The President of the Republic
The Sándor Palace in the Buda Castle. Since 2003, the office of the President of the Republic has been located here (Photo: Endre Domaniczky)
Mádl’s most important goals as president were: a.) the accession of Hungary and the whole Central European region to the European Union; b.) the promotion of the development of the minority rights protection on EU-level; and c.) the representation of the Hungarian and Central European position in course of a future structural reform of the European Union. This is important to emphasise because, despite the fact that Hungary only became a member state of the European Union in 2004, the President Mádl’s opinion as a well known and respected professor of law, was sought and heard in various international fora, irrespective of the country’s accession. One of Mádl’s greatest successes was that he was able to appear on the international stage and present Hungary’s position by relying on the essentially weightless and ceremonial presidential institution, while performing his domestic duties flawlessly.
Another significant achievement was his active role in promoting EU accession. President Mádl, who had been following the developments of Western European integration (“the European peace project”) since his school years, researched and taught EU law for decades. Even as a minister, he was involved in the preparation of accession negotiations, and as President of the Republic he has repeatedly advocated the unification of the western and eastern parts of Europe through European integration.
Professor Mádl became President of the Republic in 2000 as a candidate of the governing coalition’s parties (FIDESZ, MDF and KDNP), but his nomination was supported by several members of the Opposition (in the ranks of the MSZP and SZDSZ).
President Mádl’s inauguration ceremony on the Kossuth Square. Presidents of the Republic Ferenc Mádl and Árpád Göncz at the ceremony in 2000 (Photo by Noémi Bruzák / MTI)
President Mádl and his wife, Dalma Mádl at the presidential inauguration ceremony on Kossuth Square in 2000 (Photo by Noémi Bruzák / MTI)
The representation and presentation of the interests of Hungarians living outside Hungary’s borders was a key part of his programme, and his proposals for the legal protection of minorities are worthy of mention in this context.
President Mádl, who himself came from an ethnic minority background, was from a young age increasingly sensitive to the situation of “indigenous” minorities, whether they live in Central or Western Europe or North America respectively. His initiatives and proposals as President have led, among others, to the law on simplified naturalisation in 2010.
Presidents of the Republic László Sólyom and Ferenc Mádl in front of the Sándor Palace in 2005 (Photo by Tamás Kovács / MTI photo)
After his term as President ended in 2005, he returned to the university and was involved in teaching and research in his narrow field of expertise until his death.
Professor Ferenc Mádl died on 29 May 2011. His grave is in the National Graveyard (Fiumei Úti Sírkert), near the grave of Prime Minister József Antall.