Embassy of Hungary, Brasília, May 18th, 2012
(As prepared for delivery)
Viktor Orbán delivered a speech to Hungarians living in the US in the Chicago St. Stephen Church on the occasion of his visit to the United States.
Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Admiral James Stavridis paid a three-day official visit to Afghanistan. He was accompanied by Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, the Ambassador of the United States of America to Budapest, who thanked the Hungarian troops for their sacrifice in serving with NATO in Afghanistan.
This weekend, between 18 and 20 May, an equestrian festival will be held in Ópusztaszer which is the largest of its kind in the Carpathian Basin. The aim of the event is preservation and revival of equestrian traditions.
The next step is taken in order to establish long term fiscal sustainability and reduce general government debt.
Tamás Fellegi, outgoing chief negotiator with financial organisations, announced at a Budapest financial summit on Thursday that IMF/EU negotiations can start in July, with an expected agreement in the autumn.
On 17 May, Deputy Minister of State for Church, Civil Society and Nationality Affairs Csaba Latorcai had talks in Nagyvárad/ Oradea with the German Minister of the Interior Christoph Bergner. Both sides agreed that Germans in Hungary play an essential, bridge-building role in relations between the two countries.
After several months of specialist and public consultations, at its meeting on Wednesday the Government adopted the National Core Curriculum, which is planned to take effect in 2013. The new Curriculum is the work of 150 specialists, including academics and teachers. Its adoption was announced by the new Minister for Human Resources, Zoltán Balog, and Minister of State for Education, Rózsa Hoffmann.
The new National Core Curriculum (NAT) was accepted by the Government. Praising the new document the Minister of Social Resources said: „It can be a cohesion to our nation.”
The Hungarian Foreign Minister had business discussions in Sao Paulo, the economic and financial centre of Brazil on May 17th, 2012.
A cooperation agreement has been signed by the Secretary of Social, Family and Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Human Resources and OTP Bank in Budapest on 15th May 2012 in order to ensure that the bank would develop a value-keeping and personalized offer for the management of the savings of children in care.
‘This Conference has great significance, as it creates an excellent forum to discuss healthcare related questions,’ said Miklós Szócska, Minister of State for Health at a unique professional workshop organized by Figyelő, attended by several previous Ministers of Health of Hungary.
In Q1 2012 gross average wages of the national economy increased by 4.4 percent, whereas net wages excluding family tax benefits increased by 1.6 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year – the KSH has reported earlier today in its statistical release.
The Foreign Ministry of Romania summoned Oszkár Füzes, Hungary’s Ambassador to Bucharest on 16 May 2012. In the absence of the Ambassador, Ádám Balázs fulfilled the request as chargé d’affaires ad interim.
The European Commission has recently published its study titled General Government Data of spring 2012, which provides a comprehensive overview of the fiscal balances and general government debt of EU countries for 2011 as well as relevant projections for 2012 and 2013. According to the figures published by the Commission, with regard to fiscal balances of 2011 Hungary has been a top performer in Europe: our surplus of 4.3 percent is much more favourable than the GDP deficit of 4.5 percent in the EU and 4.1 percent in the euro-zone.
2012 is the European year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations in the European Union. This term refers to a social and individual practice whereby quality of life in old age can be improved. This does not only include economic activity and staying in the labour market but also active participation in social, cultural and civil life, as well as social reintegration.
Minister of State for Climate Change and Energy Pál Kovács represented the Hungarian Ministry of National Development at the plenary session of the European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) held on 14-15 May 2012 in Bratislava.
Tibor Navracsics, the minister of justice and public administration, held talks with Russian justice minister Aleksandr Konovalov in Saint Petersburg on Thursday on the sidelines of the 2nd International Legal Forum.
János Martonyi met the Hungarian community in the Hungarian House of Sao Paulo on May 16th, 2012. The Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasised in his speech the fact that the new Fundamental Law of Hungary took responsibility for the Hungarian communities and the importance of and support for the preservation of national identity.
The total amount requested in the applications submitted for the sub-programme to support the establishment of solar collector systems covers the HUF 2.97 billion available for this purpose under the New Széchenyi Plan Green Investment Scheme. Once the deadline extended to 15 May 2012 was over, the Ministry of National Development closed the scheme. Altogether 5,686 applications were received, more than 2,300 of which have been assessed favourably up to now. Evaluation of the remaining applications is in progress.
Mr László Felkai, State Secretary of Ministry of Interior and Mr Gottfried Köfner, UNHCR’s Regional Representative for Central Europe opened a joint exhibition about the world’s stateless people entitled “Nowhere People – Hazátlanul” which will be held on 16-31 May 2012 in the Palace of Arts (MÜPA).
Talks between Tibor Navracsics, the minister of justice and public administration, and Finnish politicians in Helsinki on Wednesday focused on reform of the justice system and public administration.
Minister of National Development Zsuzsanna Németh laid the foundation stone of the new clinical block of the University of Szeged on 15 May 2012.
Besides the slow increase in illicit drug use, the consumption of designer drugs dramatically increased in Hungary between 2009 and 2011. These psychoactive substances with more or less unpredictable effects are spreading apace especially among the youth. Due to their rapidly changing composition, prohibiting and penalizing them presented serious problems. The Government has implemented new instruments against the distribution of drugs, and the early results have already been achieved.
Within the framework of the Hungarian foreign policy’s global opening, János Martonyi pays an official visit to Brazil, the country with the fifth largest territory and the sixth largest economy in the world on 15-18 May 2012.