Hungary has elected a new president
On Tuesday, August 11, the Hungarian Parliament elected 73-year-old lawyer and former Supreme Court Chief Justice András Baku as the country’s new president.
A total of 140 lawmakers voted in favor of his candidacy, while 6 voted against it. Representatives of the former ruling coalition, Fidesz–KDNP, had announced in advance that they would not participate in the vote.
András Baka served on the European Court of Human Rights from 1991 to 2008. In 2009, he became president of the Hungarian Supreme Court, but remained in that position for only two years.
Following constitutional reforms, Baka was dismissed from his post. He himself attributed this decision to his criticism of the judicial reforms implemented by Viktor Orbán’s government.
Source: Telex.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that the country is facing a critical period in the energy sector due to a record drop in the water level of the Danube. The last operational power unit at the country’s only nuclear power plant, Paks, is at risk of a forced shutdown, as the river level near the plant has dropped to minus 133 cm, with the critical threshold set at minus 134 cm.
In Budapest, authorities have decided to limit the speed of the metro and trams to reduce electricity consumption. A new schedule will be implemented on city transit lines, under which metro cars and trams will accelerate more slowly.
