After two five-year terms Janos Ader, the President of the Republic of Hungary, will leave office on 9 May. Ahead of his departure, he gave a lengthy interview to the Hungarian Magyar Nemzet newspaper. The head of state will depart from his official residence – the Sandor Palace – with a tranquil heart, because he believes he has achieved his main objective. Among other things, Mr Ader spoke of his plans for the future, the war, the pandemic, the unworthy attacks of the opposition, his discussions with the Holy Father, one of the toughest speeches of his life and the fisherman's soup he cooked for members of the Hungarian mission in Afghanistan.

We are re-publishing the original interview in full.

– The history of mankind is laden with famines, epidemics and wars. During your time in office as President of the Republic, two of these disasters have struck our country. First the coronavirus and now the war. Is it possible to prepare for such life situations?

– The outbreak of the pandemic was unexpected for everyone, even though scientists have warned that the way of living we’ve adopted – the over-consumption characteristic of one part of the world and the way we colonise our natural environment – could lead to new epidemics. The habitat of the so-called pathogens is being restricted, which can lead to new infections through domestic and wild animals. Many say that this current pandemic is only a prelude to what is awaiting us in the coming decades if we do not change our way of life. I very much hope that they are wrong. Coming back to the current pandemic, it was impossible to prepare for the coronavirus. The first shock was significant, precisely because we did not have the means of protection. Just remember! We didn’t have sufficient supplies of facial masks or ventilators. It took quite a while to develop the necessary vaccines for inoculation. If we take a look at how many people contracted the disease each day during the first wave and what tough restrictions were imposed, and then we compare this to today’s situation, for instance, then we can see that although the daily infection numbers are now much higher, we can live practically without any restrictions. On the one hand, we’ve become used to the virus, mentally as well, and on the other, we now have more protection because of the vaccines and cross-infections.

– The effects of the pandemic will stay with us for a long time. Let’s just mention the post-Covid period and its economic fallout.

Indeed, there is someone in almost everyone’s family who is still struggling with post-Covid syndromes, and we can read numerous analyses on the adverse effects of the pandemic impacting the Hungarian, European and global economies. On top of all this, just when we saw some signs of recovery – with Hungary also achieving encouraging economic results – the Russian invasion began and the war broke out.

– How did you learn about the outbreak of the war, and what is your position on all that has happened?

– I received a phone call, but in the age of the internet, this no longer matters, because everyone receives the news about everything at the same time, meaning that state leaders learned about the war almost at the same time as anyone else. Every war brings cruelty and plenty of suffering. Millions of refugees have fled Ukraine, and the majority are likely to stay away from their homeland for a longer time. From the very beginning, Hungary’s position is clear: we consider what is happening an aggression and we will fully perform all our obligations we have with our allies, namely the EU and NATO. Any information other than this does not correspond to facts. As Hungary is a neighbouring country, with a significant ethnic Hungarian minority living in war-torn areas, it is in our interest that the warring parties reach an agreement at least on a ceasefire, as soon as possible. This is something we must support with all our diplomatic tools. Of course, we see how much room for maneuver Hungarian diplomacy has, and we are also aware that we cannot achieve any lasting peace without the United States or the large EU member states, such as Germany, France and Poland.

– After decades in the front line of politics, you have had to constantly prove, in the face of provocations by the opposition, that you truly represent all and every Hungarian at the highest level of state governance. The left wing’s approach was rather simple in this context: if you do something different from what opposition parties are trying to dictate, then you are a crony of the government. Ten years is a long time, how did you go through this situation?

– Like any profession, a politician’s job also has its own difficulties. Many times you feel that your work is being criticised even when you act in accordance with constitutional rules to the best of your knowledge. If you cannot get used to this, you will probably quit this career. It is painful for anyone to become a target of slander and unfair attacks. But politicians must only focus on making decisions that are humanly, morally and legally correct. Delivering my address to the National Assembly after my election in 2012, I emphasized that I’ve committed myself to representing Hungarian interests and values. Looking back at the past ten years, I can say, on behalf of myself and my colleagues, that we have fulfilled this commitment.

