The resignation of Hungary’s first female president: What happened and why it matters
On February 10, 2024, Katalin Novak announced her resignation as the president of Hungary, amid a public outcry over a pardon she granted to a man convicted of covering up sexual abuse in a state-run children’s home. Novak was the first woman to hold the presidency of Hungary since 2022, and a close ally of the conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has been in power since 2010.
The scandal that led to her resignation erupted after the names of 25 people pardoned by Novak in April 2023, on the occasion of Pope Francis’s visit to Hungary, were revealed by the Hungarian media the week before her resignation. Among the pardoned was the deputy director of a children’s home near Budapest, who had been sentenced to three years in prison for forcing children to retract their accusations of abuse against the director of the home. The director of the home had himself been sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing several children under his care.
The presidential pardon sparked outrage from the opposition, civil society, and the victims, who demanded the resignation of Novak and the former justice minister Judit Varga, who had approved the pardon. Protests took place in Budapest and other cities across the country to call for the president’s departure and the end of impunity for pedophile crimes.
Novak announced her resignation in a televised address, in which she apologized and admitted to having made a mistake in granting the pardon. She claimed that she believed that the convicted man had not exploited the vulnerability of the children under his supervision, and that she did not intend to question the zero tolerance towards pedophilia.
Her resignation was a blow for Orban’s government, which has made the defense of traditional family values the pillar of its social policy, and which is in conflict with the European Union over the respect of the rule of law and fundamental rights. To try to limit the political damage, Orban proposed a constitutional amendment to parliament, aiming to deprive the president of the right to pardon crimes committed against children.
Hungary also faces the suspension of billions of euros of European funds intended for economic recovery and regional development, due to Brussels’ concerns over the management and transparency of these funds.
The resignation of Novak opened an institutional crisis in Hungary, which must elect a new president in the coming months, and which is preparing for the European elections in June 2024, where Orban’s party, Fidesz, is the favorite in the polls.
