Two-time olympic champion Pál Schmitt to become Fidesz vice-president

Dátum: 2003-04-22 15:46:00, eredeti URL: http://archiv.fidesz.hu/index.php?Cikk=9572
KCMDB-be feltöltve: 2024-05-04 18:14:04.038305, Feltöltő: fidesz_hu_scraper_v2

Today, Mr Pál Schmitt has accepted the request of Mr Viktor Orbán to become, besides Mr Zoltán Pokorni, one of the two vice-presidents of Fidesz following the party congress on 17 May. The five-member Fidesz presidency will be made up of the president, the two-vice presidents, the chairman of the national board and the leader of the party's parliamentary group.

Mr Schmitt, a two-time olympic champion in épée at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games, has been Hungary's ambassador to Spain and Switzerland, chairman of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, as well as vice-chairman of the International Olympic Committee. In last year's municipal elections, Mr Schmitt ran as an independent candidate for mayor of Budapest.

As Mr Schmitt explained, he had kept a distance from party politics so far, but it was time now to reconsider this position and he therefore decided to join a transforming and broadening Fidesz. The new party, he said, will be more than a party. It will be an alliance which offers more both in quantity and in quality. It will have more members, more duties and more responsibilities, where people may find the fora of communication and cooperation they seek, Mr Schmitt said.