Preliminary figures show that about one thousand litres of blood were donated to Hungary’s National Blood Service (OVSZ) at twenty-seven venues across the country – in seven ministries, in each county-town and in every Government office – on the blood donation day specially organised for government officials.
The general government deficit excluding local governments stood at HUF 724.2 billion at the end of May 2011 or making 105.4 per cent of the annual projection. In 2010, the deficit of the central government level made up HUF 736.2 billion by the end of May or 84.6 per cent of the annual target. In the relevant period, the deficit of the central government level had been HUF 99.2 billion. In this context, the 2011 balance improved by HUF 41.2 billion.
'The well-being of a nation and a community can only truly be measured by looking at the situation of its children,’ said Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Public Administration and Justice at the conference ‘Rights of Sick Children’, which was held on Tuesday at the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner.
As rotating President of the Agricultural and Fisheries Council, The Minister of Rural Development has convened a meeting of his EU colleagues for Tuesday June 7 in Luxembourg to analyse and discuss the effects of the German E. coli epidemic on the vegetable and fruit sector.
Talks are due to continue on 6 June 2011 under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention with the struggle against climate change in focus. The European Union will be represented at the Bonn negotiations by the Hungarian Presidency and the European Commission. The purpose of the meeting, which is scheduled to finish on 17 June, is to bring about a new, comprehensive, global, and legally binding climate change agreement for the period to follow the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Hungarian Presidency considers the cooperation with NGOs essential, Minister of State of the Foreign Ministry, Enikő Győri said in her welcoming speech, on 3 June 2011 in Budapest, on Social Enterprise Day.
The Hungarian Government has decided to answer positively the request of the Government of the United States to assume the protection of American diplomatic and consular interests in Libya.
Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Deputy State Secretary for European Union and International Affairs of the Ministry of National Development Kovács Tamás Iván addressed the participants on the first day of the 54th memorial session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, organised in Vienna on 1 June 2011 .
‘Hungary is home to all nationalities living here,’ said Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Justice on Monday, when he signed a strategic partnership agreement with the leaders of the thirteen self-governments of nationalities living in Hungary. Tibor Navracsics said at the signing ceremony that the purpose of the statutory strategic partnership agreements is the achievement of better legislation. This also means that better conditions can be created for nationalities.
Poland wishes to continue the Hungarian Presidency’s efforts to make the EU stronger and more dynamic, stressed the Secretaries of State for EU Integration of both countries, at a press conference in Budapest on 2 June 2011; after discussing the imminent takeover of the Presidency. The Polish Secretary of State called the Hungarian Presidency highly successful.
Enikő Győri, Minister of State for EU Affairs of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, invited the present and the forthcoming Presidency Trios’ Ministers of State for EU affairs, to a working dinner in Budapest, on 1 June 2011. The meeting focused on the preparations for the Presidency takeover.
From now on, auxiliary police organisations can only pursue their activities within the community of their registered headquarters, and any auxiliary police personnel breaking the law may receive a prison sentence or a fine of up to HUF 150,000. As a result of recent violent events related to auxiliary police organisations – including in Gyöngyöspata – on 16 May the National Assembly adopted legislative changes in order to maintain order in the public domain. These changes, which had been recommended by the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, have now entered into force.
The goal, that the prisons should be self-sufficient, remains – said Sándor Pintér, the Minister of Interior at the press-conference held for the official hand over of the Metropolitan Penal Institution’s Gyorskocsi street object.
The Agricultural Ministers of the EU labelled the E. coli bacteria infection a European problem at the informal meeting of the Agriculture Council held on 31 May 2011 in Debrecen. The Hungarian Presidency volunteered to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Council to discuss the cucumber crisis if necessary.
The Government is determined to address the potential social and financial stability problems that arose from wide-scale foreign currency mortgage lending activity that took place in the years preceding the crisis.
At present there are no contaminated Spanish vegetables in Hungary, all tests so far have proved negative - announced Endre Kardeván, Under Secretary of the Ministry for Rural Development responsible for Food Chain Supervision and Agricultural Administration, on Tuesday in Debrecen.
