Off the wire
• Libya's neighboring nations support inclusive dialogue to reach sustainable peace  • Slovakia welcomes Macron's win in French presidential election: PM  • Historical success of BiH at Balkan Mathematical Olympiad  • Tibet's tourists to take to the skies from August  • Roundup: Over 2,000 families displaced due to recent fighting in N. Afghan Kunduz province  • Putin congratulates Macron on winning French presidential election  • Chinese banking regulator tightens collateral management  • 8 militants killed in shootout in Egypt  • 1,022 evacuate Damascus' neighborhood under fresh deal  • World Bank approves 200 mln USD credit to improve Zambian roads  
You are here: 　 Home

Hungarian President takes oath for 2nd 5-year term

Xinhua, May 8, 2017 Adjust font size:

Hungarian President Janos Ader took oath for his second five-year term in office on Monday and he delivered a speech during a plenary session of Parliament aimed at easing the tensions in the country.

Ader, who first took office in 2012, called the state of Hungarian political discourse "dramatic."

"If we continue as is, we will destroy everything we built together since 1990," he warned in front of the deputies of the Parliament.

"We question everything, we breach our agreements and we break all the barriers," he added, referring to the ongoing quarrels between the Hungarian government and opposition parties.

Legislative elections will be held in Hungary next spring, and the campaign, with candid messages on the billboards across the country, has already begun.

According to Ader, Hungarians could agree on at least in three things, regardless of their views: "We are all citizens of Europe, we are all part of the Hungarian nation, and we all want to live honest, peaceful lives."

He also added that the different parties should give their arguments "in a respectful manner" and stressed that "the families, mainly the children of public figures, should be left out of the political debates."

Regarding Hungary's place within the European Union (EU), Ader recalled that the adhesion of Hungary to the EU had been the result of all political parties of the country. He also said that in the future, Hungary should give no more of its constitutional rights to the EU than what is necessary for the EU to continue its existence.

The role of the president in Hungary is largely ceremonious. However, Ader is the head of the armed forces and has the right to send back laws to the Hungarian Parliament or to the Constitutional Court if he finds them to be opposed to Hungarian law. He can also grant pardon to prisoners.

Ader was born in 1959. He holds a law degree, served as a deputy speaker of parliament, and was a Member of the European Parliament until 2012. Hungary's parliament re-elected Ader as the country's president for a new five-year term on March 13. Endit