SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 20 April 2024, Saturday |

Hungary’s new president condemns Putin’s ‘aggression’, plans trip to Warsaw

At her inauguration ceremony on Saturday, Hungary’s President Katalin Novak criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and announced her first journey will take her to Poland, an apparent move to restore relations with Warsaw.

Hungary’s refusal to provide arms to neighboring Ukraine, as well as its resistance to a planned European Union ban on Russian oil imports, has strained relations between Budapest and Warsaw, whose two nationalist governments have been long-time EU allies.

Novak, a former Fidesz party politician and supporter of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was chosen president in March, soon before Orban won another landslide victory in elections on April 3.

Novak, Hungary’s first female president, previously served as Fidesz deputy chair and as family affairs minister in Orban’s previous cabinet.

    Source:
  • Reuters