Hungary trusts that it will develop cooperation with Serbia focusing on the reform of their institutions, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Tibor Navracsics said after talks with Suzana Grubjesic, Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European integration, in Budapest on Monday.
Australia will close its embassy in Budapest as part of budget cuts for foreign affairs, Australian media reported on Monday, citing the AAP news agency. The reaction of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was that bilateral relations would be maintained at the currently excellent level. The Australian Government is expected to announce austerity measures worth billions of dollars to reduce Australia's deficit on Tuesday, the reports said. Foreign Minister Bob Carr told ABC radio on Monday that his department will also implement measures to share cutbacks. "The most significant one is closing one embassy; that's the embassy in Budapest," he said.
Signing the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine at the Vilnius Summit in November is also important for the future of the Eastern Partnership – said the Hungarian Foreign Minister at the opening of the 6th EU-Ukraine Forum in Budapest on May 13.
Zsolt Németh, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared before the Hungarian Parliamentary Committee for European Affairs that Hungary was committed to continuing EU expansion in the Western Balkans and that it wanted to advance its national interests through the European integration process.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi declared that it was a European as well as a Central European and Hungarian interest that the European Council make a decision about when accession negotiations with Serbia should begin.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is on a one-day official visit to Finland. The Prime Minister gave a lecture entitled The future of Europe at the Aleksanteri Institute at the University of Helsinki, and will later meet with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and President Sauli Niinistö.
Funds with predetermined budgets will be allocated from EU funding within an independent operative programme for regional and urban development and these will be made available to counties and cities with county rights to spend on their own economic development projects, Minister of State for Economic Strategy and Parliamentary Affairs Zoltán Cséfalvay said in Nagykanizsa.
Currently, there are 135 thousand people in public work schemes, and 57 thousand of them are employed within the Start model programme, Minister of State for Employment at the Ministry for National Economy said in Monostorpályi on Friday.
Hungary’s contribution to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, set up to support the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, will be incorporated into the 2014 national budget according to current plans – said Gábor Kaleta, Head of the Press Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The task of the Foundation is to amass a sum of €120 million for the Perpetual Fund.
Address by Zsolt Németh Minister of State for Foreign Affairs at the Presentation of the Book “The Unfinished Peace” Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 3rd May 2013.
During recent years, Hungary has moved from being one of the worst performing European countries to become one of the frontrunners of the EU, a result of the Government’s consistent economic policy, Government Spokesperson András Giró-Szász stated at a joint press conference on Friday. He emphasised that the Hungarian Government is convinced that the measures requested by the European Commission are unnecessary, as budget targets will be met without difficulty.
State Secretary for External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó negotiated with South American and Caribbean ambassadors in Hungary.
As from 1 May 2013, the Government has increased to 5% the interest subsidy provided for the facilities of Széchenyi Investment Loan, Széchenyi Own Contribution Supplementary Loan and Széchenyi Subsidy Advance Loan. The more favourable financing possibilities may contribute to the investment spirit of domestic small and medium enterprises, this way supporting the development of Hungarian economy. Due to the rate of interest subsidy exceeding that of the current base rate of the bank of issue, Hungarian companies may obtain a loan at an interest of less than 0.4% per month in the scheme.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has asked Minister of National Economy Mihály Varga to work out new measures to ensure Hungary's exit from the Excessive Deficit Procedure, Government Spokesperson András Giró-Szász said on Thursday. The Hungarian Prime Minister attended a board meeting of the ruling Fidesz party earlier on Thursday, focusing on necessary steps in connection with the EU procedure, he added.
The State Secretary for External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó declared at the press conference of the Hungarian Investment and Trade Agency that the top priority of Hungarian economic policy this year is to facilitate growth and achieving this requires the successful implementation of the Opening to the East policy.
200 activists from the Hungarian Cyclists’ Club served breakfast to people who cycled to work today as part of the Bike to Work (Bringázz a Munkába!) campaign, which is also supported by the Ministry of National Development.
The European Commission has recently published its Spring Forecast for 2013. This contains key macro-economic data, including facts for 2012 and estimates for 2013 and 2014, as well as short evaluations on each European Union member state.
Enikő Győri, Minister of State in charge of EU affairs, stated that the report prepared by European Parliament Rapporteur Rui Tavares was without precedent within the European Union. The Hungarian Minister of State pointed out that the report - which was strongly critical of the state of the rule of law in Hungary - concerns issues that fall within the scope of national competence.
The government is preparing to launch a programme to promote births in the second half of 2013, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced at a Christian forum.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi held talks with Silvan Shalom, Minister for Energy and Water Affairs, who represented the Israeli Government at the Assembly of the Jewish World Congress in Budapest.