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Péter Medgyessy (born October 19, 1942) is the Prime Minister of Hungary from 2002-05-27 to 2004-08-27. He declared his resignation on 2004-08-19, which will take effect on 2004-08-27.
Biography
Born in Budapest, Medgyessy studied theoretical economics at the Karl Marx University (now the Budapest University of Economics). He graduated in 1966, then returned to receive his doctorate. He is fluent in French and Romanian, and knowledgeable in the English and Russian languages.
Between 1966 and 1982, he held various senior positions in departments of the Ministry of Finance. In 1982, he became Deputy Minister of Finance, and in 1987, he became Minister of Finance. His tax system created Hungary's move toward a free market economy.
Between 1988 and 1990, Medgyessy was the Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs, and between 1990 and 1996, he was CEO and Chairman of various Hungarian banks. After Gyula Horn took over the Hungarian government, Medgyessy returned to his previous position as Minister of Finance, in 1996. After his term ended, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Inter-Europa Bank, and Vice President of Atlasz Insurance Company; he held these positions from 1998 to 2001.
Although he was not a party member, the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) nominated him as their candidate for prime minister. The party won the 2002 elections, and on May 27, 2002, the Hungarian Parliament elected Medgyessy as the Hungarian Prime Minister.
On August 19 2004, regarding to impaired confidence in him by the coalition partner (SZDSZ), he declared his resignation (which will take effect on August 27 as there is a one-week time period for the nomination of a new candidate). His party the MSZP accepted the resignation on the same day, so in effect the government bowed out, which is without precedent in the history of Hungary's young democracy.
Other Information
He received the Commander's Cross with a Star of the Order of Merit in 1998, and the highest French decoration, the Knight of Legion d'Honneur in 2000. He is married to Katalin Csaplár. He has a daughter (born in 1969) and a son (born in 1970) from a previous marriage.
Still more important, Magyar Nemzet journalist Torkos Matild revealed 2003 that Medgyessy acted as an operative of the Hungarian Secret Service under the cover name D-209 before 1989. His duties, as he himself admitted, lay in the defense of Hungary from the KGB. However, taken into account the political climate of the time, this is highly unlikely when not impossible.