– In your parliamentary speech at the time, you said „If I receive a hundred flawless laws from parliament, I will sign all one hundred. If I get one hundred laws with flaws and errors, I will send all one hundred back.” What is the final tally?

– Although numbers are revealing, it is obviously not possible to assess a president’s activities on this basis alone. I have raised a political veto in connection with laws passed by parliament on thirty-seven occasions, twenty-eight times during my first term, and nine times during my second. In addition, I have appealed to the Constitutional Court eight times, five times between 2012 and 2017, and three times after 2017. Perhaps it is not a negligible fact that I did all this under the governments of the party alliance that had nominated me.

– By comparison, for instance, former President Arpad Goncz – under the MDF-led government and the first Orban government – only appealed to the Constitutional Court on seven, and then on one occasion, respectively. However, under the Horn government he requested not a single constitutionality review and only exercised his political veto twice.

– Everyone can draw their own conclusions from this. What is perhaps more important to me, however, is that the Constitutional Court has always established that my observations were well-grounded. We had not one, but many constitutional amendments in the past 10 years. The opposition has always called on me that I should not sign the amendment and send it to the Constitutional Court. However, if you read our Fundamental Law carefully, it becomes clear that in these cases the president has no discretionary powers; he must sign the amendment, otherwise he violates the constitution.

– For a while now renowned leftist jurists have been engaged in discussions, and even written several studies on amending the constitution with a simple majority after a change of government. Did you ever feel that you should speak out on this issue? After all, the experts in question, together with opposition politicians, were preparing for an unprecedented violation of the law.

– These unconstitutional and politically dangerous aspirations are totally unacceptable. I did think about speaking out, but luckily others did it for me. It was done by the president of the constitutional court, who released an open letter, explaining accurately and clearly, bolstered with arguments, why these notions are unacceptable. And so did other jurists, including former politicians, who are not on the government’s side of the political map. For example, Peter Hack, aformer lawmaker of the Free Democrats and member of the parliamentary committee on constitutional issues, has also condemned these aspirations, adding that it would lead to a civil war situation if the opposition attempted to implement these ideas after a change of government. As far as I saw, the majority of jurists have condemned these intentions, there was no need for me, as the head of state, to enter into debates with jurists who had forgotten about themselves and some fundamental professional issues. If the opposition had won and these ideas were taking on a more serious form, I would have had to take action.

– And now a topical question: are you planning to pardon far-right activist Gyorgy Budahazy, who was sentenced to 17 years in jail?

– I’ve no treceived – and will not receive – such an initiative. The regulation in this area is clear and unambiguous. There are two types of pardon: procedural and executive. In both cases, the justice minister needs to submit a proposal, but so far I have not received one. If a proposal does come, then it will be up to my successor to decide.

– How many people have you pardoned in ten years?

– I have granted presidential pardon to one hundred and twenty individuals.

– You have always put great emphasis on spiritual reconciliation and paid regular tributes to the victims of communism and the Holocaust. After taking office, Serbia’s head of state was the first guest you received in your official residence in the Sandor Palace. Why did you think the invitation was an important gesture?

– Tomislav Nikolic, then President of the Republic of Serbia, was my first foreign guest. I suggested to him at the meeting that we should close a painful chapter in our history by settling an old issue between the two countries in the spirit of reconciliation. In 2013, after lengthy preparations, President Nikolic and myself paid our tribute to innocent Hungarian and Serb victims at Csurog (Curug, Serbia), where they were executed during World War II. This historic tribute finally put an end to a story that lasted painfully long.

– You visited ethnic Hungarians living beyond Hungary’s borders, as well as the Hungarian diaspora living in countries far away from Hungary, in the United States or New Zealand, for instance. What was your most memorable encounter?

– Before me, no president in office has ever visited Moldavia’s Changows, a Hungarian ethnic group living in Romania. It’s a cheerful story that I may have told the public once, but let me look back on it again. When we arrived, the leader of the community of Changow Hungarians in Moldavia welcomed us with these words: “we have been waiting for the Hungarian king or the president of the Republic to visit us for four hundred years, and thank God it happened today”. This was a memorable moment for me and my colleagues.

