The Hungarian Presidency continues to strive to conclude discussions with Croatia by June, Minister of State for EU Affairs, Enikő Győri said, reassuring her hosts in Zagreb, on 28 April 2011; after conducting discussions with Chief Advisor to the Croatian Prime Minister Davor Stier and Foreign State Secretary for European Integration Andrej Plenković.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs invites tenders for the provision of services related to the receipt of applications for Schengen visas in New Delhi. Deadline for submission of tenders: 11 May, 2011.
Maj. Gen. Markus Kneip, Commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces Provincial Reconstruction Team (HDF PRT) visited Camp Pannonia in mid-April.
Tibor Navracsics, Minister for Public Administration and Justice, is initiating amendment of legislation relating to government officials with his proposal submitted to the National Assembly. The parliamentary debate on the bill begins in May and the new legislation can come into force on 1 June. The proposed legislation will give effective legal protection to government officials and civil servants in accordance with the Constitution by regulating reasons for dismissal, preventing dismissal without valid grounds, and expanding review procedures for appeals against dismissal.
At a conference in Debrecen László Szászfalvi, Minister of State for Minister of State for Church, Civil Society and Nationality Affairs, said that the Government seeks to support civic groups which show real results and progressive effort, instead of supporting organisations which ‘only exist on paper’; in this field the Government regards the entire Carpathian Basin as a unity.
Members of the Military Attaché Corps accredited to Budapest were shown static and dynamic displays at Pápa Airbase on 21 April.
Extremely intensive cleanup and restoration works are being carried out after the red sludge disaster: as previously agreed, by the end of June the Government will have compensated all the families affected. New homes for those needing them are being built in the residential estates of Devecser and Kolontár, and they will be handed over to the owners by 30 June, the statutorily agreed deadline.
The Government and its partners in civil society are organising the largest voluntary campaign ever undertaken in the country, announced Bence Rétvári, the Minister of State for Public Administration and Justice at a press conference held by Feneketlen Lake in Újbuda, Budapest.
On April 18 2011 the Hungarian Parliament adopted Hungary’s new Fundamental Law, which was signed in a ceremonial event by the President of Hungary, Pál Schmitt, on Easter Monday, 25 April 2011. The new Fundamental Law will come into effect on 1 January 2012.
Minister of National Development and Government Commissioner for Hungarian-Chinese Economic Relations Tamás Fellegi regarded the intensive discussions closed on Thursday in China as highly positive and successful. Mr Fellegi pointed out: their negotiating parties agreed that in addition to improving the quality of trade relations, the creation of a new type of long-term strategic co-operation between the two countries was of outstanding significance.
The meeting of EU Defence Policy Directors was held on 20 April 2011 in Brussels, in order to prepare the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Defence Ministers’ composition scheduled for May in Brussels.
Minister of National Development and Government Commissioner for Hungarian-Chinese Economic Relations Tamás Fellegi opened the visa office of the Hungarian Consulate General in Chongqing, the largest city in the central region of Chinese economic development, on 20 April, 2011. The event was attended by Consul General Tamás Hajba and Vice-President of Parliament István Újhelyi.
Minister of State for Infocommunication, Zsolt Nyitrai of the Ministry of National Development opened the two-day conference Future of Audiovisual Industry organised by the Hungarian Presidency in the Ethnographical Museum in Budapest, on 19 April 2011. In his speech Mr. Nyitrai pointed out: in respect of audiovisual content, the interests of consumers and authors of creative content must be approximated.
‘God bless the Hungarians!’ – Hungary’s new Constitution, which was adopted today by the Hungarian Parliament, begins with the first line of the National Anthem. More than twenty years after the political transition of 1989/90, our country has discarded its current fundamental law, which was based on the Soviet model and had been adopted as a temporary legislative framework. This past is being symbolically left behind with adoption of the new Constitution.
President and CEO of the Hungarian Railways (MÁV Zrt.), Ferenc Szarvas signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation with the leader of China Railway Construction Corporation in Beijing, on 19 April 2011. Mr. Szarvas visited China as a member of a delegation led by Minister of National Development and Government Commissioner for Hungarian-Chinese relations Tamás Fellegi.
The Hungarian troops returning from HDF KAIA SOG (Hungarian Defence Forces Staff Officer Group at Kaia International Airport) were welcomed at HDF 59th Szentgyörgyi Dezső Air Base, in Kecskemét. At the welcome home ceremony Minister of Defence Csaba Hende said: ’’ The six-month job of the Hungarian contingent has been highly evaluated by the NATO ISAF Command.”
The next meeting of EU Defence Policy Directors will be held on 20 April 2011 in Brussels. This meeting prepares the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Defence Ministers’ composition scheduled for May in Brussels.
’’We have not faced the tragedy of the Holocaust for forty years and we have not done it after the change of the regime, either. We cannot avoid facing what we have lost. We have to remember to be able to say with a strong will and conviction that never, never, never again can something like this happen again.” Minister of Defence Csaba Hende said at the Holocaust commemorative event held in the garden of the former synagogue of Győr on 15 April.
’’The Italian and Hungarian nations have a thousand years of common history. ” Minister of Defence Csaba Hende emphasized in his opening speech at the exhibition called ’Virtual Hungary’ in Turin, Italy, on 14 April.
On invitation from China, in his capacity as Government Commissioner for Hungarian-Chinese Economic Relations, Tamás Fellegi will have talks with high-ranking government officials, businessmen and investors in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shenzhen and Chongqing between 15-22 April 2011.
At the opening of this exhibition we are not only commemorating a historic tragedy, but also the unshakeable solidarity of nations manifest in the common experience of hard times, said Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Public Administration and Justice on Saturday, at the Laczkó Dezső Museum in Veszprém. The exhibition commemorates the victims of the Katyń Massacre.
They would also play a role in reuniting the nation Erika Szabó, Minister of State for Regional Public Administration and Elections, visited another government office and ‘government window’ (i.e. integrated public administration customer office) in Debrecen on Thursday. In the course of this visit, not only did she ask the employees about their experiences so far, but she also met a group of people from Nagyvárad (Oradea) who have submitted their simplified naturalisation applications there.
Creating the “Strong Europe” chosen for the motto of the European Union’s Hungarian Presidency assumes a stronger European economy. Strong European economy requires fast and consistent implementation of structural reforms designed to serve rapid recovery from the crisis, improvement of Europe’s economic competitiveness as well as the long-term objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
In order to provide for the successful implementation of the Structural Reform Programme those bottlenecks have been identified that, if handled effectively, will ensure the attainability of economic policy objectives. The Convergence Programme identifies two such bottlenecks: one is the present low level of employment and the other is financial risks.
Stepping up fast-start climate financing commitments – taking action on adaptation needs of the most vulnerable countries.