On Wednesday Viktor Orbán sent a letter of congratulations to Robert Fico upon his inauguration as Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic.
A quintilateral expert-level ad hoc task force will soon start consultations as to the specific form of the package that is designed to contain the rules related to the independence of the Hungarian central bank, Tamás Fellegi, minister without portfolio said on Thursday in Washington, where he conducted meetings with the country team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concerned with Hungary.
On 1 January 2012, the amendment of the Act on the protection of non-smokers has entered into force, which introduced stricter requirements for smoking beginning with 2012. In the practice, this means that save for a few special cases, the regulation bans smoking in indoors, as well as in certain outdoor areas. However, a grace period has been given until 1 April 2012 for those facilities involved.
A cultural centre in the form of a Rubik’s cube may be built in Budapest on the banks of the Danube. The Government has issued a resolution to support such a large-scale cultural project. The building would function as a museum, events venue and exhibition centre, and could be one of Budapest’s most important cultural venues.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman told a press conference in Budapest on Thursday that the Government is ready to start negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union at any moment.
The Hungarian budget ended the year of 2011 with a surplus of 4.3 percent which is an outstanding achievement both from an international and a long term Hungarian perspective and also unprecedented since the regime change. The deficit figure calculated according to the EU methodology, however, includes a number of known one-off items which complicate long term comparisons. Therefore, the Ministry for National Economy considers it a priority to share with the public the deficit data excluding one-off items.
The government aims to turn Hungary into Europe's most competitive production centre, for which boosting employment is a must, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told leaders of the Hungarian European Business Council (HEBC) in Budapest on Thursday.
On 2-3 April, Foreign Minister János Martonyi paid an official visit to Skopje, where he conducted discussions with his partner, Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki, with President Gjorge Ivanov, and with Teuta Arifi, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU Integration.
As a matter of principle, and as laid out in the new Fundamental Law and Hungarian legislation, the Government of Hungary condemns in the strongest possible terms all statements directed – either explicitly or implicitly – against any social group or minority living in Hungary.
"The Hungarian Agrarian Bank may come into existence within the foreseeable future as a result of the decision brought at the Government's Wednesday session" – Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas told the MTI following the cabinet meeting.