Preliminary figures show that about one thousand litres of blood were donated to Hungary’s National Blood Service (OVSZ) at twenty-seven venues across the country – in seven ministries, in each county-town and in every Government office – on the blood donation day specially organised for government officials.
The general government deficit excluding local governments stood at HUF 724.2 billion at the end of May 2011 or making 105.4 per cent of the annual projection. In 2010, the deficit of the central government level made up HUF 736.2 billion by the end of May or 84.6 per cent of the annual target. In the relevant period, the deficit of the central government level had been HUF 99.2 billion. In this context, the 2011 balance improved by HUF 41.2 billion.
'The well-being of a nation and a community can only truly be measured by looking at the situation of its children,’ said Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Public Administration and Justice at the conference ‘Rights of Sick Children’, which was held on Tuesday at the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner.
As rotating President of the Agricultural and Fisheries Council, The Minister of Rural Development has convened a meeting of his EU colleagues for Tuesday June 7 in Luxembourg to analyse and discuss the effects of the German E. coli epidemic on the vegetable and fruit sector.
Talks are due to continue on 6 June 2011 under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention with the struggle against climate change in focus. The European Union will be represented at the Bonn negotiations by the Hungarian Presidency and the European Commission. The purpose of the meeting, which is scheduled to finish on 17 June, is to bring about a new, comprehensive, global, and legally binding climate change agreement for the period to follow the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Hungarian Presidency considers the cooperation with NGOs essential, Minister of State of the Foreign Ministry, Enikő Győri said in her welcoming speech, on 3 June 2011 in Budapest, on Social Enterprise Day.
The Hungarian Government has decided to answer positively the request of the Government of the United States to assume the protection of American diplomatic and consular interests in Libya.
Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Deputy State Secretary for European Union and International Affairs of the Ministry of National Development Kovács Tamás Iván addressed the participants on the first day of the 54th memorial session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, organised in Vienna on 1 June 2011 .
‘Hungary is home to all nationalities living here,’ said Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Justice on Monday, when he signed a strategic partnership agreement with the leaders of the thirteen self-governments of nationalities living in Hungary. Tibor Navracsics said at the signing ceremony that the purpose of the statutory strategic partnership agreements is the achievement of better legislation. This also means that better conditions can be created for nationalities.
Poland wishes to continue the Hungarian Presidency’s efforts to make the EU stronger and more dynamic, stressed the Secretaries of State for EU Integration of both countries, at a press conference in Budapest on 2 June 2011; after discussing the imminent takeover of the Presidency. The Polish Secretary of State called the Hungarian Presidency highly successful.
Enikő Győri, Minister of State for EU Affairs of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, invited the present and the forthcoming Presidency Trios’ Ministers of State for EU affairs, to a working dinner in Budapest, on 1 June 2011. The meeting focused on the preparations for the Presidency takeover.
From now on, auxiliary police organisations can only pursue their activities within the community of their registered headquarters, and any auxiliary police personnel breaking the law may receive a prison sentence or a fine of up to HUF 150,000. As a result of recent violent events related to auxiliary police organisations – including in Gyöngyöspata – on 16 May the National Assembly adopted legislative changes in order to maintain order in the public domain. These changes, which had been recommended by the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, have now entered into force.
The goal, that the prisons should be self-sufficient, remains – said Sándor Pintér, the Minister of Interior at the press-conference held for the official hand over of the Metropolitan Penal Institution’s Gyorskocsi street object.
The Agricultural Ministers of the EU labelled the E. coli bacteria infection a European problem at the informal meeting of the Agriculture Council held on 31 May 2011 in Debrecen. The Hungarian Presidency volunteered to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Council to discuss the cucumber crisis if necessary.
The Government is determined to address the potential social and financial stability problems that arose from wide-scale foreign currency mortgage lending activity that took place in the years preceding the crisis.
At present there are no contaminated Spanish vegetables in Hungary, all tests so far have proved negative - announced Endre Kardeván, Under Secretary of the Ministry for Rural Development responsible for Food Chain Supervision and Agricultural Administration, on Tuesday in Debrecen.
At the invitation of Deputy Secretary of State for EU Affairs, Bálint Ódor, the European Directors of the present Spanish–Belgian–Hungarian and the upcoming Polish–Danish–Cypriot Presidency Trio, met on 30 May 2011 in Budapest. The aim of the consultations was to prepare for a smooth takeover between the Trios.
The end of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be marked by a colourful three-day series of events, between 24 and 26 June. ‘The six-month presidency has been a good opportunity to show ourselves and our colourful culture,’ government spokesperson Anna Nagy said at the press conference announcing the events.
Hungary, with the environmental provisions of its new Constitution, is providing strong background support for the operation of organisations such as IMPEL (the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law), which was created to apply and enforce the EU’s environmental legislation – said Sándor Fazekas, Minister for Rural Development, at the international organisation's 7th General Assembly. The event – in which environmental protection bodies from thirty countries were represented – was organised as part of Hungary’s EU presidency.
A major cause of the economic crisis is the uncontrollable increase of state debt, and the remedy is a work-driven economy, declared Enikő Győri, Minister of State for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the World Investment Conference held in La Baule, Western France, on 26 May 2011.