Fidesz nominates Tamás Sulyok, president of the Constitutional Court as next president of Hungary

Tamás Sulyok, the President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, is the Fidesz-KDNP candidate for head of state, and Tamás Deutsch is the leader of the ruling coalition's EP list, Máté Kocsis, Fidesz parliamentary group leader announed on Thursday at the press conference held after the two-day meeting of the ruling parties' parliamentary groups.

On Sulyok, Kocsis said that Viktor Orbán had proposed him for the position, and "he is the best person for the job, as he can best express the unity of the nation". He personally thinks Sulyok is a man of great authority.

Kocsis also announced that the National Assembly will make a decision next Monday on accepting the resignation of Katalin Novák, and added that the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group will accept it. He said the faction believes it is right to elect a new president as soon as possible, but he could not give an exact date.

It was the presidential pardon granted to Endre K that lead to the need to elect a new head of state. In relation to this, Kocsis said that although they would be able to investigate the pardon decision made by Katalin Novák, they would not find such a document, as there is no official justification for the pardon. As for Zoltán Balog's role, he said that this was the matter of the Hungairan Reformed Church. He does maintain, however, that he would like to know how “such a decision could be taken, given that we have the most brutal and strictest child protection law in Europe”

Telex asked Kocsis what he thought about the fact that the public media, which receives billions of forints in state funding, took days to report on the pardon case, to which Kocsis replied, "I do not wish to interfere in editorial matters." He added that he was glad that the independent media reported the story, because he believes this demonstrates that the media in Hungary can operate freely.

So-called child protection laws to become even stricter

Kocsis also announced plans to adopt a second package of so-called child protection laws, which will include twenty amendments, but as not all points have yet been finalised, he only shared the ones which are certain at this point. These are:

• The penalties for paedophile offences will be further tightened.
• Sexual offences committed against minors under the age of 18 should never be time-barred.
• There should be no possibility of parole for those convicted of such offences.
• Those who commit sexual offences against children should never be able to receive a certificate of good conduct.

All is well with the Swedes

Kocsis was joined by KDNP's parliamentary group leader István Simicskó. He spoke about Sweden's accession to NATO and said that they "welcome" the Swedish Prime Minister's upcoming visit to Hungary. According to Simicskó, this is "necessary", and he considers the former criticism from his fellow group members to have been justified.

Kocsis said the Swedish Prime Minister's planned visit has "taken relations between the two countries in a very good direction", and the Prime Minister has also informed the group that the Swedes have made positive gestures towards Hungary, so he no longer worries that the ratification of Sweden's NATO accession will not pass through Parliament.

Was there any kind of military agreement between Hungary and Sweden that influenced Fidesz's attitude towards Sweden? – Kocsis was asked, to which he replied that all details pertaining to such matters were classified.

Behind closed doors, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered a speech to those assembled on Wednesday evening, where, according to government newspapers, he said that by now, hardly anyone believes in the Ukrainians' victory, that Fidesz is able to and is going to win the EP elections, and that they will be sailing into headwinds until June, but experienced sailors believe this is not a bad thing, but a good thing, as they can capture the international headwinds under their sails.