The Handmade Hungarian Tastes Market will be held for the third time between March 9 and 11 at the Millenáris this year; 120 exhibitors from 11 Hungarian regions will await visitors with 5000 traditional Hungarian flavours. Hungarian caviar, a product made from the eggs of fish reared exclusively in Hungary and by Hungarian producers, will have its public debut at the event. At the opening ceremony, State Secretary Endre Kardeván stressed that it is becoming increasingly important to consumers that they purchase Hungarian foods with high added value, produced using traditional methods. In addition to price, conscious consumers these days also check to make sure that the product in question contains the fewest possible additives.
In line with preliminary data, Hungarian GDP grew by 1.4 percent in Q4 2011 compared to the corresponding period of the year before – the Hungarian Statistical Office has reported today. The detailed report also suggests that economic growth in Hungary has been significantly higher than the EU average and thus the country has continued closing the gap with the rest of Europe. The year-on-year expansion was 1.7 percent.
Following the agreement with Canada, Hungary also ensures the limited consular representation of Australia in Syria. This is provided for by the bilateral agreement of 6 March 2012, under which Hungary’s Embassy in Damascus safeguards the interests of Australian citizens in the Middle Eastern country as far as possible.
The Government strives to achieve, as the guiding principle of its efforts, that Hungary should enjoy the fruits of the labour and enterprise of minimum 5.5 million people, the Prime Minister declared on Thursday in Budapest, at the Business Opening Forum of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Chamber). Viktor Orbán also underlined that Hungary was not, in his opinion, responsible for the delay in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union; responsibility for the delay lies with the other party.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi informed the heads of the African embassies in Hungary about the main pillars of the new Hungarian Foreign Policy Strategy, highlighting the policy of global opening and its African aspects.
Tamás Fellegi (Minister without Porfolio for Liaising with Certain International Financial Organisatons) today confirmed that the Hungarian Government continued to make efforts towards the earliest possible commencement and closing of negotiations with the IMF and the EU.
On Wednesday evening Zoltán Kovács, Minister of state for Government Communication, and Fidesz MEP György Schöpflin took part in a political debate at the prestigious London School of Economics. The subject was the policies of the present Hungarian Government, and domestic and economic affairs in Hungary since the political transition of 1989-1990.
The Board of Governors (BG) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is holding its regular annual meeting between 5-8 March, 2012. Hungary is currently a member of the policy-making body of the organisation headquartered in Vienna. The Hungarian delegation is represented by Minister of State for Climate Change and Energy Pál Kovács of the Ministry of National Development acting as governor.
In their meeting on 1 March 2012, the heads of state and government of the European Union officially granted candidate status to Serbia. Thereby the Western Balkan country opened a new chapter in its institutional relations with the EU and its accession process.
From 5 March 2012, on the basis of a bilateral agreement Hungary’s Embassy in Damascus represents Canada as well. This is not unprecedented, as Hungary entered into a similar cooperation in Tripoli in 2011 during the revolution in Lybia. The Hungarian diplomacy performed the task it undertook excellently.
On 5 March 2012, in the framework of the Czech Presidency of the Visegrád Cooperation János Martonyi participated in the extended V4 Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Prague. Besides the Foreign Ministers of the Visegrád countries, the Baltic states, and the Eastern Partners; the Foreign Minister of Denmark holding the current Presidency of the Council of the European Union, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, and Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle were also invited to the event, which centred around the Eastern Partnership.
On 15 February 2012 the Hungarian Government decided to organise the International Conference on Cyberspace in Budapest on 4-5 October 2012.
The 2012 data of the central subsystem of the state budget
The Hungarian Government welcomes the decision of the European Commission to accept the answers submitted by Hungary in ninety per cent of the issues raised by the Commission. Therefore, these can be settled now.
The government has been and will be committed to achieving the deficit target. The proof of this commitment is that this is the first government since Hungary’s EU accession in 2004 which cut the budget deficit to below 3 percent.
Another major project is being launched in Hungary. The opening event of the Kecskemét project of Knorr-Bremse’s utility vehicle division was held on 6 March 2012 attended by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The Prime Minister also made a speech.
The Government has approved an equestrian programme named after ‘Kincsem’, the historic Hungarian racehorse. This programme aims to develop the Hungarian equestrian sector and ensure its sustainability, integrating national equestrian education culture, horse riding tourism, stud farms, equestrian sports, hippotherapy and horse racing. Thus Hungary’s role in horse tourism, based on a long and famous tradition of horsemanship, may increase still further within Europe.
The number of churches recognised by Parliament has risen to thirty-two. Parliament decided on the amendment of Act CCVI of 2011 on the Freedom of Conscience and Religion and the Status of Churches, Religious Denominations and Religious Communities on 27 February.
Hungarian-Algerian agricultural relations have gained new impetus. Minister of Rural Development Sándor Fazekas, acting in representation of the Hungarian government, and Algerian Minister of Agriculture Rachid Benaissa, have signed an Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA) in Algiers on the 50th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Hungary would like to thank the people and politicians of the Republics of Lithuania and Poland – including, of course, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk – for standing by Hungary in its efforts to determine its own fate, and for espousing Hungary's right to sovereignty and self-determination.