In August 1994, he studied in Austria as part of a summer university, in connection with the country's accession to the European Union.

From 1995 to 2000, Kovács was a lecturer at the Lajos Kossuth University in Debrecen while receiving a doctoral scholarship at CEU.

Meanwhile, he received a four-month research grant at the University College London and then at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

During this time, he was a delegate of the Association of County-Right Cities in the Board of Trustees of the Hungarian Television Public Foundation and a member of the Political Committee of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions.

From 2013 to 2014, he was Hungary's Secretary of State for Social Inclusion at the Ministry of Administration and Justice.

Ahead of the 2016 Hungarian migrant quota referendum, he described it as "unlawful, unworkable and dangerous".

On X (formerly Twitter), he wrote: "We have to make it clear that no one, no extreme left-wing group, should see Hungary as some kind of boxing ring where they come and plan to beat someone to death.