This year, 20 August celebrations will be held under the slogan “The country – together as one”. A special feature of this year’s events is that the series of programmes Nagyon Balaton (Very Balaton!) will include colourful family events, concerts and fireworks in several towns along the shores of Lake Balaton to commemorate the foundation of the Hungarian State. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from Hungary and neighbouring countries alike are expected to attend the festivities.
"The past three years have brought huge changes in the life of Bököny, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County and the whole country", the Ministry of Rural Development's Parliamentary State Secretary and the region's Member of Parliament Gyula Budai said at the launch of the Újfehértó-Bököny Public Waterworks development project.
The TeSzedd! ("You Pick It!") national litter collection drive, with which the organisers wish to draw attention to the importance of volunteer activities and environmentally aware behaviour, will be held again on 14 September this year, announced the Ministry of Rural Development's Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Zoltán Illés at the press conference organised to launch this year's drive.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has nominated Mónika Karas as Head of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH). Ms. Karas will take over this position following Annamárai Szalai’s recent death. The Prime Minister informed President János Áder about his recommendation in a letter, with effect from 19 August.
As a result of the Government measures introduced over the past three years Hungary has begun a period of sustainable economic growth.
Hungary is to provide funding to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation as part of the Holocaust Memorial Year in Hungary in 2014, and will also take part in the Foundation's International Committee.
Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang is scheduled to arrive in Hungary on September 15, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary announced on 13 August 2013.
According to preliminary data by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in the second quarter of 2013 the Hungarian economy expanded by 0.5 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. This figure is in line with analysts’ prior estimates (0.5-0.6 percent). These statistics therefore confirm that Hungary has emerged from the recession in a technical sense.
The closing of the premature infant ward of the Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Hospital is not necessary, Minister of State for Healthcare Miklós Szócska stated at a press conference in Miskolc. On Monday, the Prime Minister ordered a special inquiry into the recent deaths of eight premature babies at the hospital. The incidents occurred between August 5 and 10.
Following the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Ambassador Oszkár Füzes presented the position of the Government of Hungary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania concerning the questions raised by Romanian President Traian Băsescu at a summer free university gathering in Izvoru Mureșului.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has proposed to postpone the prime ministerial meeting of the Visegrád Four countries scheduled originally for August 24 in Hungary, his Press Chief Bertalan Havasi announced on Saturday.
As of 1 August 2013, the utilisation of EU development funds will be supervised by the Prime Minister’s Office instead of the Ministry of National Development, as the adequate utilisation of EU funds totalling some HUF 6000 billion (EUR 20 billion) in the 2014-2020 period necessitates a new institutional system.
The Government has redeemed the remainder of outstanding debt owed to the International Monetary Fund in three foreign currencies, US dollars, Euros and British pounds, as required by the institution. The Government Debt Management Agency transferred USD 1.7bn, EUR 570 million and GBP 255 million for the early repayment. The amount of unutilised loan and proceeds from the USD-denominated government bond issuance at the beginning of February as well as those from the Premium Euro Hungarian Government Bond auction had been available to cover the transaction; accordingly, no additional bond issuance was necessary.
Szabolcs Takács, Deputy State Secretary for Security Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared that since Hungary holds the rotating presidency for the Central European Initiative (CEI) in 2013 and for the Visegrád Four Group (V4) in 2013-2014, this year and the following year are years of Central Europe in Hungarian foreign policy.
In relation to the press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania on August 11, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary declares that Jobbik is an opposition party in Hungary, and so it does not take part in the work of the Hungarian Government in any way and it does not share any responsibility with the Hungarian Government.
The objectives of the National Water Strategy include sustainable water management, the protection of lakes and waterways, and drought management. The Ministry of Rural Development's Deputy Minister of State for Water spoke about the related goals and experiences at the Civil Sziget.
The wine sector, which provides a living for 300-400 thousand people and the structural reorganisation of which is expected to be completed by November, has received especially high levels of stimulus funding this year Ministerial Commissioner of the Ministry of Rural Development Eliza Kiss said on Wednesday in Balatonlelle.
The past few months have witnessed a sudden increase in the number of properties offered to National Asset Management (NAM) Ltd. The Company received approximately 7,300 property offers from the onset to the end of July 2013, which secured accommodation for nearly 32,900 individuals. The legal amendments in May gave a new impetus to the NAM Program.
The Minister for National Development issued calls for proposals for concessions to develop hydrocarbon mining and to increase the utilisation of geothermal energy.
The Ministry of Interior is present at the Sziget Festival, with its tent drawing attention to human trafficking and its dangers.
According to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office published last week, the total number of those in employment continued to increase in comparison to the corresponding period of 2012. In the period April-June 2013, the number of those in employment aged 15-74 years was up by 55 thousand, to 3 million 931 thousand, compared to the same period of the previous year which corresponds to an increase of 1.4 percent over the past year.
Cooperation in the issue of Clean Coal Technology (CCT) between the Ministry of National Development and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) as well as the Institute of Energy Economics of Japan (IEEJ) supporting the energy policy objectives of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has been turned into a new stage.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Thien Nhan arrived to Hungary for an official three-day visit. His meetings focused on research and development (R&D), nuclear regulation, training and higher education, as well as on advanced vocational and postgraduate study programmes. The Deputy Prime Minister met Minister for National Development Zsuzsa Németh and visited the MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant as well.
Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi’s address to the international conference “The Enforcement of EU Law against Member States” May 21, 2013.
Hungary successfully tendered to organise the triennial International Autism Congress this September in Budapest, where organisers expect more than a thousand participants from over 70 countries, Minister of State for Social and Family Affairs Miklós Soltész announced on Wednesday. He pointed out that recently two tenders were announced, one for the maintenance of institutions working with autistic people, offering 90 million forints, and another one aiming to facilitate the access with 800 million forints available.