Katalin Novák in office for 1 year, half of Hungarians don’t even know who she is

The majority of Hungarians are satisfied with President Katalin Novák’s first year in office, according to a fresh survey by the Nézőpont Institute.

The survey found that 55 percent of Hungarians knew that Novák is the head of state, according to a summary on Nézőpont’s website.

Fully 60 percent of Hungarians and 62 percent of those who know Novák is the president are satisfied with her performance so far.

Nézőpont said the reason behind Novák’s high approval rating was that her performance was in line with expectations, emphasising her role as an ambassador for national interests abroad and for national unity at home.

Altogether a quarter of Hungarians say that the president’s primary function should be to represent Hungary internationally.

The survey found that 65 percent of Hungarians who know Novák is the president are satisfied with her diplomatic performance compared with 57 percent six months ago.

Assessing the reasons for the positive view of the president’s work in diplomacy, Nézőpont noted that Novák took part in 52 diplomatic events during her first year in office.

Novák’s pro-peace position also played an important role, Nézőpont said, noting that at last September’s United Nations General Assembly session in New York, she quoted the late Queen Elizabeth II, emphasising the importance of the “waging of peace”. In November, she attended the Paris peace conference at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron before visiting Kyiv at the invitation of her Ukrainian counterpart.

First year

Hungary’s wealth is made up of the Hungarian people,” Katalin Novák said at an event marking the first anniversary of her assuming the post of president of Hungary, on Wednesday.

Novák said her presidency was focused on the people of Hungary, adding that she was planning to “continue working as the president of each Hungarian” in the remaining four years of her term.

She said her first year had been “a year of encounters with a new face to meet each day, offering opportunities to know each other and listen to the other person’s story”. She said she had learnt that “Hungary’s assets are not its natural or economic resources but the people, who live in Hungary, in the Carpathian Basin, or elsewhere in the diaspora as Hungarians; they make up Hungary’s wealth”.

Novák said she wanted to maintain “a sense of belonging together” in everyday life because “we can only achieve a positive turn in Hungary that way”. “A sense of community and unity must be experienced as often as possible,” she added.

The celebration was attended by 300 people from Hungary and from ethnic Hungarian communities.