Hungarian President Katalin Novák Resigns – The Full Story Behind the Pardon Scandal

Unraveling the controversy: from presidential pardon to political fallout

11 February 2024

Iván László Nagy

Marcin Król Fellow

Viktor Orbán lost another president to public embarrassment. In 2012, President Pál Schmitt resigned following a plagiarism scandal. Katalin Novák’s resignation, however, is a lot more about Orbán than about her. We have summarised the details of one of the most turbulent weeks in modern Hungarian politics.

The resignation of Katalin Novák: a timeline of events

On 10 February, Hungarian President Katalin Novák resigned in a televised speech.

The decision followed a disastrous week for her, Fidesz and Viktor Orbán.

On 2 February, Hungarian media outlets received a Supreme Court judgement, which revealed that in April 2023, Novák gave a presidential pardon to a certain Endre K., a convicted paedophile accomplice.

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Iván László Nagy

Marcin Król Fellow

Marcin Król Fellow. Ivan Laszlo Nagy is a 23-year-old Budapest-based political journalist, writing for a leading independent Hungarian news site, hvg.hu. As a UK graduate, his academic research about the communication techniques of populist regimes transformed into critical reporting about global democracy, with a special focus on quasi-authoritarian political flows in the West and in Hungary. His work as a reporter, analyst and commentator revolves around understanding the dynamics of societies oppressed by modern semi-dictators and working out ways for meaningful civic action within them, with special emphasis on mobilising young people for democratic action.

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