Hungary's parliament votes to remove the president
Hungary’s parliament voted to remove the country’s president from office. The president was widely viewed as aligned with Viktor Orban, who lost power after 16 years as prime minister, and the vote lets the new governing majority replace a holdover from the previous era.
Although Hungary’s presidency is largely ceremonial, the office carries real weight at the margins: the president signs or refers back legislation, can send laws to the constitutional court, and formally appoints officials. Removing an Orban-aligned figure clears a potential check on the incoming government’s agenda and marks another step in dismantling the institutional footholds Orban’s party built during its long tenure. The move is likely to be contested as politically motivated, and how it is carried out will be watched in Brussels, where the balance between Budapest and EU institutions has been strained for years.