My Respected Compatriots!
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held an international press conference today in Brussels, prior to the two-day European Council summit.
In a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel written on the occasion of today’s debate on Hungary in the German House of Representatives , Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reiterated the Hungarian Government’s full commitment to European norms and the Basic Treaty of the European Union.
Minister of State for Higher Education István Klinghammer declared that state-financed graduates should work in the country for the same period as their courses last, rather than the current regulation that requires them to work in Hungary for double the period of their study time.
During his official visit to Bratislava, Foreign Minister János Martonyi held meetings with Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič, Prime Minister Robert Fico and Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák on March 13.
Relations between Hungary and Slovakia have reached a „new level” and bilateral communications between the two countries has recently been „unprecedentedly intense”, Foreign Minister János Martonyi said in Bratislava on 13 March 2013.
At the opening of the first Hungarian-Kuwait KFI Workshop in Budapest, State Secretary for External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó said that Hungarian R+D and innovation companies have a serious chance of a breakthrough in Gulf countries including Kuwait as part of national development plans there.
Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics has sent a letter today to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe regarding Government decisions. He informed Mr Jagland that the Hungarian Government decided to exclude the possibility of re-election of the President of the National Judicial Office and of all the members of the Media Council.
Deputy State Secretary for International Communications Ferenc Kumin talked about measures the Government took to inform European leaders and the international press about the Fourth Amendment, prior to the vote in Parliament.
Speaking at a forum organized by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Prime Minister Orbán said he expects economic growth to resume already this year and he considers lower interest rates a key issue. He also announced that the Government would make it possible for SMEs to convert their forex loans into forint loans.
The new leadership of the Ministry for National Economy considers stability, predictability and increasing confidence the cornerstones of its policy. Economy Minister Mihály Varga does not believe it necessary to introduce new measures for addressing the plight of forex debtors, but he intends to extend and fine-tune those already in place.
Minister János Martonyi called the extent of the reactions to the constitutional amendment “somewhat surprising” in the March 12, 2013 edition of the Financial Times.
The Council of Europe has acknowledged Hungary’s accession to the enlarged partial agreement of Cultural Routes, thus from now on Hungarian organizations and institutions can also apply to be part of new cultural routes.
The Tokaj Kereskedőház Zrt. (Tokaj Trading House Co.) has opened a representation in Tokyo that will also help promote the national image of Hungary.
Among other topics, EU-related political issues were also discussed at the meeting of Hungarian Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér and his Slovak counterpart Robert Kalinák, who also serves as Deputy-Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic.
On Monday Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his dissatisfaction with a recent court ruling in connection with the Government's efforts to reduce utility bills. A Budapest court ruled in favour of natural gas providers last week against the Hungarian Energy Office's decree establishing fees for grid use, according to a report by business daily Napi Gazdaság.
It is the Government’s high priority to assist families in home-buying and retaining the homes already in their possession. Due to the measures of the Government, hundreds of thousands of families have been saved from the loss of their homes by the introduction of early repayment schemes and exchange rate limits.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received Paolo Barelli, the Secretary General of international swimming federation FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) and President of European swimming league LEN (Ligue Européenne de Natation).
The idea of Transylvania’s re-annexation to Hungary is total nonsense, Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi told the Romanian all-news channel Digi24 on March 9, 2013.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has written to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission to assure him of Hungary's commitment to European norms with regard to the amendments to the Fundamental Law.
Last year 52.1 per cent of women aged 15-64 years had a job in Hungary, and this is the highest employment rate recorded by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office since 1992 – Ministerial Commissioner responsible for the improvement of women’s employment prospects Piroska Szalai said at a press conference in Szombathely.
Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi in response to international criticism as to the fourth amendment to the Fundamental Law, has sent a letter today (March 8) to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of European Union Member States, providing factual details on the text to be voted in Parliament on Monday.
Hungary welcomes the unanimous adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 2094 on 7 March 2013 in response to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s latest nuclear test on 12 February 2013.
Coloplast of Denmark has implemented E-funded development projects worth HUF 5bn at its Hungarian production facilities – the company’s Senior Vice President Allan Rasmussen said at the press conference organized on the completion of the project in Nyírbátor. Minister of State for Employment Policy Sándor Czomba also participated at the event.
Bence Rétvári, State Secretary for Parliamentary affairs at the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, has told the Hungarian new agency MTI that the Ministry of Justice condemns the violent incidents that took place on Thursday in Lendvay utca, Budapest.
Mihály Varga was appointed as Minister of National Economy by János Áder, the President of the Republic of Hungary, at the proposal of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
A meeting of EU Ministers of Interior was held in Brussels on Thursday. The Hungarian delegation was led by Minister of State Károly Kontrát. The Ministers reached no conclusion in connection with Romania's and Bulgaria’s joining the Schengen region, since the German party declared that it would veto any affirmative decision. The decision has already been postponed on several occasions.
The new national military strategy is an important means of renewing the Hungarian Defence Forces – said Minister of Defence Csaba Hende on Thursday, March 7 at a conference held in Budapest. The opening event of the “National Military Strategy Conference Series” announced by the Hungarian Atlantic Council took place at the campus of the National University of Public Service (NUPS) on Hungária Street.
An exhibition of photographs entitled "Russians Jews Germans" was opened on 5 March 2013 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The photographs follow the lives of Jews who resettled to Germany from Soviet successor states in 1992 and are on loan from the Jewish Museum in Berlin.
„What if there was no European Union? – a keynote panel discussion was held at the Budapest Corvinus University (BCE) on 6 March 2013. The event was organised within the framework of the My Europe nationwide communication campaign.