Hungarian President Katalin Novak resigns | EUROtoday
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“II give up my position. » During a solemn speech this Saturday, February 10, Hungarian President Katalin Novak announced her resignation. This decision follows the general indignation in this central European country caused by its choice to pardon a convict involved in a child crime case. In March 2022, she became the first woman to occupy this essentially ceremonial role.
This close friend of the Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, acknowledges having made a “mistake”: “I apologize to those I hurt and to all the victims who may have had the impression that I did not support them. I am, I was, and I will remain in favor of the protection of children and families,” added the previous Minister of Family Policy, aged 46.
READ ALSO “Hungary has never really had its place within the European club” As a reminder, the controversy was provoked by the pardon granted in April 2023, on the event of Pope Francis' go to to Budapest, to a former deputy director of a youngsters's house, sentenced in 2022 to greater than three years in jail. jail for masking up the actions of his superior.
Protests in Budapest
Since the revelation final week by the investigative web site 444, anger has been rising within the nation. On Friday February 9, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Budapest, demanding the departure of Katalin Novak. The day earlier than, in an try to calm the crowds, the nationalist Prime Minister introduced that he wished to revise the Constitution with the intention to exclude the potential for pardoning little one offenders.
After the announcement of the president's resignation, one other ally of Viktor Orban, Judit Varga, additionally formalized her “withdrawal from public life” for having given her approval as Minister of Justice – a place she had left this summer time to steer the European marketing campaign.
https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/la-presidente-de-la-hongrie-katalin-novak-demissionne-10-02-2024-2552083_24.php