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Hungary's parliament approves Orbán-critic and former judge András Baka as president
['Ferenc Szekely', 'Gavin Blackburn']
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ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENTParliament, where the ruling Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority, elected Baka, who served 17 years as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), with 140 votes in favour and six votes against.
Magyar's party won elections in April by a landslide, ending nationalist Viktor Orbán's 16 years in power and promising "system change."
But rights watchdogs criticised Sulyok's removal, comparing the tinkering to the methods Orbán used to build his self-styled "illiberal" system.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar speaks at a press conference in Budapest, 30 July, 2026 AP PhotoHe was a judge at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) from 1991-2008.
Last month, Magyar offered the nomination as president to chess legend Judit Polgar, but she declined after the prime minister faced mounting outrage for not consulting the public as promised.