New Hungarian President: ‘Serving country, nation is greatest honour’

Serving the country and the nation “is the greatest honour”, President Tamás Sulyok said in his speech at his inauguration as head of state in front of Sándor Palace on Sunday.

The president greeted Hungarians in the Carpathian Basic and in the wider world.

“I did not plan this service; I did not prepare for this task,” the president said. “But if fate presents one with unexpected situations and calls one to serve, one should not shy away from it,” he said.

“My oath sanctifies my loyalty and commitment to my country,” Sulyok said, adding he had always stood for enforcing the Fundamental Law which guaranteed the rule of law.

As president, Sulyok said, he would protect “the dignity of Hungarians” and “follow the path of good examples” paved by his predecessors while also “paving my own path”.

“The law has been … the compass of my whole life, and I wish to work accordingly,” the president said.

Unity cannot and will not be broken…

Sulyok said Hungary was a country with more than a thousand years of statehood, based on the principle of popular sovereignty, and the president’s task, he added, was to represent this state in his powers prescribed by the country’s Fundamental Law.

The president said the Fundamental law was “the cornerstone, framework and standard of my work”. He added that it precisely stated that the president of the republic embodied the unity of the nation and oversaw the democratic functioning of the state.

“This unity cannot and will not be broken…” he said.

Sulyok said he would not deviate from his predecessor’s “excellent example” of pursuing openness in international relations and maintaining close ties with the Hungarian diaspora.

Hungary’s president, he emphasised, was not only responsible for compatriots in the homeland and beyond the border “in a spiritual sense” but also as a matter of public law.

The president also said he considered the lives of Transcarpathian Hungarians in war-torn Ukraine with particular concern.

Sulyok said he considered it natural to support people in freely living according to their national and cultural identity.

Further, he highlighted the importance of pursuing good relations with neighbouring countries and close cooperation with Visegrád countries.

Christian culture, faith and values

As between nations, mutual respect is also the standard between people, Sulyok said, adding that he and his wife would always stand with those who needed him most: those in need, the downtrodden and those fallen on hard times.