Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Public Administration Tibor Navracsics participated in the hearing called by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on Thursday where he reinforced that the Hungarian government intended to continue dialogue with the EU and was committed to freedom, democracy and the rule of law. He asked representatives not to judge according to prejudices, superficial knowledge and political interest, but to state their opinion based on accurate information, in the providing of which the government gives every possibility.
On 7 February 2012 Viktor Orbán gave his traditional ‘state of the nation’ speech, focusing on the past year. This was the fourteenth such occasion.
The Strategy, which involves eight countries, utilizes natural and geographical advantages, with special regard to water management and the rural development related cooperation between Hungarian communities – stated Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas at the Hungarian Parliament, where the agreement entitled "Rural Development Cross-Border Cooperation with Hungarian Peoples in the Carpathian Basin" was ceremoniously signed.
“The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)’s gradual transition of lead security responsibility and the related tasks to the Afghan security forces is on schedule and making steady progress province by province and region by region in Afghanistan” – Dr. Csaba Hende pointed out in Brussels. The Minister of Defence participated in the Defence Ministers’ Meeting of NATO member countries that ended on Friday, February 3.
The European Defence Agency (EDA) organised the traditional Annual Conference 2012 on 31 January also this year. It provided a forum for a high level debate amongst senior experts from governments, EU institutions, industry and think tanks on the means to boost European defence cooperation in an era of severe financial constraints.
According to information received by the relevant Hungarian authority, Turkey is to revoke its ban on livestock imports from Hungary. The Turkish party has accepted the Hungarian authority's package of measures and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Animal Husbandry will be lifting the temporary ban on the transport of live animals, meaning that exports may now continue after the relevant quotas are distributed. Businesses who deal in exports will also receive notification when the ban is lifted.
An interview with Viktor Orbán appeared in the French newspaper Le Monde on Saturday. The Prime Minister stressed that ideologies are no longer important: it is values that matter, and values have not changed since 1989.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the position of the MPs of the Jobbik political party on the Holocaust, on the internal political situation in Israel, and on the political relations of the Middle East.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi has left on a two-day official visit to Germany on Monday to mark the 20th anniversary of the Hungarian-German friendship treaty.
Letter of the State Secretary for Government Communication, Dr. Zoltán Kovács to The American Interest's blog, responding to Francis Fukuyama's post of January 23, "Do Institutions Really Matter?"