Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has praised Hungary's new president, Tamás Sulyok, as "stable and predictable" who "can give us all peace of mind".
PM Orbán said that having worked with seven Hungarian heads, he had a good idea of “what kind of president is right for which situation”. Following the “troubled” situation surrounding Sulyok’s predecessor, there was now a need for a president “who is stable, calm, predictable [and] well-known”, Orbán said, adding that the new president would best serve Hungary’s interests as his expertise and authority as the former head of the Constitutional Court were “beyond dispute”. The prime minister noted that the opposition could have come forward with their own nomination for the president of the republic, “but they did not take advantage of this opportunity”. Sulyok, he added, had been chosen by Hungarian MPs; and as lawmakers were elected by the people, “the president is elected by the people”. Orbán called Sulyok “a deeply religious, Catholic man” who disregarded “vanity” and saw his post as a service to his country.