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.