Fidesz-KDNP’s proposal for new electoral procedures was submitted to Parliament on Tuesday, 18 September. If Parliament votes in favour of the proposal, the law will be sent to the Constitutional Court for preliminary norm control, to make sure it is in line with the country’s Fundamental Law, before the President of Hungary signs it.
On the occasion of the Jewish New Year, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán addressed the Jewish community. The 5773rd Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah in Hebrew – began at the end of last week.
On the invitation of Minister of State for Climate Change and Energy Pál Kovács and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent UN Representative Balázs Csuday, President of the Indonesian Atomic Agency As Natio Lasman and his deputies visited the Paks Nuclear Power Plant on 15 September. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen professional relations between the two countries and map cooperation opportunities in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Minister of State of the Prime Minister's Office János Lázár, Deputy Head of ruling party Fidesz Lajos Kósa and Christian Democrat MP Imre Vejkey submitted the joint proposal of the Fidesz-KDNP coalition for new electoral procedures to the National Assembly on Tuesday, 18 September.
Criminal legal aid between Hungary and other Member States of the European Union will become swifter, the detection of crimes will become more effective and in consequence, local criminal proceedings requiring international cooperation will be closed faster. Additionally, judicial cooperation in criminal cases will become more efficient in the wake of the bill on criminal cooperation with the Member States of the EU which Parliament will begin to debate today.
A ceremony was held in the Parliament Building honouring the Hungarian medal winners of the London 2012 Summer Olympics and the 14th Summer Paralympic Games.
Hungary will host NATO’s top-level military forum, the Chiefs of Defence Meeting next year, the Ministry of Defence informed Hungarian News Agency MTI in a press release on Monday, 17 September.
On 17 September, Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog, State Secretary of Sports Attila Czene and Deputy State Secretary of Sports Pál Szekeres presented state awards and diplomas of merit to athletes who achieved 4th, 5th and 6th places at this year’s Olympics and Paralympics as well as to professionals and sports managers who took part in their training.
The State Secretary opened the two-day conference on cyber security in the Ministry of Interior. State Secretary Felkai stated that the viability of a society is proven by the way it faces and reacts to the challenges. Cyber threats are not only challenges for Hungary but for the whole world as well. The State Secretary emphasized: exceptions cannot be made concerning this question; any illegal cyber activity has to be persecuted.
Gross average wages in the private sector increased by 9.2 percent in July 2012, whereas net wages excluding family tax allowances were up by 6.2 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year – the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported earlier today in a statistical release.
Croatia support Hungary's ideas with relation to the reform of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). State Secretary for Rural Development Zsolt V. Németh met with Croatian Deputy Minister for Rural Development, EU and International Cooperation Luka Čuljak at the informal meeting of the Standing Working Group of European Ministers of Agriculture from South Eastern Europe. Croatia is scheduled to become a member of the European Union on July 1, 2013.
At a press briefing today held by Minister of State for the Prime Minister’s Office János Lázár and Fidesz MEP Ádám Kósa, one of the agenda points was the plan to make polling stations in all Hungarian settlements accessible to people with disabilities. In addition, the Minister of State explained that voluntary voter registration prior to elections would be valid for a four-year period, but that there would also be flexibility.
Head of the Construction Department in the Ministry of Interior Mária Magyar announced, during a conference held on the details of the new e-administration system that from January 2013 it will be significantly easier to apply for the necessary construction-related licenses.
"On Tuesday or Wednesday, the Government will send the IMF and the EU an alternative proposal in connection with loan negotiations in line with the economic policies pursued over the past two years", chief negotiator Mihály Varga said on Monday. In order to have the opportunity to make changes to the budget if necessary, the Government has requested the postponement of the vote on the 2013 budget in Parliament, which was supported by ruling party Fidesz.
Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog, State Secretary for Sports Affairs and Deputy State Secretary for Sports Affairs Pál Szekeres handed over awards to Olympians and Paralympians winning 4th, 5th and 6th place and officials helping their success at this year’s Games. The ceremony honouring members of the Hungarian team was held at the Museum of Fine Arts on 17 September.
Deputy State Secretary for Global Affairs Szabolcs Takács travelled to Geneva on 13 September to participate in a panel discussion of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council regarding intimidation or reprisal against individuals and groups who cooperate with the UN in the field of human rights.
A two-year cooperation agreement has been signed by President of the Hungarian Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (MVH) Péter Palkovics and Saulius Silickas, Director of the Lithuanian National Paying Agency during the 32nd conference of Agricultural Paying Agencies organised within the framework of Cyprus's presidency of the EU, the MVH told Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday.
A ceremony was held honoring late President of the Republic Ferenc Mádl and a commemorative plaque was dedicated to his memory. The tablet was set up at the Ferenc Rákóczi II Hungarian College in Beregszász (Berehove) on September 15, 2012. Ambassador Klára Breuer, Chief of Cabinet to Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi and former Foreign Policy Advisor to President Mádl, gave a speech at the event.
United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta received Defense Minister Csaba Hende for a one-hour discussion in the Pentagon on September 14.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution voicing serious concerns about Iran’s nuclear program 14 September. Hungary as a member of the Board of Governors also voted in favor of the resolution.
The Embassy of the Polish Republic in Budapest, in cooperation with the Polish Institute and the Holocaust Memorial Center, have organised a conference to honour the memory of Henryk Sławik, who saved the lives of thousands of people − Polish military and civilians, as well as some 5,000 Jews – during the Second World War.
The Ministry of Rural Development invited several foreign diplomats accredited to Hungary to the Vidék Mustra rural agricultural producers' show market on Kossuth Square. Minster for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas and State Secretary Gyula Budai greeted the guests at the event. Ambassadors and diplomats from fifteen countries attended the first such market show, which will be followed by several similar presentations for other diplomatic representatives.
Today in Szentgotthárd participants at the fourth sitting of the Hungary – Slovenia Cross-border Joint Committee discussed issues affecting the region’s infrastructure and rural development, cooperation in agriculture, joint action on environmental protection, present and planned links in tourism and culture, and the possibilities for economic cooperation.
The Government of Hungary learnt astonished that the US Mission in Benghazi, Libya was attacked, and the US Ambassador to Libya and three other American citizens lost their lives.
The Székesfehérvár division of IBM Data Storage Systems has increased the number of its employees by 180 after having been awarded 370 million HUF for expanding capacity from the 1.5 billion forints available through the New Széchenyi Plan.