Government & politics — Hungary

• The Byzantine Greeks refered to the tribes that arrived on the steppes of Eastern Europe in the 9th century as the "Oungroi," a name that was later Latinized to "Ungri" and which became "Hungari"
• the name originally meant an "[alliance of] ten tribes"
• the Hungarian name "Magyarorszag" means "Country of the Magyars"
• the term may derive from the most prominent of the Hungarian tribes, the Megyer

• 16 November 1918 (republic proclaimed)
• notable earlier dates: 25 December 1000 (crowning of King STEPHEN I, traditional founding date)
• 30 March 1867 (Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy established)

• History: Previous 1949 (heavily amended in 1989 following the collapse of communism); latest approved 18 April 2011, signed 25 April 2011,
• effective 1 January 2012 Amendments: Proposed by the president of the republic, by the government, by parliamentary committee, or by Parliament members; passage requires two-thirds majority vote of Parliament members and approval by the president; amended several times, last in 2018

• Chief of State: P
• Prime Minister Viktor ORBAN (since 29 May 2010) Cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers proposed by the prime m
• inister and appointed by the president Elections/Appointments: President indirectly elected by the National Assembly with two-thirds majority vote in first round or simple majority vote in second round for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 26 February 2024 (next to be held in spring 2029); prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; election last held on 3 April 2022 (
• next to be held in April or May 2027) Election results: 2024: Tamas SULYOK elected president;
• National Assembly vote - 134 to 5 2022: Katalin NOVAK (Fidesz) elected president; National Assembly vote - 137 to 51

Description

Unicameral National Assembly or Orszaggyules (199 seats; 106 members directly elected in single-member constituencies by simple majority vote and 93 members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by party-list proportional representation vote, using the D’Hondt method; members serve 4-year terms)

Elections

Last held on 3 April 2022 (next to be held in April 2026)

Election Results

• percent of vote by party list - Fidesz-KDNP 54.1%, United for Hungary 34.5%, Mi Hazank 5.9%, other 5.5%
• seats by party list - Fidesz-KDNP 135, United for Hungary 57, Mi Hazank 6, independent 1
• composition as of June 2023 - men 171, women 28, percent of women 14.1%

• Highest court(s): Curia or Supreme Judicial Court (consists of the president, vice president, department heads, and has a maximum of 113 judges, and is organized into civil, criminal, and administrative-labor departments; Constitutional Court (consists of 15 judges, including the court pre
• sident and vice president) Judge selection and term of office: Curia president elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president of the republic; other Curia judges appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, a separate 15-member administrative body; judge tenure based on interim evaluations until normal retirement at age 62; Constitutional Court judges, including the president of the court, elected by the National Assembly; court vice president elected by the court itself; members serve 12-year
• terms with mandatory retirement at age 62 Subordinate courts: 5 regional courts of appeal; 19 regional or county courts (including Budapest Metropolitan Court); 20 administrative-labor courts; 111 district or local courts

19 counties (megyek, singular - megye), 23 cities with county rights (megyei jogu varosok, singular - megyei jogu varos), and 1 capital city (fovaros) Counties: Bacs-Kiskun, Baranya, Bekes, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Csongrad-Csanad, Fejer, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Hajdu-Bihar, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Komarom-Esztergom, Nograd, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg, Tolna, Vas, Veszprem, Zala Cities with county rights: Bekescsaba, Debrecen, Dunaujvaros, Eger, Erd, Gyor, Hodmezovasarhely, Kaposvar, Kecskemet, Miskolc, Nagykanizsa, Nyiregyhaza, Pecs, Salgotarjan, Sopron, Szeged, Szekesfehervar, Szekszard, Szolnok, Szombathely, Tatabanya, Veszprem, Zalaegerszeg Capital city: Budapest

• Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP [Zsolt SEMJEN]
• Democratic Coalition or DK [Ferenc GYURCSANY]
• Dialogue for Hungary (Parbeszed) or PM [Bence TORDAI, Rebeka SZABO]
• Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN]
• Hungarian Socialist Party or MSZP [Bertalan TOTH, Agnes KUNHALMI]
• LMP-Hungary's Green Party [Peter UNGAR, Erzsebet SCHMUCK]
• Mi Hazank (Our Homeland Movement) or MHM [Laszlo TOROCZKAI]
• Momentum Movement (Momentum Mozgalom) [Ferenc GELENCSER]
• Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik [Marton GYONGYOSI]
• National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary or LdU [Ibolya HOCK-ENGLENDER]
• United for Hungary (a coalition of Jobbik, MSZP, Dialogue, DK, LMP, and Momentum)

• No Citizenship by descent only: At least one pa
• Yes Residency requirement for naturalization: 8 years

Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Chief of Mission

Ambassador David PRESSMAN (since 14 September 2022) Embassy: Szabadsag ter 12, H-1054 Budapest Mailing address: 5270 Budapest Place, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5270

Telephone

[36] (1) 475-4400

FAX

[36] (1) 475-4248

Email address and website

• acs.budapest@state.gov
• https://hu.usembassy.gov/

Chief of Mission

Ambassador Szabolcs Ferenc TAKACS (since 23 December 2020)

Chancery

1500 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005

Telephone

[1] (202) 362-6730

FAX

[1] (202) 966-8135

Email address and website

• info.was@mfa.gov.hu
• https://washington.mfa.gov.hu/eng

Consulate(s) General

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York