This year, the Day of National Unity will be remembered for the fourth time on the 4th of June; date of the signing of the Treaty of Trianon. The programmes of the national event are built again around the cross-border unity of the Hungarian culture to strengthen the ties between Hungarians living in- and outside of the country. According to the Parliament’s decision, the focus of the day is not on the tragic experience of loss, but rather the reality of the mind-lifting experience of belonging together.
Transport cooperation between the Visegrád Four countries helps raise the competitiveness of the region, Hungary's Minister for National Development, Zsuzsanna Németh, said in Balatonfüred on Friday.
“You can continue to rely, in all respects, on the government of Hungary and the municipal leaders of Szombathely, and likewise, we continue to rely on you”, Minister of Defence Csaba Hende said during a factory tour held in honor of the German owners of BPW-Hungary Ltd.
The transaction whereby NISZ Nemzeti Infokommunikációs Szolgáltató Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság (NISZ) owned by the State of Hungary repurchased the 100% stake of Antenna Hungária Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság (AH) from the French group TDF S.A. (TDF) has now been concluded.
In Q1 2014, the volume of investment increased by 22.6 percent year-on-year. Whereas the 15 percent growth in the previous quarter was a ten-year record high, current data show an unprecedented increase. As all major economic sectors have contributed to the steady improvement which has been observed in the past four quarters, it can be concluded that Hungarian economic growth has been placed on a sound footing.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced the names of his candidates for ministers of his next government, in a letter sent to Speaker of Parliament Laszlo Kövér.
The SZÉP Card has recently been the growth engine of domestic tourism, Deputy State Secretary for Tourism Viktória Horváth said at the ninth national conference of the Hungarian Tourism Destination Management Association (TDM) held in the spa city of Hajdúszoboszló.
Péter Garai, Deputy State Secretary for Social Inclusion of the Ministry of Human Resources, opened the Bódvalenke Sure Start Children’s Centre known as Freskófalu (Fresco Village) on Thursday. The Deputy State Secretary said in his speech that there are currently children’s centres in more than 110 localities throughout the country. Sure Start Children’s Centres are being established in the country’s most disadvantaged regions as well as in disadvantaged localities or districts with large Roma populations.
As far as investment in Hungary is concerned, post-crisis years had been characterized by diminishing investment volume. This trend was reversed in 2013 when year-on-year growth of 7.2 percent was recorded. Within that, the investment volume of machinery and equipment gained 8.5 percent, while that of the construction sector was up by 5.9 percent. In 2013, business environment also had a favourable impact on the decisions of enterprises: improved lending and the speed-up of the utilization of EU funds have both contributed to the positive U-turn in the propensity of the private sector to invest.
According to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), positive employment trends are continuing. In the period February-April 2014, the number of those aged 15-74 years in employment increased by 238 thousand, from 3 million 869 thousand one year ago to 4 million 107 thousand. In this period, the number of those in employment was 375 thousand more in comparison to the corresponding period of 2010. Although part of this growth is attributable to the effect of public work programmes and migration, thanks to the Government’s successful employment stimulus schemes, such as the First Job Guarantee Programme, housing subsidy or the programme supporting the creation of SME jobs, the private sector’s share of employment growth is increasing.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary calls upon Sudan to withdraw a sentence under which a woman charged with apostasy would be executed.
State Minister for Social and Family Affairs Miklós Soltész handed over on Wednesday in Budapest “Family-friendly Workplace” awards to 43 institutions and enterprises in four categories. There were over 300 applicants for the awards, which were divided into four categories: government institutions, large, medium and small businesses. Each category had a special prize for one winner while the rest received a plaque denoting their achievement.
With immense efforts, Hungary has succeeded in restoring its European prestige in the field of aviation defence, Deputy State Secretary for Transport Zoltán Schváb said at the Professional Training and Scientific Conference of Aviation Defence Officers in Debrecen on 28 May, 2014.
Leaders of the European Union need to make decisions concerning the next few years of the community before personnel questions are put on the agenda, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Brussels on Tuesday.
Following the eight-year record high registered in February, retail sales were record-breaking again, gaining 8.5 percent in March. This figure is indicating steady and continuous improvement of domestic consumption. The latest data has been the result of lower utility costs, family tax allowance, record-high increase in employment, higher wages in real terms and improving consumer sentiment. As cash machines have recently been connected on-line to the tax authority, it also created more transparency in the economy and thus this measure also contributed to growth.
Hungary's Government Spokesperson András Giró-Szász stated that the Government would assess the European Court of Human Rights' ruling and make a decision - if necessary.
Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén and Minister for Human Resources Zoltán Balog received Hungary’s thirteen recently elected nationalities representatives in Parliament today on the occasion of their taking office.
The exhibition is held at the HUNGEXPO Budapest Fair Center on 27-30 May 2014 with the participation of 12 countries and more than 270 exhibitors.
Clear and convincing support for Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s newly elected president, has reinforced the legitimacy of the holders of power in Kiev, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zsolt Németh said 26 May 2014.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns the recent acts of terrorism in Nigeria; any form of terrorism is unacceptable and constitute serious crimes.
„We understand the bitterness and frustration of the German Social Democrats with regard to the EP elections, but this bitterness and frustration does not give them the right to behave in this manner in relation any citizen or democratic organisation of the EU”, Government Spokesperson András Giró-Szász said in reaction to the comments made by the President of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Polling stations set up at foreign missions for the election of Hungarian representatives to the European Parliament closed at 7pm 25 May 2014, Budapest time.
Monika Balatoni, Minister of State for Public Diplomacy and Relations of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice announced that the Ministry denounces a social network site for the suspicion of crime of misusing personal data at a press conference in Budapest this Friday.
This Friday in Budapest Minister of Public Administration and Justice Tibor Navracsics asked the Members of the European Parliament from governing Hungarian parties Fidesz-KDNP to defend the Erzsébet Programme.
Following a meeting of the EU Military Committee, the military leaders’ program in Brussels continued with the NATO Chiefs of Defence meeting held on May 21–22. The timeliness of this meeting is unquestionable, as NATO has to react to the developments of the crisis in Ukraine, the lessons learned must be subjected to analysis and the impact of events on NATO’s threat assessment and strategic plans must be evaluated. The meeting is at once a preparation for an upcoming defence ministerial meeting in June, and also for the NATO Summit to be held in Wales in September.