Hungary appoints a former ECHR judge as president

Péter Magyar's Tisza party has nominated András Baka, former president of the Hungarian Supreme Court, as its candidate for president of the Republic. Parliament is expected to vote on the nomination next Tuesday.

András Baka, former president of Hungary's Supreme Court and former judge at the European Court of Human Rights, is the Tisza party's candidate to succeed Tamás Sulyok as head of state. The ruling party announced his nomination on Saturday in a Facebook post, praising a jurist who "has always considered the principle of the separation of powers fundamental and has consistently fought for the rule of law and judicial independence."

Baka's career is marked by a revealing episode: in 2011, the Fidesz government removed him from the presidency of the Supreme Court, a decision that the ECHR subsequently ruled illegal. Tisza presents him as "the strongest guarantee that the presidency of the Republic will regain its true dignity and its capacity to unite the nation and counterbalance the ruling majority."

Parliament is scheduled to vote on Tuesday. Tisza, who won the spring general elections with a two-thirds majority, has the necessary votes to easily elect Baka to this largely representative position.

This appointment comes after the forced resignation of Tamás Sulyok, who last month signed a constitutional amendment formalizing his own departure from office, yielding to months of public pressure from Magyar. The new prime minister had been calling for this departure since Tisza's landslide victory, which ended Viktor Orbán's sixteen-year rule.

Baka was not Magyar's first choice for the presidency. Chess player Judit Polgár had declined the offer, believing the role would be too demanding.