At the invitation of Deputy Secretary of State for EU Affairs, Bálint Ódor, the European Directors of the present Spanish–Belgian–Hungarian and the upcoming Polish–Danish–Cypriot Presidency Trio, met on 30 May 2011 in Budapest. The aim of the consultations was to prepare for a smooth takeover between the Trios.
The end of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be marked by a colourful three-day series of events, between 24 and 26 June. ‘The six-month presidency has been a good opportunity to show ourselves and our colourful culture,’ government spokesperson Anna Nagy said at the press conference announcing the events.
Hungary, with the environmental provisions of its new Constitution, is providing strong background support for the operation of organisations such as IMPEL (the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law), which was created to apply and enforce the EU’s environmental legislation – said Sándor Fazekas, Minister for Rural Development, at the international organisation's 7th General Assembly. The event – in which environmental protection bodies from thirty countries were represented – was organised as part of Hungary’s EU presidency.
A major cause of the economic crisis is the uncontrollable increase of state debt, and the remedy is a work-driven economy, declared Enikő Győri, Minister of State for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the World Investment Conference held in La Baule, Western France, on 26 May 2011.
IT security, one of the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency, was an indispensable constituent of efficient policing, life and property saving - Minister of State for Infocommunication Zsolt Nyitrai of the Ministry of National Development pointed out at the opening ceremony o Tetra World Congress and exhibition on 25 May 2011 in Budapest.
There are few things that express the spirit of the Hungarian Presidency as well as volunteering does – Enikő Győri, Minister of State for EU Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, emphasised in the Femmes d’Europe Gala in Brussels on 25 May. With her, the wife of President of the Republic Pál Schmitt, Katalin Makray, also attended the event.
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 came into effect on 1 January 2012.
A series of direct negotiations between representatives of the Hungarian Government and those of Surgutneftegas, a Russian oil company, has been concluded with an agreement on the fate of a 21.2% MOL share package held by the company.
It is crucial for the regions to have a functioning Cohesion Policy with a clearly identified role, emphasised Minister for National Development Tamás Fellegi at the press conference held in connection with the informal meeting of ministers for Cohesion Policy at Gödöllő on 20 May, 2011. During the meeting, the ministers discussed the future of Cohesion Policy in the interest of improving competitiveness of the European Union and the quality of life for its citizens.
Minister of State for European Union Affairs, Enikő Győri held talks with her Spanish and Belgian counterparts on the preparation of the European Council’s meeting in June; and the present state of the most important Presidency dossiers in Brussels on 23 May. Following the Trio’s discussion, the Minister of State invited Member State Ministers and Ministers of State for EU Affairs to an informal lunch.
The waste collecting campaign organised by the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice in cooperation with the Ministry of Rural Development and the Volunteer Centre Foundation was a great success. In the initiative, approximately 162,000 volunteers took part in 800 locations, and thousands of tonnes of waste was collected.
At the opening event of the ‘TeSzedd! Volunteer for a clean Hungary!’ action on Saturday, Sándor Fazekas said that this was a very important date in the European Year of Volunteering, because it was without precedent for more than162,000 people to apply to take part in such an event.
As territorial cohesion is our common cause, the measures taken in the interest of its promotion are of crucial significance, Minister for National Development Tamás Fellegi pointed out at the press conference that followed the informal meeting of ministers responsible for territorial development on 19 May, 2011 at Gödöllő. At the meeting the ministers approved of the Territorial Agenda 2020, the most significant framework of territorial cohesion. To continue the meeting, on Friday the responsible ministers will discuss the future of cohesion policy.
Compared with this time one year ago, 18,000 more people are in employment in Hungary. According to the latest briefing from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (CSO), between January and March 2011 the average number of those employed in businesses with at least five staff, budgetary institutions, and non-profit organisations surveyed was 2,642,000: 1.18 per cent higher than the figure of 2,611,000 for the same period last year.