Hungary has a principled and consistent position concerning the crisis in Syria. We have made it clear that the Assad regime has lost its legitimacy to govern Syria because it has waged a war against its own people without any scruples.
The central sub-sector of the state budget posted a deficit of HUF 110.0bn for the month of August 2013. The financial transfer data of the central budget at the end of August is in line with the Government’s prior expectations. Revenues and expenditures anticipated for the current and the following months – including an outstanding surplus prognosticated for the month of December – confirm the expectation that this year’s below 3 percent deficit target will be met.
Hungary has accepted the European Commission’s five percent correction proposal in the case of ten EU-funded operative programmes, which was necessary due to deficiencies in earlier contracts, Minister of State heading the Prime Minister’s Office and recently appointed Government Commissioner in charge of the National Development Agency János Lázár announced following talks with European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn in Brussels.
The repayment of its 2008 loan to the International Monetary Fund and the abrogation of the excessive deficit procedure launched by the European Union upon the country’s accession to the EU mark Hungary’s economic upswing and the Government forecasts 2 per cent growth in 2014, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told lawmakers in his pre-agenda speech on Monday at the opening of the autumn session of Parliament.
In future, all contracts officially prepared by lawyers would include a time-stamped sticker, making undated contracts concluded earlier, including illegal, so-called "pocket contracts" useless, Chairman of the Hungarian Bar Association János Bánáti said on Friday in Budapest at the meeting of the inter-ministerial committee set up to examine the issue of illegal contracts, explaining the organisation's proposal. The Ministry of Rural Development's Parliamentary State Secretary, Gyula Budai, spoke to kormany.hu about the issue.
A new era in Hungarian rural policy began in 2010, the essence of which is that the development of villages is an issue of key national importance and there is a need for even the smallest settlements, said Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas on Friday in Kuncsor at the inauguration of the new village service centre.
The Hungarian Government made the final decision on Wednesday that Hungary would be represented at the Milan Expo to be held between 1 May and 31 October 2015, in Italy. Some 128 countries have indicated they will be participating and a total of 20 million guests are expected during the six months of the event.
The first Suzuki SX4 S-CROSS, a compact crossover design for both city and leisure introducing many innovative features, was jointly driven off the production line at the car manufacturer's plant in Esztergom by President and CEO of Suzuki Motor Corporation Osamu Suzuki and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
According to preliminary data for July by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the volume of industrial production was 4.8 percent higher compared to the level one year ago. This figure has been an outstanding one within the past couple of months. Thus, the Government’s aspiration to turn Hungary into a European production hub is about to be fulfilled.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán considers amending foreign exchange mortgage contracts a moral responsibility for banks. In public Kossuth radio’s morning show 180 minutes, he also highlighted that the recent economic data are signs of Hungary’s recovery.
The National Development Agency (NDA) will take firmer action than previously against offshore companies, Minister of State heading the Prime Minister’s Office János Lázár said on Thursday. 44 thousand applicants who have received EU funding through NDA tenders will soon receive a call to fill out a new statement, he explained.
The latest data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) point to investment growth within the Hungarian economy, which was last seen before the onset of the crisis, in 2007. In comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year, expansion was 4.6 percent in Q1 2013, which exceeds even the figure of 2.6 percent registered in the fourth quarter of 2007.
It is the responsibility of Central Europe to emphasise the advantages of the European integration of the Western Balkans and to not allow „enlargement fatigue” to spread across the whole European Union, MFA Deputy State Secretary for Global Affairs and Political Director Szabolcs Takács declared at the Krynica Economic Forum in Poland, on September 4.
The Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry holds its presidential meeting on the 4th-5th of September in Budapest in memory of the foundation of the 20-year old German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog met with the Presidency of the Chamber within the framework of a gala lunch.
On the fiftieth anniversary of his death, I pay tribute to the memory of Robert Schuman, who was one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union, and served as a Prime Minister and a Foreign Minister of France.
Minister of State for European Affairs Enikő Győri, and MFA European Director Bálint Ódor hosted a delegation of the French Senate's French-Hungarian Friendship Group, on September 4.
A book can create or reinforce friendships between nations, Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics stated at the opening of the 26th Moscow International Book Fair on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent greetings in a letter to the Hungarian Jewish community and their leaders on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. He wished the community and their leaders a "good and sweet year".
Hungary's government has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Hewlett Packard Hungary. The company announced it is creating 175 new jobs in Hungary.
The impetus for the EU accession talks with Turkey must be maintained, because if the talks came to a halt, it would send a negative message to both Turkey and the European public, said Deputy State Secretary Gergely Prőhle following a strategic forum held in Bled, Slovenia, where Central European policy-makers discussed regional and European issues.