– You were the first not only to make this trip, but also to attend the Pentecost Pilgrimage in Csiksomlyo.

– Indeed. With the exception of two years during the pandemic, my wife and I took part in the pilgrimage in Csiksomlyo (Sumuleu Ciuc, Romania) every year. Our experience was that the pilgrims were pleased to see us in the crowd.

– You cooked fisherman’s soup for Hungarian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. You said very little about how you managed to do this.

– During my ten years in office, I’ve visited practically every mission bosating a significant number of Hungarian troops. The largest contingent was in Afghanistan. We went before Christmas, and if we visit someone during Advent, we can’t arrive empty-handed. We got in touch with relatives and told them that they could send presents to everyone with us, but these were little, personal gifts. Then someone came up with the idea that I should make fish soup and we should take it there as our gift. I agreed, but how many people are we talking about, I asked. Initially, we calculated with eighty or perhaps ninety heads, but as the news of the fish soup spread, the number kept rising, and eventually we cooked for one hundred and twenty soldiers. I had never before cooked for so many people. The whole process of cooking would be too long to tell, so to cut it short, we prepared and deep-froze 70 litres of soup base.

– So the idea of deep-freezing was the key.

– Yes, this was how we took all the ingredients with us, the soup base, plenty of fish slices, 6 kilograms of soft and hard roe and milk, of course. When we arrived the soldiers set up twelve cauldrons in a large military tent because it was rather cold. Tears were running from our eyes, there was so much smoke inside the tent. But apart from this, preparing the soup went without a hitch.

– So you are probably the first, and not just among Hungarian heads of state, to have cooked for one hundred and twenty and I presume this gesture, a Christmas gift for soldiers, is unique the world over.

– I haven’t heard anything like it either. Bottom line: at the end, there was not a spoonful of fisherman’s soup left.

– You met Pope Francis five times. Your relationship was also characterised by the protection of creation. Which of these meetings are the most memorable?

– If I should rank them, I would choose our first and our last meeting. The first was memorable because among the topics was the protection of drinking water, one of the biggest issues of the century. I gifted the pope with a bottle of water from one of the most famous Hungarian pilgrimage sites at Matraverebely. He opened it and drew a cross on my forehead with the water. It came up during our conversation that His Holiness was about to publish an encyclical on the subject of water. My last visit took place on the occasion of the World Eucharistic Congress, after the pandemic. One of the topics of our conversation at the Museum of Fine Arts was the protection of creation, and we focused on what decisions we have made in this area since we last met. Another topic was the protection of families. He praised everything our country has done to protect families. It was a very good conversation, which may be the reason why he expressed his hope after the meeting that he would be able to visit Hungary again in the near future. We look forward to seeing him.

– You mentioned the World Eucharistic Congress, where you gave public testimony. What did this mean for you?

– Cardinal Peter Erdo asked me in person to give a testimony, which I could not refuse. I knew I had to write and deliver one of the most difficult speeches and reflections of my life. And tat is exactly what happened.

– The presidency used to be the business of older gentlemen and you – even after two cycles – are still a young politician so retirement after the presidential office is not your only option. What are your plans for the future? Can a former head of state become a private citizen again?

– I’ll be an active retiree. The legal situation is clear. A president cannot be re-nominated after two cycles, which I think is fine. It is also right that the law has taken care of former heads of state since 1990 in a way that former presidents cannot find themselves in an unworthy position, like having to chase a job to make a living. After departure from office, a head of state is entitled to a salary, a secretariat and the appropriate infrastructure. Thus, the fact that a president „hangs up his fiddle” does not preclude him from taking on a public role in the future. This does not mean a parliamentary or governmental office; public life is much broader than that.

– What do you mean?

