New Year Message by the Hungarian President

"We are a strong, fighting, crisis-resistant nation," the President of the Republic, Katalin Novák said in her New Year's speech. The speech, which has become a tradition every year, is delivered by the Head of State of Hungary, and so it was the first time that Katalin Novák, who took office in 2022, addressed the audience of the Hungarian public television on New Year's Eve.

She stated that "we have been hewn from the hardest wood. We live in a land swept by the winds of history, and at a crossroads of peoples. Here talent, the artful Hungarian cast of mind and the resourcefulness encountered in folk tales are not enough. To achieve results we need to apply ourselves industriously, we need to work hard. History has also taught us that our greatest weakness is discord, while our greatest strength is unity. Now is not the time to be despondent, but to be united. Now we can take steps to reassure the loneliest among us of this: You are not alone!"

She was also of the view that "economic performance and a higher standard of living only acquire meaning if, on the threshold of difficult times, we do not retreat into our own private fortresses, but extend our sense of responsibility beyond our immediate family to other Hungarians. Just as we have stood together as one for the Hungarians of Transcarpathia and the Ukrainian refugees, we can now stand with those among us who need help for tomorrow. In the meantime we look to decision-makers to make this struggle easier – whether that be in helping to educate children, in moderating price rises, in supporting young people and pensioners, in giving teachers their due recognition, or in making sound economic decisions."