Hungary's parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly elected Andras Baka, a former Supreme Court chief and critic of Viktor Orban, as the country's new president. Baka, who was fired from the Supreme Court during Orban's premiership, replaces Tamas Sulyok, an Orban appointee removed last month in a contested process.
The presidency is largely ceremonial, but the vote marks a step by the new government to loosen Orban's hold over state institutions. Baka's election was backed by the ruling Tisza party of Prime Minister Peter Magyar, a pro-EU conservative, which holds a two-thirds majority in parliament. Magyar has pushed to dismantle Orban-era power structures, and the removal of Sulyok was part of that campaign.