President of the Republic New Year Diplomatic Reception

The Hungarian President of the Republic, Katalin Novák held a New Year Reception for Ambassadors and other mission leaders accredited to Hungary in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.

She recalled that there will be elections in Europe this year, giving 400 million European citizens the opportunity to set the direction of European politics.

Immediately after the elections, in the second half of the year, Hungary will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union. She was of the view that celebrating the 20th anniversary of its accession to the EU and the 25th anniversary of its NATO membership, Hungary will once again prove its ability to be a good President of the European Council.

Highlighting two of the important issues of the Hungarian Presidency, the President of the Republic reiterated the demographic challenges and the importance of speeding up the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU.

In her speech, she pointed out that while 50 years ago Europeans accounted for one-fifth of the world's population, today only one-tenth of the population is European. EU countries now account for 6% of the global population, and this will fall to 4% by 2070.

Looking back on the past year, Katalin Novák said that "we can all agree that 2023 was a very difficult year, and the challenges will continue to dominate this year." Ten challenges she found it important to mention included: war conflicts, including the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian war, economic difficulties, political uncertainty and early elections in many countries, growing social tensions, natural disasters, mass illegal migration, the phenomenon of disinformation, the emergence of artificial intelligence, the activities of non-political actors with hidden political ambitions and the influence of technology companies in near-monopoly positions.

She stressed that Hungary is a Western-oriented country, a member of Western alliances, but also builds and maintains pragmatic relations and cooperation with other parts of the world.

Speaking to diplomats, she highlighted that although diplomacy is different today than it was a decade ago, for example, heads of state communicate directly with each other, diplomats are the credible source for their countries, and what they pass on about Hungary is decisive. “They know when to signal or when not to signal.” She encouraged her audience to seek good cooperation with Hungary and in Hungary.

She also announced that she would invite the world's women heads of state to Budapest this fall.