20][21] In response, Orbán said that he would introduce a constitutional amendment to bar convicted child abusers from receiving clemency.[22] As part of continued fallout from the scandal, Balog resigned from the synodal presidency of the Hungarian Reformed Church on 16 February 2024.[23]

The National Assembly formally accepted, and thus made Novák's resignation effective, on 26 February 2024.[24][25] She was succeeded in an acting capacity by speaker of the National Assembly László Kövér.[26] She was the second head of state to resign in Hungary's post-communist history after Pál Schmitt, who did so in the wake of a plagiarism scandal in 2012.[27]

Personal life

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Novák is married and has three children. Her husband is economist István Veres, director of the Financial Market and Foreign Exchange Market Directorate at the Hungarian National Bank (MNB).[28] She is a Reformed Christian.[29]

Novák is firmly committed to opposing what she calls "gender ideology". She supported a constitutional reform in 2020 to strengthen the ban on adoption by same-sex couples by stating that "the mother is a woman, the father is a man".  The amendments also stipulate that single people will only be able to adopt with the express authorization of the minister, to prevent homosexuals from circumventing the ban. In a video published in 2020, she argues that "women must not always compete with men", or "constantly compare themselves with men by having a similar position and salary to them".[30]

Honours and awards

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Domestic

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Foreign

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Dynastic

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References

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  1. ^ "EMMI vezetők elérhetősége" (PDF). Magyarország Kormánya (in Hungarian). p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  2. ^ Mizsur, András; Pál, Tamás (10 February 2024). "Lemondott Novák Katalin". Telex (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Biography" (PDF). Parliament. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  4. ^ Horowitz, Jason; Povoledo, Elisabetta (28 April 2023). "Pope Returns to Hungary, to Delight of Viktor Orban". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  5. ^ Csuhaj, Ildikó (5 October 2021). "Novák Katalin bejelentette: Nem indul a Fidesz alelnöki posztjáért". ATV (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  6. ^ Tóth-Szenesi, Attila (21 December 2021). "Novák Katalin lesz a Fidesz államfőjelöltje". Telex (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  7. ^ "'Nejdůležitější jsou pro mě rodiny a děti.' Maďarsko má novou prezidentku Katalin Novákovou". iROZHLAS (in Czech). 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  8. ^ Gulyas, Veronika; Kasnyik, Marton (13 April 2023). "Hungary's New Law Lets Locals Report on Same-Sex Families". Bloomberg News.
  9. ^ Kijewski, Leonie (22 April 2023). "Hungarian president vetoes anti-LGBTQ law". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Hungary's new president condemns Putin's 'aggression', plans trip to Warsaw". Reuters. 14 May 2022. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  11. ^ "President Novák Meets Israeli Counterpart in Tel-Aviv on a Solidarity Visit". Hungary Today. 6 November 2023. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Kegyelmet adott Budaházy Györgynek Novák Katalin a pápára hivatkozva". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). 27 April 2023. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  13. ^ Panyi, Szabolcs; Sarkadi, Zsolt (11 February 2024). "Fideszes körökben Balog Zoltán püspököt, korábbi minisztert sejtik a Novák bukását hozó kegyelmi döntés mögött". Telex. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  14. ^ Előd, Fruzsina (7 February 2024). "Novák Katalin kegyelmi botránya mutatja igazán, mekkora tétje van a fél sajtó propagandává silányításának". Telex. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Több ezres tömeg követeli Novák Katalin köztársasági elnök lemondását a fővárosban", YouTube (in Hungarian), Euronews, retrieved 10 February 2024
  16. ^ "Hungarian President Novak resigns over child sexual abuse pardon". France 24. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  17. ^ a b Thorpe, Nick (10 February 2024). "Hungarian President Katalin Novak resigns over child abuse pardon scandal". BBC. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Novák Katalin kegyelmet adott a bicskei gyerekotthon egykori igazgatóhelyettesének, aki fedezte a pedofil exigazgatót". Telex (in Hungarian). 2 February 2024. Archived from the original on 2 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  19. ^ Than, Krisztina; Gyori, Boldizsar (10 February 2024). "Hungarian president resigns over sex abuse case pardon". Reuters. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  20. ^ Mizsur, András; Pál, Tamás (10 February 2024). "Lemondott Novák Katalin". Telex. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  21. ^ Hernandez-Morales, Aitor; Lau, Stuart (10 February 2024). "Hungary President Novak quits under pressure over sex-abuse pardon case". Politico. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  22. ^ "Hungary's President Katalin Novak resigns". Al Jazeera. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  23. ^ Molnár, Réka (16 February 2024). "Balog Zoltán lemondott a zsinati elnöki posztról". Telex. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Hungary's President Katalin Novak resigns". Al Jazeera. 10 February 2024. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Elfogadta a parlament Novák Katalin köztársasági elnök lemondását". Infostart (in Hungarian). 26 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  26. ^ "2011. évi CX. törvény a köztársasági elnök jogállásáról és javadalmazásáról". njt.hu (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  27. ^ "Mi jön Novák lemondása után?". HVG. 10 February 2024.
  28. ^ "The President's husband – Hungary gets its first ever first gentleman". Telex. 12 May 2022. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Curriculum Vitae". Republic of Hungary. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  30. ^ Gall, Lydia (17 December 2020). "Hungary's Family Minister Undermines Equality for Women". hrw.org. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  31. ^ a b Lajos, Csordás (8 May 2014). "A zöld szárú kereszt lovagjai" (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 11 May 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  32. ^ Gauquelin, Blaise (31 January 2019). "Une proche d'Orban reçoit la Légion d'honneur" [Orban's friend receives the Legion of Honour]. Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  33. ^ "Nadanie orderów" [Giving orders]. Prawo.pl (in Polish). 14 January 2020 [4 October 2019]. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  34. ^ "President Novák meets Portuguese counterpart in Lisbon". About Hungary. 24 February 2023. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
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Political offices
New office Minister for Family Affairs
2020–2021 		Office abolished
Preceded by President of Hungary
2022–2024 		Succeeded by
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