His predecessor, Tamás Sulyok, resigned in July after Tisza's victory in the spring parliamentary elections. The victory also brought an end to Orbán's 16-year rule. Now Tisza's leader, Péter Magyar, has taken over as prime minister.
In Hungary, the president has a largely ceremonial role. The 73-year-old Baka served as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for 17 years and was appointed chief justice of the Hungarian Supreme Court in 2009. However, his term was ended early in 2012 after he criticized the Orbán government's decision to lower the retirement age for judges.
Tisza had previously nominated chess star Judit Polgár, who at 50 is a generation younger than Baka, for the presidency, but she declined.
