Hungarian lawmakers approved former supreme court chief András Baka as the country's new president on Tuesday following the contested removal last month of the previous head of state as pro-EU conservative Prime Minister Péter Magyar pushes to loosen his predecessor's lingering hold over state institutions.
Parliament, where the ruling Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority, elected Baka, who served 17 years as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), with 140 votes in favour and six votes against.
Tisza nominated 73-year-old Baka for the largely ceremonial role on Saturday.
Magyar said Baka's life served "as an example of commitment to the democratic rule of law and constitutional principles" as the central European country needs to be "guided back onto the path of the rule of law and constitutional governance."
'Captured state'
