Steven N.Katalin Novák was inaugurated as President of Hungary in Kossuth Square on Saturday. In her speech, the new President dealt at length with the Ukrainian war and even named those responsible for it, which Magyar Hang notes is quite rare among Fidesz politicians.
In the introduction to her speech, Novák said that she had arrived to the ceremony with gratitude in her heart, as her family had accompanied her and many others had come to celebrate with her.
Katalin Novák said that we have to show what homeland means, as well as compatriots and our common life and place in the world. But she didn’t shy away from being direct about the war either:
We Hungarians have many reasons to be joyful, proud, and celebratory. A dark sky, however, casts a shadow over our lives: the war. This is not the virtual reality of video games, not CGI, not Photoshop, and not a war movie. This is the bloody reality that our grandparents personally experienced in World War II.
She mentioned that Hungary rushed to immediately help Ukrainians when the first refugees arrived, and stressed how much the country has been doing since then to take care of them. “Hungary has earned an ‘A’ in humanity,” she said.
We condemn Putin’s aggression, attacking a sovereign country. We give an eternal ‘no’ to efforts to restore the Soviet Union.
-stated Novák.
Hungarians want peace, said President Novák, and although it is not their war, it is being waged against them, the peace-loving Hungarian people. Novák also demanded that “war criminals be investigated and punished.”
Katalin Novák also announced that she would be traveling to Warsaw on May 17 to meet with the Polish President. [Magyar Hang]
