According to local media, he and his wife were attacked from behind by a masked assailant wielding what appeared to be a metal rod or pipe.
The 83-year-old diplomat was struck twice in the head and fell to the ground. His wife was also attacked, but suffered only minor injuries after a passerby intervened, prompting the attacker to flee the scene.
Police later apprehended the suspect in a nearby square. Authorities revealed that the same man had assaulted Jeszenszky two years earlier, though the motive behind the latest attack remains unknown.
Jeszenszky underwent surgery for a skull injury and remains in hospital. Doctors say his condition is stable and his life is not in danger.
A respected historian and longtime friend of Poland, Jeszenszky is related through his wife to József Antall Jr., Hungary’s first democratically elected prime minister, and to József Antall Sr., who aided Polish refugees during World War II.
Jeszenszky has been an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government - Polish Radio 24 reported.
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Source: PR24/IAR/X/@LaszloRobMezes