• The Hungarian Parliament elected ruling Fidesz party lawmaker Katalin Novak, a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as the country’s first ever woman president.

• The 44-year-old Novak has served as deputy chair of Orban’s Fidesz and was family affairs minister in charge of his economic support agenda for the middle class, including subsidies for housing, state-backed home loans and tax cuts.

• Novak will succeed Janos Ader, another Fidesz party stalwart, after winning 137 votes. Opposition candidate Peter Rona received 51 votes.

• Novak’s win comes weeks ahead of the Parliamentary election on April 3, where Orban faces a stiff battle to win a fourth straight term in power since 2010.

• Novak was decorated with the Legion of Honour in 2019 for her contribution to improving relations between Paris and Budapest.

India-Hungary relations

• India’s relations with Hungary have been close and friendly, multifaceted and substantive. 

• During the 1956 uprising in Hungary, India’s intervention with the Soviet Union saved the life of Dr. Arpad Goncz who subsequently served as President of Hungary from 1990 to 2000.

• Economic cooperation between India and Hungary has a long history. Cooperation in this field was institutionalised in 1949 with the signing of a rupee trade agreement, which operated through the negotiation of annual protocols which fixed the products to be traded and the amounts thereof, with the trade being canalized through government agencies. 

• Over 25 collaborations have been established in India by Hungarian companies. Trade has surpassed the levels of 1980s and now stands at around $75 crore, with the balance of trade in India’s favour.

• Recent trends indicate a shift in the composition of Indian exports away from traditional goods such as cotton yarn and textiles, towards organic chemicals, machinery, automotive components and pharmaceuticals. Imports from Hungary comprise items such as electrical machinery and equipment, electronics and light engineering goods.

• Bilateral economic relationship has also been strengthened with investments in the range of $3 billion from India to Hungary. India was the largest greenfield investor in Hungary in 2014 and third largest in 2015.

• The Indo-Hungary Joint Economic Committee provides the institutional framework for intergovernmental discussions on economic cooperation.

• A Joint Business Council of Indian and Hungarian companies was set up in 1979 under an agreement between FICCI and Hungarian Chamber of Commerce to promote direct contacts between business delegations.

• Cooperation in science and technology is a key focus area in India-Hungary relations.

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