The last formal Council meeting on Justice and Home Affairs under the Danish Presidency was held on 7-8 June 2012, in Luxembourg. On the first day of the meeting home affairs issues were on agenda. Károly Kontrát, Parliamentary State Secretary was the Head of the Hungarian delegation of the Ministry of Interior.
Recently several favourable economic trends have developed in Hungary. Some of these can be identified by data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) and others are manifested by various international comparative studies. The below study presents, after the paper of last week, further trends, which now rather focus on changes identifiable from economic statistics, but we will also analyze competitiveness and purchasing manager indices.
Yet another Freedom House report has been released that is based on a number of incorrect arguments. It is proof of the fact that the Washington-based organisation measures democracies in Central- and Eastern-Europe with double standards. The report reveals that the organisation shows not the slightest sign of empathy or understanding towards the region, and specifically Hungary, that left communism behind twenty years ago but is still in need of a number of changes and reforms on account of the deficiencies of the inherited constitutional system.
Hungary’s delay of a vote on amendments to a disputed central bank law will help resolve differences blocking talks with the International Monetary Fund, said Mihaly Varga, the country’s chief negotiator.
Hungarian governments in the last twenty years combined have not done as much for preventing and reducing corruption and for achieving accountability as the government currently in office has in the past two years.
The Hungarian government utterly condemns the insult recently directed at former Chief Rabbi József Schweitzer, who is one of the most highly respected Hungarian intellectuals.
According to amendments adopted by Parliament on 4 June, the identity of editorial boards’ sources will receive protection, the remits of the Media and Infocommunications Commissioner and the Media Authority will be more precisely defined, programme quotas will change and more programmes will be made accessible to those with hearing impairment.
The relief offered by the government of Hungary to help the Syrian refugees has arrived in Turkey.
The 5th Hungary-India Joint Defence Committee Meeting - which is the highest level forum focusing at elaborating and reviewing the defence cooperation programmes between Hungary and India - was finalized by the signing of the Minutes of the Plenary Session. The Co-Chairmen anonymously stated that the current JDC meeting was the most successful among the last years’ meetings.
We concentrated on sharing experience to maintain high level of border protection in the future too – underlined Mr. Sándor Pintér, Interior Minister in his opening speech of the 20th International Border Police Conference.
The 4th Bilateral Hungarian-Italian National Armaments Directors’ Meeting was held in Budapest between 23rd and 24th May 2012. Lieutenant General Claudio Debertolis, Defence Secretary of Ministry of Defence of Italy and his delegation arrived in Hungary for the invitation of Mr Gábor Márki, Deputy State Secretary for Defence Economy of Ministry of Defence of Hungary.
We had strategically and operationally efficient, forward-looking negotiation in a friendly atmosphere – emphasized Mr. Sándor Pintér Hungarian Minister of Interior after his meeting with Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian Interior Minister.
Plans have been presented of the Várbazár (Castle Bazaar) – a key element in the cityscape of the Buda Castle area. According to the schedule, the project will be completed by 2014, and as a result Budapest will be even more spectacular than it is at present.
In February the Ministry for National Economy invited tenders from micro-, small and medium sized enterprises aimed at creating new jobs.
On Monday morning the Day of National Unity (also known as the Day of National Cohesion) was commemorated in Kossuth tér in front of the Hungarian Parliament with a ceremonial raising of Hungary’s national flag, accompanied by a guard of honour and the playing of the national anthem.
Joseph Blatter, President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), has written a letter to Viktor Orbán thanking the Hungarian prime minister for contributing to the success of the organisation’s congress in Budapest in May. In the letter, which appears on the Prime Minister’s website, the Swiss sports diplomat offers Mr. Orbán his special thanks for a ‘thought-provoking speech’ which the Prime Minister gave at the opening of the federation’s 62nd Congress. Mr. Blatter made special mention of the fact that he was particularly impressed by Mr. Orbán’s statement that ‘fair play is a strength, not a weakness’.
Mihály Varga, Minister without portfolio in charge of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the EU, who swore his oath of office on Monday in Parliament, has asked the Fidesz parliamentary group to consider postponing the final vote on amendments to the Act on the National Bank of Hungary (MNB). According to the original timetable, Monday would have seen the final vote on the Act, following amendments requested by the international organisations.
Dr Sándor Pintér, Interior Minister of Hungary conducted negotiations with Päivi Räsänen, Interior Minister of Finland and Krista Kiuru, Minister of Housing and Communications in Helsinki.
At a ceremony held on May 24 Col. Tibor Rózsa, the Chief of the CIMIC Directorate of the HDF Joint Force Command handed over the responsibilities of chief of staff of NATO Headquarters Sarajevo (NHQ Sa) to his successor to the post, Col. (Eng.) Ferenc Kovács, the commander of the HDF 12th Arrabona Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) Regiment of Győr.
They are the eye and ear of the commander of KFOR, being tasked with supplying the leaders of the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo with various important pieces of information. For this reason, their slogan is “Feel the pulse of Kosovo”.
This year's TeSzedd! ("YouPickIt!") drive was once again successful and effective, with participants collecting several thousand tons of rubbish. Within the framework of the Working Together for a Cleaner Hungary movement, volunteers from all over the country put on their gloves to make the environment more beautiful and cleaner. Hungary's largest rubbish collection initiative took place in 700 settlements and at over 1500 sites. Experience has shown that in places where the TeSzedd! volunteers collected rubbish last year, there was less waste this year.
There are great opportunities in the development of Hungarian-Russian agricultural relations, says State Secretary for Rural Development Gyula Budai, who held discussion with Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Alexander Chernogorov on Wednesday in Moscow.
’We can look back on the last two years as a successful period, because Hungary has been able to stabilise itself’: this is how Prime Minister Viktor Orbán summed up the Government’s first two years in office. He drew attention to the fact that government finances are stable, that next year the budget deficit will continue to be under three per cent, and that a new constitution has been created.
The first Sándor Végh International String Quartet Competition starts on June 4 in Budapest. The event is an important part of a series of commemorations this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the world-famous violinist, chamber musician and conductor Sándor Végh, who was one of the internationally best-known Hungarian musicians of the 20th century.
Although the number of employed increased by 80 000 altogether in the past two years in Hungary, in several labour market segments further apt measures are required in order to reach EU average figures.