On Monday, March 18 the Hungarian Defence Forces Joint Force Command (HDF JFC) held a farewell ceremony in Székesfehérvár for the Hungarian soldiers to deploy with the European Union Training Mission–Mali (EUTM–Mali) in the Western African country.
The Hungarian Ministry of Justice expresses its deep outrage at a remark made by European Union Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding connecting criticism of the Hungarian judiciary with the Tobin case.
Following talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov on Hungarian-Russian economic relations, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó announced at a press briefing that Hungary is planning to open a trade house, comprising of an investment centre and a logistics warehouse, in Moscow in the middle of April.
March 20 has been designated as the international day for la Francophonie. The French language and French-speaking cultural values are celebrated on this day all over the world, regardless of ethnic and geographical differences. This was the day when the Convention on setting up the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation was signed in Niamey, Niger, and today the Agency is called the International Organization for Francophonie.
MFA Deputy State Secretary for Global Affairs Szabolcs Takács conducted talks in Bangkok on March 19.
On Monday, March 18 State Secretary Tamás Vargha held talks in Ottawa on deepening the Canadian–Hungarian military cooperation. The Hungarian official of the Ministry of Defence met with the two leaders of the Canadian Defence Portfolio and the Chief Reserves and Cadets.
Agriculture Ministers from the countries of the European Union reached an agreement on Tuesday night regarding the reorganisation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), on the basis of which negotiations with the European Parliament may now begin. Minister of State of the Ministry of Rural Development György Czerván told Hungarian news agency MTI: we succeeded in asserting several Hungarian criteria, and Ireland, the current President of the EU, would like to conclude a final agreement on the issue before the end on June.
Péter Sztáray, Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs consulted with Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil Vera Lúcia Barrouin Machado in Budapest on March 19.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi said on Tuesday that he had raised the sensitive issue of the post-World War II Benes decrees during talks with his Slovak counterpart last week and, in relation to that, a possible apology from Slovakia.
On Monday Gábor Kaleta, Press Chief at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that Hungary would take part in the elaboration of the Arms Trade Treaty – which is being negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations – and that it opposed illegal arms trafficking.
We regret to see that Vice President Reding continues to operate with modified truths regarding the Tobin-case, which is increasingly embarrassing for her.
Minister of State at the Ministry for National Economy Zoltán Cséfalvay has earlier today met with investors and financial analysts at a conference organized by Barclay’s in London.
On Tuesday Minister Balog has sent the following letter to Mr Szaniszlo.
In early 2013, the Government of Hungary set up a Memorial Committee in order to properly commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Holocaust, an important step towards facing our history.
Péter Szijjártó, State Secretary for External Economic Relations, held talks on Monday with his Brazilian counterpart Vera Lucia Barrouin Crivano Machado on boosting economic cooperation between the two countries.
Wednesday sees the start of the Passa Porta International Literary Festival at the Balassi Institute in Brussels; this year Hungarian literature is represented by Viktor Horváth, author of the novel Török tükör (‘Turkish Mirror’).
Although in light of the latest Eurostat data, as a whole, the number of people in employment declined in Q4 2012 within both the eurozone and the European Union, in Hungary, the relevant figure improved. Hungary achieved the fourth best growth rate in the EU regarding this field.
On March 15, Deputy State Secretary Gergely Prőhle paid a visit to Hamburg, Germany, at the invitation of former mayor of the city Klaus von Dohnanyi and the Hungarian community in Hamburg.
Today in the Parliament building, Deputy State Secretary for International Communications Ferenc Kumin held a short lecture for a group of Swedish students visiting Hungary within the framework of a short study visit.
The chairman of the Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services in NATO (COMEDS), LtGen Gérard Nedellec, paid an official visit to Hungary upon invitation of the director of the NATO Centre of Excellence for Military Medicine (MILMED COE) from 11 to 14 March 2013.