Tibor Navracsics, outgoing Minister of Public Administration and Justice attended introductory hearings in front of three respective parliamentary committees this week regarding the topic of his candidacy for the role of Minister of Foreign in the currently establishing government.
President János Áder formally appointed the ministers of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's third government on Friday. Later, Parliament held a session at which Prime Minister Orbán addressed the new cabinet before their oath-taking ceremony.
There was majority support in the parliament committees for the appointment of Miklós Seszták to the position of Minister of National Development.
The new government seeks to introduce a career path model for police officers, Minister Sándor Pintér said at the joint meeting of the defence, law enforcement and national security committees, where the ministerial candidate’s hearing took place.
Hungary prioritises representing its national interests in dealings with the European Union, Tibor Navracsics, the nominee for the post of foreign minister, told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
The key objective of Hungary’s economic policy in the coming term is to make economic growth more deep-rooted and stable, to facilitate further employment growth and improve the competitiveness of the country, Mihály Varga said at two hearings of parliamentary committees preceding his nomination as Economy Minister for the next four years.
The Transport Council adopted a political agreement on three technical legislative acts of the fourth railway package at its session in Luxembourg on 5 June 2014. EU Transport Ministers discussed the Commission’s proposal on facilitating the transport of lorries that are longer and have a heavier weight than the currently used ones. The Hungarian delegation evaluated the transport achievements of the past four years and transferred the duties of the V4 Presidency to Slovakia, the country next to fill this position.
In the second half of 2013, some encouraging signs have emerged within the Hungarian economy that have been confirmed by recently published preliminary and detailed GDP data for the first quarter of 2014. Hungary’s GDP increased by 3.5 percent in Q1 2014 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In international comparison, Hungary’s 1.1 percent quarter-on-quarter growth was – along with Poland’s – the highest within the European Union. The main forward-looking indicators are also signalling that the expectations of domestic market participants are positive: the economic sentiment index of the Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) has reached a new record with several sub-indices jumping to all-time highs, while the Purchasing Manager Index of the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (HALPIM) continues to indicate the firm future expansion of the sector.
One of the main reasons behind the HUF 269.4bn surplus was that due to the public holidays at the beginning of May budget wages and family benefits were transferred from the budget at the end of April. The significant fiscal surplus – also a result of higher tax and tax-type revenues – is also signalling an economic rebound. In the period January-May 2014, the deficit of the central sub sector of the state budget was HUF 681.7bn.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is set to represent Hungary at the inauguration ceremony of Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko in Kiev on Saturday.