On 27 January 2011, Minister for National Development Dr Tamás Fellegi delivered a lecture at the general meeting of the Association of International Companies in Hungary. The minister familiarised the top executives of international companies with the Government’s economic policy aimed at job creation. Dr Tamás Fellegi confirmed that the Government was committed to the creation of a stable and predictable economic and regulatory environment. He requested co-operation from the participants in the interest of restoring investor confidence in Hungary.
NATO Military Committee meets in Chiefs of Defence Staff (CHODs) session in Brussels on 26 and 27 January. The Hungarian military delegation is led by General Tibor Benkő, Chief of Defence Staff.
On 26 January 2011, Minister of State for info-communication Dr Zsolt Nyitrai elaborated on the objectives set in this field before the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) of the European Parliament in Brussels. The presidency programme is aimed primarily at the improvement of the information society and laying the foundations of a single digital market. Hungary is ready to take an active role in the first Digital Agenda Assembly to be held in June 2011. The standing committee agreed with the priorities set for the field by the Hungarian Presidency.
On 26 January 2011, Minister of National Development Dr Tamás Fellegi expounded the programme of the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union in front of three standing committees of the European Parliament in Brussels. During the hearings, the minister gave account of energy, regional development and climate policy priorities. The European Parliament’s committees supported the programmes compiled in these special fields.
Since the constant aggravation of the2008 global economic crisis, it has been clear that the prioritised issue of the 2010s will definitely be that of government debt in economic terms. The crisis management measures taken by the Western states and the huge amounts spent to save the financial sector induced fast-growing indebtedness for these countries.
The so-far complicated and, in certain aspects, often lavish system of public employment is about to be replaced by the transparent and financially viable national public employment programme of the government that acknowledges value-creating work.
On 25 January 2011, Minister for National Development Dr Tamás Fellegi attended a meeting organised in Bratislava for the energy ministers of the countries of the Visegrád Co-operation (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic). The most significant questions discussed at the meeting convened by the Slovak Presidency of the V4 included the opportunities of guaranteeing the security of energy supply and the North-South Energy Corridor. The meeting was closed by a statement signed by the V4 ministers.
An informal meeting of EU Defence Policy Directors will be held on 27-28 January 2011 in Budapest.
At his Milano stop of the Tour des Capitales series of talks, Minister for National Development Tamás Fellegi held bilateral discussions with Italian Minister of the Economy Paolo Romani on 24 January 2011. Under the auspices of the Hungarian EU Presidency, the participants overviewed the semi-annual priorities of the units reporting to the Hungarian Minister of National Development in the areas of European Union competence.
Minister of Defence of Hungary Dr Csaba Hende paid an official visit to Croatia at the invitation of Minister of Defence of Croatia Davor Bozinovic. At the joined press conference held in Osijek Croatian-Hungarian military relations were praised.
New Széchenyi Plan road show around the country sets off on 20 January 2911 Top officials have set out from the Ministry of National Development and the National Development Agency to familiarise rural chambers of industry and businesses with the remade development policy at jointly organised programmes.
Minister of Defence Dr Csaba Hende has paid an official visit to Paris to have talks with the Minister of Defence of France, Alain Juppé. During the meeting priorities of the Hungarian EU Presidency, Common Security and Defence Policy issues and bilateral military relations have been discussed.
Further environmental projects will start soon implementation in the framework of the Swiss-Hungarian Co-operation Programme. Support agreements for the two projects were signed on 20 January 2011 in the presence of Hungarian Minister of National Development Dr Tamás Fellegi and Swiss Minister of Economic Affairs Johann Schneider-Ammann. The approximately CHF 11 million contribution may be used for updating environment protection monitoring systems in the near future.
Minister of Defence of the Hungarian Republic and Slovak Minister of Defence Lubomir Galko paid tribute to the memory of the victims crashed in Hejce five years ago. “The soldiers have made every effort to establish peace in a broken, war-ridden country,” Dr Csaba Hende said.
The Hungarian soldiers killed at river Don in World War II were publicly commemorated for the seventeenth time at the Memorial Chapel in Pákozd.
The troops of the Hungarian PRT will face great challenges in the next few weeks. The allied forces have completed their operations and banished the insurgents. The CIMIC and PSYOPS teams have been doing their best to improve the living conditions of the people in the region.
Hungarian Defence Forces have taken the delivery of ten new US-made armoured vehicles at Camp Pannonia. The MRAPs will be used by the troops in Afghanistan.
Minister of Defence of Hungary has had talks with High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security of the European Union.
The troops of HDF National Support Element Afghanistan have started to take over and deliver the American armored fighting vehicles to Mazar-e Sharif.
On 14 January 2011, Prime Minister Dr Viktor Orbán, Minister for National Development Dr Tamás Fellegi and Minister of the National Economy Dr György Matolcsy presented the new Széchenyi Plan in Budapest. Numerous politicians and public figures attended the inaugural meeting in Budapest Mariott Hotel along with all business, non-profit, local government and non-government partners, who have contributed to the elaboration of the New Széchenyi Plan with their useful proposals.
Norwegian Minister of Defence Grete Faremo paid a two-day official visit to Budapest.
On 10 January 2011 Minister for National Development Dr. Tamás Fellegi had talks with French Minister of Industry, Energy and Digital Economy, Eric Besson and Minister of Environment Protection, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.
Hungary attaches outstanding significance to maintaining the weight and structure of Cohesion Policy during its Presidency,
Smart spectrum strategy needed for further telecoms growth key EU institutional players agree
The 2010 budget constructed and left behind by the Socialist government is characterized by overestimated revenues, underestimated expenditures and, thus, an unrealistic deficit target. The landmines hidden in this year‟s budget have been overlooked by, among other financial organizations, the Fiscal Council. The 500bn HUF “problem” has been corrected by the extraordinary measures taken by the Government of National Issues to keep the deficit target of 3.8, which is an exceptionally low figure in the EU.