Pál Schmitt
Encyclopedia
Pál Schmitt is the current President of Hungary. He was elected President of Hungary in a 263 to 59 vote in the Parliament of Hungary and was sworn in on 2010.

Schmitt was a successful fencer
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

 in his youth, winning two gold medals at the Summer Olympics. Schmitt was also formerly the Vice President of the European Parliament
Vice President of the European Parliament
There are fourteen Vice Presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the President in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament.-Role:...

 and the speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary
National Assembly of Hungary
The National Assembly or Diet is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter list members...

.

Background

In addition to his native Hungarian, Pál Schmitt speaks German, French and English His family name Schmitt is German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 for smith
Smith
Smith may refer to:* Smith antigen* Smith Chart, a diagram used in engineering* Smith grind, a skateboarding trick* Smith machine, a piece of weight training equipment-Persons:* Smith ** List of people with surname Smith...

, indicating a German family background.

Sporting career

Schmitt started a successful fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

 career in 1955 competing for MTK-VM. After winning two Hungarian Championship titles in individual competitions he participated as part of the Hungarian National Fencing Team 130 times between 1965 and 1977. He won the team épée gold medal at the 1968
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

 and 1972 Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

. Also won team and individual World Championships in fencing, and collected several second and third place finishes until hes active career ended in 1977. He later became the Chief of Protocol of the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

 (IOC) and presided over the World Olympians Association
World Olympians Association
The World Olympians Association is an association of former olympic athletes from all over the world, to promote the dissemination of Olympic ideals, fair play, advance environmental protection, educate against doping – drug use, supply educational resources, work against violence and intolerance,...

 between 1999 and 2007.

Political career and President of Hungary

Between 1983 and 1988, Schmitt was the general secretary of the Hungarian Olympic Committee
Hungarian Olympic Committee
Hungarian Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee representing Hungary.György Szepesi was a Hungarian Olympic Committee member from 1962 into the year 2000....

 and under-secretary of sports between 1981-1990. In 1990 after the End of Communism in Hungary he became president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee
Hungarian Olympic Committee
Hungarian Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee representing Hungary.György Szepesi was a Hungarian Olympic Committee member from 1962 into the year 2000....

. He later became a diplomat, serving as Hungary's ambassador to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 (1993–1997) and Switzerland (1999–2002). While in Spain he was also accredited to Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...

 from 1995. In 2003, he became a deputy president of Fidesz. In 2002 he ran for the position of mayor of Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, but his independent candidacy also supported by Fidesz was unsuccessful. He led the party list of Fidesz in the 2009 European elections in Hungary. Schmitt was elected in the 2009 elections as a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 with the Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union
The Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union is a major conservative party in Hungary. At the 2010 election in Hungary, Fidesz-KDNP won a two-thirds majority of seats by gaining 52% of the votes, with Fidesz winning 227 seats and KDNP winning 36...

, to the Bureau of the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...

 and was vice-chair of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

's Committee on Culture and Education
Committee on Culture and Education
The Committee on Culture and Education is a committee of the European Parliament.- Responsibilities of the Committee :This committee has focused on the well-being of all members of the human race and the increased opportunities for education in all countries of the European Union...

.

Schmitt chaired the Delegation to the EU–Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 Joint Parliamentary Committee. On 2009 he was elected one of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament. He became the Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary
National Assembly of Hungary
The National Assembly or Diet is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter list members...

 after Hungarian parliamentary election in 2010.

Following the Hungarian presidential election, 2010
Hungarian presidential election, 2010
An indirect presidential election was held in Hungary on 29 June 2010. The Prime Minister's nominee Pál Schmitt was elected by an overwhelming majority.-Background:...

, Schmitt was elected President of Hungary by the National Assembly
National Assembly of Hungary
The National Assembly or Diet is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter list members...

, for a term commencing on . He replaced László Sólyom
László Sólyom
László Sólyom is a Hungarian political figure, lawyer, and librarian who was President of Hungary from 2005 to 2010. Previously he was President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary from 1990 to 1998....

 the previous president. He was elected with the support of the Fidesz and KDNP parties, receiving 263 out of 322 votes. András Balogh
András Balogh
András Balogh is a Hungarian historian and diplomat, the current ambassador to Thailand. His party, the Hungarian Socialist Party nominated him to the position of President of Hungary in 2010...

 of the Socialist Party
Hungarian Socialist Party
The Hungarian Socialist Party describes itself as a social democratic party in Hungary. It is the partial successor of the communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The decision to declare the party a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and...

 received 59 votes.

Schmitt was the deputy president of Fidesz and the former speaker of the Hungarian Parliament. Since the first free elections in 1990 the nominating party often picked one of its high ranking members for president, such as SZDSZ nominating Árpád Göncz
Árpád Göncz
Árpád Göncz is a Hungarian liberal politician and former President of Hungary . Göncz played a role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956...

, founding member of SZDSZ. The previous MSZP Government's nominee was Katalin Szili
Katalin Szili
Katalin Szili was the Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary, a post to which she was elected on May 15, 2002. After obtaining a degree in law at Janus Pannonius University, she completed majors in human ecology and political science. She has been a legislator since 1994...

, of MSZP the then speaker of the Hungarian Parliament. Schmitt foreshadowed a positive relationship with the Fidesz-KDNP government, saying: "In the current situation, when we undertake rebuilding the country economically, socially and morally, it is imperative that the president get along with the prime minister, as well as all leaders and government members." Schmitt said he does not intend to take an obstructionist stance towards the government, and also seeks a more active role in the political process such as creating the country's new constitution. After taking office, Schmitt resigned all posts and offices previously held. Soon after his election Schmitt came under heavy attacks from some opposition parties going as far as rejecting to attend the presidential inauguration citing high costs and a late invitation.

In 2010, a drafting process for a new constitution began to take place, was finalized by April 11, 2011, and was adopted by the Parliament on April 18. It was signed into law by Pál Schmitt on April 25 and will go into effect on January 1, 2012.

Controversies

His presidential activity is debated for the Hungarian constituents. As a supporter of the second cabinet of Viktor Orbán, already it was probable before his appointment that the presidential position is his reversioner. This confirmed that he proclaimed it at the time of the starting of his presidential activity, he wants to be "man of the people", and would like to favour and help the current government's work.

He created a sensation, when, in a declaration which given to the Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

 on 15 October 2010 Schmitt identified himself with the government's politics repeatedly, the last sentence of the interview started it so on expressed already though: We, the government…. The interview also published in the website of the Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary.

In November 2010, during a presidential speech he called one of his major goals is the preservation and fostering of the Hungarian language
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

 and stressed that this would make compulsory by law. However, after the speech several times many grammatical and stylistic errors statements have been published on the website of the Office of the President.

In the first months of his presidency, until 31 December 2010 Schmitt signed nearly hundred bills which were voted by the National Assembly and none given or sent back for consideration to the parliament or for constitutional review to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Hungary
Constitutional Court of Hungary
The Constitutional Court of Hungary is a special court of Hungary, making judicial review of the acts of the Parliament of Hungary. The official seat of the Constitutional Court is Esztergom....

.

External links


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