On February 10, Hungarian President Katalin Novak suddenly announced his resignation and apologized after deciding to pardon a man convicted of concealing child sexual abuse.
“I made a decision to pardon that made many people confused and unhappy,” Ms. Novak said on television and admitted she had made a “mistake.”
In the immediate future, National Assembly Chairman Laszlo Kover will replace Ms. Novak as interim president.
Protests broke out in Budapest earlier this week over Ms. Novak’s decision to pardon a man convicted of hiding a sexual abuser in an orphanage.
This man was sentenced to 3 years in prison in 2018 for pressuring victims to withdraw accusations against the director of the youth camp – who was sentenced to 8 years in prison for abusing at least 10 children. in the period from 2004-2016.
Ms. Novak issued an amnesty to the above man in April last year, however, this incident only became known to the public recently.
After Ms. Novak’s resignation announcement, Ms. Judit Varga – who approved the amnesty while still serving as Minister of Justice – also announced that she would “retire from politics”.
Previously, on February 9, thousands of protesters gathered outside the Hungarian President’s Office in Budapest to demand Ms. Novak’s resignation.
Ms. Novak is the first woman and youngest person to hold the position of President of Hungary. Before becoming President in 2022, Ms. Novak served as Minister of Family. She is also Vice President of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party and is known to be a strong supporter of traditional family values and child protection.
