The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary expresses its perplexity and rejects the statement made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay on 18 June 2013. The UN High Commissioner, while welcoming the opinion issued by the Venice Commission regarding the fourth amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary, made several untenable critical remarks with respect to the state of democracy in Hungary.
Enikő Győri, Minister of State for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, was shocked that the ALDE Group of the European Parliament announced on Twitter that "a Fidesz MEP" had accused the EU of being a dictatorship. The referred statement was made by a representative who was elected on the Jobbik ticket, an opposition party.
State Secretary for External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó declared that Hungarian-American economic relations will expand significantly in the near future, after meeting in the United States with among others the directors of Protector and Gamble, IBM, Citigroup, GE, Honeywell, Cargill, the Republican leader of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives and the leaders of the Hungarian Congressional Caucus.
Hungary has drafted a new framework strategy for international development cooperation in line with its policy of eastern orientation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on 17 June 2013.
Upon the request of Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi the Venice Commission published an opinion on the Fourth Amendment to the Fundamental Law on 14 June. The CoE body after having received documents and detailed explanations from the Hungarian Government has brought several modifications to the previous draft opinion and dropped its previous negative assessment on a number of important issues.
The handover of the Ófehértó Motorway Engineering and new motorway police site at kilometre section 254 of the M3 motorway between Nyíregyháza and highway No. 49 took place on 18 June 2013. Mr Pál Völner, Minister of State for Infrastructure under the Ministry of National Development spoke at the event.
State Secretary for External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó is on a two-day official visit in Washingon DC and met with Co-chairs of the Hungarian Congressional Caucus Marcy Kaptur and Andy Harris.
The parliamentary representation of ethnic Hungarians living outside Hungary – which will be accomplished following the 2014 elections – will hopefully bolster Hungary's sense of responsibility for them, Parliamentary State Secretary Zsolt Németh declared in Paris on Monday.
The Hungarian Government issued a Non-Paper concerning the latest, modified opinion of the Venice Commission on the Fourth Amendment to the Fundamental Law.
According to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the strengthening of wages’ purchasing power continued unabated in the fourth month of the year.