Katalin Novák, a former Fidesz Vice President and Family Minister, was chosen with a two-thirds majority as Hungary’s next president. Katalin Novák is Hungary’s first female president and, at 44 years old, the country’s youngest after the government change. She has crowned the most prominent woman in Hungarian public life both last year and this year.
Novak, who was most recently a minister for family policy, hailed her victory on Thursday as a triumph for women. She won 137 votes to fifty-one in the parliament, which is governed by Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party, beating out opposition opponent Peter Rona, an economist.
Katalin Novák started her political career at the Ministry of Foreign Matters in 2001 during the first Orbán government, where she specialized in European affairs. She was made head of the cabinet of the Ministry of Human Resources two years after becoming a ministerial counselor in 2010. She was also one of Fidesz’s vice presidents from 2017 until 2021.
Furthermore, Katalin Novák was born in 1977 in Szeged and attended the National University of Public Service (NKE) in Budapest, the University of Szeged, and a scholarship program in Paris. Novák began her political career in 2001 as an advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but left in 2003, according to her official biography. She is the mother of three children, knows four languages, runs marathons, and was a staunch Fidesz supporter.
Furthermore, during her speech before the vote, she said that “we women raise children, care for the sick, cook, be in two places at once, if necessary, earn money, educate, win Nobel prizes, and clean windows. We understand the power of words, but we can also be silent and listen if necessary and protect our families with bravery that surpasses that of males if danger comes.” “It is because I am a woman, and not despite it, that I want to be a good president of Hungary,” said the 44-year-old, Hungary’s youngest-ever president.