– There are two foundations that I’m a member of. One of them is the István Regoczi Foundation, the other one is the Blue Planet (Kek Bolygo). The activities of the former are perhaps better known to the readers. We don’t just provide support to children and young ones orphaned by the coronavirus, but we also try to extend this support until they manage to receive their diplomas, or get a profession. There are little ones who, unfortunately, can only see their moms on photographs, and in these cases the foundation intends to provide assistance to them for at least eighteen years. We have two decades ahead of us, during which time we must provide all the resources that are necessary to reach our objectives. In the first year this was rather simple, because the distressing images and news in connection with the pandemic have reached nearly everyone. However, as years go by and new tragedies emerge, it may be easy to forget the current devastation caused by the Covid pandemic. Our job is to make sure that this will not happen; this is what we must be working on.

– How many orphaned children are you in touch with?

– We have knowledge of 1,500 orphaned kids, and most of them have already received some financial assistance from us. Although we cannot substitute their parents’ love, we would like to encourage these kids not to lose their dreams, and to enable them to live out their talents.

– Let’s also touch on the other foundation, briefly.

– The lesser-known Blue Planet Foundation has experienced a significant development over the past three years. It became the patron of the International Nature Film festival in Godollo, near the capital Budapest, and today the event is fullly organised and financed by us. We also provided resources for the thematic sustainability week organised by Miklos Matolcsy. We compiled two schoolbooks to make it easier for schools to discuss the topic of sustainability. We’ve agreed with the ministry that sustainability will become an optional subject at secondary school leaving examinations next year. We’ve also established a venture capital fund with a view to supporting various innovations, such as start-ups and businesses that have long passed their inception phase, but lack the capital to enter the market. The innovations include, for instance, plastic waste processing, rubber recycling, the development of irrigation techniques, the preservation of soil fertility, energy storage, and the list goes on. There are several Hungarian ideas where providing the necessary support will give the foundation’s employees, and – naturally – me as well, plenty of things to do.

– This sounds like an adequate workload.

– I also have one additional plan, but it first needs government approval. After three successful World Water Forums in Budapest, we organised a sustainability expo last year and we would also like to be able to organise the second one in 2023. The number of visitors and onlookers, as well as the volume of businesses transactions speaks for itself, so I really hope that we can continue. I believe the idea to make Hungary a hub for this kind of thinking and mindset is indeed viable.

– Will you also continue your podcasts?

– I have no reason to stop, since this genre provides an opportunity to explore certain bigger issues rather thoroughly. I believe a good portion of listeners do have a need to learn about certain connections, and to receive the type of new information that they would otherwise be unable to obtain from today’s so-called yellow press.

– Don’t you mind that the environmental and sustainability fields don’t belong to a separate ministry?

– If the prime minister asks me, I will be glad to share my opinion with him. During the past two years, and even in the current government structure, this kind of mindset – focusing on issues like climate protection and sustainability, or how to avoid a water crisis – has played a bigger role than in the previous years. Therefore my expectation is that these fields could be given an even greater degree of emphasis in the new government structure.

– Don’t you think that when you, as a head of state, embraced the ideas of water and climate protection and sustainability, you wandered into a field that offers plenty of promises and statements beginning with „this is what we should do,” yet there are few tangible results?

– I agree, and this is something I have voiced in many of my speeches. I told several international forums that we must act at last. The predictions and analyses are shocking. We need political will and money to somehow deploy the existing technologies in order to, for instance, prevent most of the wastewater in developing countries from ending up in lakes and rivers, unpurified. I’ll give you another example. Let’s revisit the climate question, where we say that we must reduce the atmosphere’s carbon-dioxide concentration. Is this a feasible statement? Yes. So let’s shut down all the coal-fired power plants. Alright, we’ll do it. Now let’s get rid of all the fossil fuel-based energy: the oil and gas. This is also doable on the long haul. However, at the same time we are reluctant to give up the energy and our current lifestyles. What must we do then? Where will our energy come from? There’s the sun and the wind, but we haven’t found a solution to store this type of energy. We can’t store and reuse the summer solar energy in the winter. So those who say A should also be saying B. In other words: if we give up our fossil fuel-based energies, then we’ll need nuclear energy. Saying „no” to everything is illogical and irresponsible.