Fidesz-Backed Andras Baka Secures Presidency in Secret Ballot

Budapest – The Hungarian Parliament confirmed former Supreme Court head Andras Baka as the nation’s president after a secret ballot on Tuesday, August 11. The 73‑year‑old jurist was the only contender and amassed 140 votes, a result made possible by the ruling Fidesz party’s two‑thirds parliamentary majority, which required no opposition support. Hungarian legislation mandates that a presidential candidate must enjoy the endorsement of at least 40 lawmakers, a threshold Baka comfortably surpassed. Baka’s distinguished record features service as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights from 1991 to 2008 and his appointment as President of the Hungarian Supreme Court in 2009, a position that ended abruptly after 2011 judicial reforms introduced by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s administration. Since then, he has continued to sit on Hungary’s highest courts. The current acting president, speaker Agnes Forsyth Hofer, will remain in office until the newly elected president assumes duties, as the constitution requires a new election within 30 days of a vacancy. Fidesz leader Andrej Buzdosó had called for the presidential election to be placed on the agenda of the special parliamentary session scheduled for August 10‑11, and the vote accordingly took place on August 11. Prime Minister Peter Magyár met Baka shortly after the election, lauding his expertise in European legal frameworks and indicating that the two will engage in extensive discussions, although detailed plans were not publicized.