Statement from Sándor Palace - Dr András Baka takes office as President of Hungary

President of Hungary Dr Andras Baka took office on 19 August 2026.

Dr. András Baka was born in Budapest in 1952. He earned his law degree from the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in 1978 and conducted research in constitutional law at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences until 1989. Between 1991 and 2008, he served as the first Hungarian judge on the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. From 2008 to 2009, he served as Presiding Judge of the Budapest Court of Appeals. From 2009 until 2011, his early removal from office, he served as President of the Supreme Court, later as Presiding Judge at the Curia.  

Following the Seventeenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law, which resulted in a vacancy in the office of the President of Hungary, the National Assembly elected András Baka as President of Hungary on 11 August 2026. In accordance with Article 11(6) of the Fundamental Law, in the event of the early termination of the term of office of the previous President of Hungary, the President of Hungary shall take office on the eighth day after being elected; accordingly, András Baka assumed the full duties and powers of the Head of State as of 19 August 2026.

The Head of State discussed the handover of office at Sándor Palace with Ágnes Forsthoffer, Speaker of the National Assembly, who had been temporarily exercising the duties and powers of the President during the transitional period, and subsequently met with the staff of the Office.