On 15 July 2010, Fellegi Tamás, minister for national development, conducted brief talks with the delegation of the European Commission headed by Catherine Day, chief secretary, in Budapest.
The new Hungarian government seeks to expand, in a geographic sense, its Central European policy in all directions, Foreign Minister János Martonyi said during his visit to Vienna on July 13, 2010. The head of Hungarian diplomacy travelled to Austria at the invitation of his Austrian counterpart, Michael Spindelegger. He was received on a courtesy visit also by the Federal President, Heinz Fischer.
The Programme of National Cooperation: Work, Home, Family, Health, Order
Office of the National Assembly
Document Number: H/47
Received: 22 May
Foreign Minister János Martonyi has sent a telegram to his Slovak counterpart Mikuláš Dzurinda, congratulating him on his appointment.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi represented Hungary at the Croatia Summit, attended by high-ranking officials from the European Union and Balkan countries, held in Dubrovnik.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi on July 9, 2010 met Össur Skarphédinsson, Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade, during Mr Skarphédinsson’s official visit to Hungary.
Knorr-Bremse Concern, the leading brake-system manufacturers in the world, increased the number of its employees by over 200, almost twice as many as planned, in two years. The number of staff of the factory originally planned was 730, instead of which the number of employees at the company is over 800 at present; furthermore, according to the leadership, this number may even reach 900 this year. Knorr-Bremse Companies Group, with an over 100-year-long history, has moved to a new base of operations, and, during the course of the investment, constructed a new factory unit, with 22,600 m² of useful floor-space, on a close-to 9 hectare area on Helsinki út.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi paid a visit to Berlin on July 8 and was received by Guido Westerwelle, German Vice-Chancellor and foreign minister, on an introductory meeting.
The main topics of discussion during the recent visit to France by Foreign Minister János Martonyi were the citizenship law, Slovak-Hungarian relations, restoring the economy to health and Hungary’s impending turn at the EU rotating presidency. Mr Martonyi held talks with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner in Paris on July 7, 2010. He also met Christine Lagarde, the economy minister, Pierre Lellouche, state secretary for European affairs and Jean-David Levitte, chief advisor to the French president.
Hungary’s foreign ministry today launched a case against Slovakia at the European Court for denying President László Sólyom entry to its territory on August 21, 2009, with reference to the directive on the free movement of persons.
The debate of the package of bills has started with the parliamentary introduction of the modification of the public procurement act. In the introduction, János Fónagy, the political State Secretary of the Ministry of National Development emphasised that the aim of the Government with the modification of the act was to put small- and medium-sized enterprises in a position, to simplify procedures and to stem corruption enmeshing everything.
Speech of Viktor Orbán on the celebration of National Day, Budapest.
The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs announce that the Hungarian Presidency of the Visegrad Group (V4) ended on 30 June 2010 and Slovakia has taken over the V4 Presidency from 1 July 2010 until 30 June 2011.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister, János Martonyi, paid a one-day official visit to Bucharest on June 29, 2010, at the invitation of Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi.
On June 25, 2010, Parliamentary State Secretary Zsolt Németh received Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, in the Foreign Ministry for a courtesy visit.
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry takes the position that, on the basis of the EU 2004/38/EK guidelines on the free movement of persons, Slovakia should not have denied President of the Republic Lászlo Sólyom entry to its territory; Hungary will pursue the case against Slovakia, taking it to the European Court of Justice.
The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Hungary regards Sunday’s decision by the security cabinet of the government of Israel, easing conditions for the delivery of aid and commercial goods for civilian use, as well as certain materials which enable reconstruction, to the Gaza strip, as an important confidence-boosting development.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini paid an official visit to Budapest on 16 June at the invitation of his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi.
The National Assembly adopted the Political Declaration at its session on 14 June 2010 which can be downloaded from the following link.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi will pay a working visit to Washington on June 23-25, 2010, at the invitation of US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
At the session of the General Affairs Council held in Luxembourg on June 14, 2010, Hungary and Poland made a joint application to the European Solidarity Fund (ESF) for financial assistance to mitigate the significant damage caused by heavy flooding in Central Europe since mid-May. A preliminary estimate of the damage in Hungary is under way, and the first official estimates are expected to be ready within the next two weeks.
The fourth seminar – organised as a part of the MoD’s sectoral Presidency training programme – took place on May 25.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi visited Serbia on June 10-11, 2010. In Belgrade he met his counterpart, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, as well as President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Bozidar Djelic, the deputy prime minister in charge of integration. In Subotica, Mr. Martonyi met János Pásztor, the Chairman of the Vojvodina Alliance of Hungarians (VMSZ).
Foreign Minister János Martonyi will represent the Hungarian government at the forthcoming meeting in Luxembourg of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) and the General Affairs Council (GAC) on June 14. Foreign ministers and the EU ministers in charge of national development are also scheduled to meet on the sidelines.