Hungary’s President revealed whether she would visit Kyiv, Moscow
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President Katalin Novák, in an interview with news portal Telex on Friday, said she considered Hungary’s constitution the most important source of law and saw herself as an independent actor from the government.
Novák said her number one responsibility was to represent Hungary, adding that she spoke on behalf of her country on all her foreign visits. Though it is the government that primarily defines Hungary’s foreign policy, the president is the one who represents the country at the highest level, she said, noting that it was key for her to have all the necessary information before sitting down to negotiate. Novák said that all of her discussions with the prime minister cover foreign policy.
Novák said she meets with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for roughly an hour on a weekly basis, adding, however, that she does not consult the government or the PM’s cabinet office about her own messaging. She said
she had the opportunity to express criticism of the government,
though so far she had not felt the need to do so.
Asked if she needed to distance herself from the will of the government, the president said she adhered to the constitution in this respect as well, adding she considered herself an independent actor from the government.
Novák said she considered the view that Hungarian public life is about the decisions of the government a simplistic one.
As regards the Russia-Ukraine war, she said
it was “unacceptable” to attack a sovereign state,
adding that she believed the majority of the Hungarian people agreed with this. Novák said she believed Hungarians wanted peace and did not want to get drawn into the war.
“We stand by the victims, and this isn’t just lip service but demonstrated by our actions as well,” the president said. “I feel that Hungarians have been able to put all their past grievances behind them and have been helping out wherever necessary since the start of the war.”