11.08.2026 18:41
After the overthrow of Viktor Orban's 16-year rule in Hungary, a historic political rematch took place. Andras Baka, the former judge who was removed from his position as President of the Supreme Court by the Orban government in 2012 and won his case against this decision at the European Court of Human Rights, was elected as Hungary's new president in a parliamentary vote. Baka took office by swearing his oath in a vote boycotted by Orban's Fidesz party.
Tisza government leader Peter Magyar, who ended Viktor Orban's 16-year rule in Hungary, took a historic step with a symbolic move. Andras Baka, a jurist who was unlawfully removed from the position of President of the Supreme Court during former Prime Minister Orban's era and who won a case against the Hungarian state by taking this process to the ECtHR, was elected as the country's new president.
TOOK THE OATH
In the vote held in the Hungarian Parliament, former ECtHR judge Andras Baka, who was the sole candidate nominated for the presidency, was elected president by receiving 'yes' votes from 140 of the 146 members of parliament. In the vote, 6 deputies cast 'no' votes, while the Fidesz party, led by Viktor Orban, which had fallen into opposition, boycotted the session and did not enter the hall. After the vote, Baka took the oath accompanied by the national anthem and officially assumed office.
THE SYMBOL OF THE BREAK FROM THE ORBAN ERA
Born in 1952, Andras Baka served as the first judge of Hungary at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) between 1991 and 2008. Elected as President of the Hungarian Supreme Court in 2009, Baka fiercely opposed the constitutional regulations that put the judiciary under pressure by the Orban government.
Baka, who was removed from his position by the Orban administration in 2012, won the ECtHR case he filed on the grounds of rights violations, setting an important precedent in international law. Baka's rise to office is interpreted as the legal and symbolic end of the 'Orbanization' process in the country.
HE WILL BE THE PRESIDENT OF THE TRANSITION PERIOD
The presidential seat became vacant after the term of the previous president, Tamas Sulyok, an ally of Orban, was prematurely ended in July through a constitutional amendment. Prime Minister Peter Magyar first offered the seat to world-famous chess champion Judit Polgar, but Polgar declined the offer.
Magyar stated that new President Andras Baka will remain in office until the new constitution preparation process, expected to last approximately 1 to 1.5 years, is completed, and will lead the country into the new era.