Hungary Government - 2024

Country name

conventional long form: none

conventional short form: Hungary

local long form: none

local short form: Magyarorszag

former: Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic, Hungarian Soviet Republic, Hungarian Republic

etymology: 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

Government type

parliamentary republic

Capital

name: Budapest

geographic coordinates: 47 30 N, 19 05 E

time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology: the Hungarian capital city was formed in 1873 from the merger of three cities on opposite banks of the Danube: Buda and Obuda (Old Buda) on the western shore and Pest on the eastern; the origins of the original names are obscure, but according to the second century A.D. geographer, Ptolemy, the settlement that would become Pest was called "Pession" in ancient times; "Buda" may derive from either a Slavic or Turkic personal name

Administrative divisions

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

Independence

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)

National holiday

Saint Stephen's Day, 20 August (1083); note - commemorates his canonization and the transfer of his remains to Buda (now Budapest) in 1083

Constitution

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

Legal system

civil legal system influenced by the German model

International law organization participation

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICC jurisdiction

Citizenship

citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Hungary

dual citizenship recognized: yes

residency requirement for naturalization: 8 years

Suffrage

18 years of age, 16 if married and marriage is registered in Hungary; universal

Executive branch

chief of state: President Tamas SULYOK (since 5 March 2024)

head of government: Prime Minister Viktor ORBAN (since 29 May 2010)

cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers proposed by the prime minister 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

Legislative branch

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%

Judicial branch

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 president 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

Political parties and leaders

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)

International organization participation

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

Diplomatic representation in the US

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

Diplomatic representation from the US

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/

Flag description

three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and green; the flag dates to the national movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, and fuses the medieval colors of the Hungarian coat of arms with the revolutionary tricolor form of the French flag; folklore attributes virtues to the colors: red for strength, white for faithfulness, and green for hope; alternatively, the red is seen as being for the blood spilled in defense of the land, white for freedom, and green for the pasturelands that make up so much of the country

National symbol(s)

Holy Crown of Hungary (Crown of Saint Stephen); national colors: red, white, green

National anthem

name: "Himnusz" (Hymn)

lyrics/music: Ferenc KOLCSEY/Ferenc ERKEL

note: adopted 1844

National heritage

total World Heritage Sites: 8 (7 cultural, 1 natural)

selected World Heritage Site locales: (c); Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings (c); Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst (n); Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment (c); Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta (c); Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae) (c); Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (c); Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape (c)