Emigrants part of Hungarian political nation, says Ader

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 27. vasárnap 20:03 |

Emigrants part of Hungarian political nation, says Ader

Hungarians living as emigrants are part of the Hungarian political nation, President Janos Ader said at a 1956 memorial event in the United Magyar House in Los Angeles on Saturday local time.

Ader told around 200 people attending the event that ever since the peaceful civic transformation of Hungary, nobody could say that emigrants were not part of the political nation. The Hungarian parliament passed a new citizenship law in 2010 "that opened the gates wide to all those that wish to become citizens of the Hungarian state out of their free will," Ader said.

He expressed appreciation of the Hungarian Americans' efforts to preserve their identity and said that Hungary respected their achievements and success. Additionally, he expressed thanks to the US for accommodating them. 

Earlier on Saturday, Ader met a group of Hungarians who left the country after the ill-fated 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, including Nobel laureate chemist Gyorgy Olah.

Nobel Prize chemist suggests using shale gas, mineral water for methanol production

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 28. hétfő 12:54 |

Hungarian-born Nobel Prize chemist George Olah has suggested that Hungary should produce methanol using its shale gas and thermal water.

At a meeting with Hungarian President Janos Ader in Los Angeles on Sunday, Olah outlined ways to replace fuels for heavy vehicles with ones produced from elements found in Hungary, he told MTI after the meeting.  

Olah, 96, noted that the country was rich in shale gas and thermal water and suggested that both were suitable to make a new liquid fuel. He also cited the example of Iceland, where they produce methanol using thermal water. "If it can be done in Iceland... it could also be done in Hungary," he said. 

Olah said that scientists of Massachusetts Institute of Technology had elaborated a method to use methanol as a universal suitable even for railway engines, and suggested that Hungary could make use of that technology.

Olah, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1994, left Hungary in 1956 and spent periods in England and Canada before moving to the United States, where he was naturalised in 1971. Olah is currently a distinguished professor at the University of Southern California and the director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute. In 2005, Olah wrote an essay promoting the methanol economy.

Korean films shown at Urania for free

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 29. kedd 15:43 |

Five Korean films will be shown at free screenings in Budapest's Urania cinema between November 4 and 8.

The films will be shown with Hungarian subtitles in the main screening room and with English subtitles in the Csortos screening room, cinema director Edit Bakos told the press on Monday. Spokeswoman of the Korean Cultural Centre Dora Palffy said that four of the five films will be Hungarians premieres.  

The programme will include the 2012 award-winning historical drama Masquerade on November 5, the renowned 2004 thriller Oldboy on November 5 and 6, the comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite from 2000 on November 6 and 7, the award-winning 2010 thriller Secret Reunion on November 7 and 8, and the 2008 action moive Rough Cut on November 4 and 8.

European umbrella org FUEN, Hungary Fidesz state support to Szekler march for autonomy

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 25. péntek 17:41 |

The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) has stated its full solidarity with and support for the ethnic Hungarian community of Romania in their autonomy endeavours on the occasion of an upcoming peace march on Sunday, according to the newsletter of the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party.

FUEN, the largest umbrella organisation of national minorities and ethnic groups in Europe, said in its statement that it supports its members in every forum in their efforts to enforce their rights, including those for the territorial autonomy of Szekler Land.

FUEN's leaders, the statement's signatories, pointed out that all historically existing national minorities in Europe are entitled to the right of autonomy and Romania's ethnic Hungarians, the largest national minority living in the same country, long ago declared its endeavour towards territorial and cultural autonomy of the Szekler land in central Romania. 

FUEN said it encourages Romania's ethnic Hungarians to never give up on their faith in autonomy, to take advantage of the opportunity of political representation and make use of civilian pressure.

Hungary's governing Fidesz supports the Oct. 27 march for the Szekler land's autonomy and asks members and supporters to join a simultaneous march expressing support held in Budapest, a lawmaker told a press conference.

Balazs Hidveghi said Fidesz asks their supporters to take only Hungarian and Szekler flags and no party symbols to the march from Heroes Square to the Romanian Embassy.

Semjen commemorates 1956 in Sydney

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 26. szombat 19:49 |

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen attended a commemoration of Hungary's 1956 anti-Soviet revolution organised by Hungarian organisations in Sydney and New South Wales during a visit to Australia on Saturday.

Semjen attended a commemoration at the Hungarian House in Sydney and gave a briefing on current nation policy issues and registration options for Hungarians living abroad for next year's general election. 

He also attended an oath-taking ceremony for new Hungarian citizens at the South Hungarian Club, Consul Kinga Tamas told MTI.

Wrapping up his visit, Semjen thanked the Polish state at the Polish consulate-general for offering Hungarian consular services once a week at its consulate.

March to promote Roma rights held in Budapest

2013. október 19. szombat 19:42 |

Around 800 people participated in a march held to promote Roma rights in central Budapest on Saturday afternoon.

The Roma March organised by the Roma community network We Belong Here started off from Matyas Square in the 8th district and went along Rakoczi Avenue to Blaha Lujza Square. Many of the participants were carrying Roma, Hungarian and European Union flags.

Chief organiser and Roma activist Jeno Setet said at the end of the march that the day of Roma pride was held in response to the negative public sentiment against the Roma that had developed in recent years. The Roma must work together and join forces for human dignity and also against the extreme right and "political exploitation," he added.

Aladar Horvath, the leader of the Roma Civil Rights Movement, said the situation of the Roma further deteriorated in Hungary under the current government in the past three years. He said Hungary's Roma had been "separated from the majority nation" on "an ethnic and social basis" and for this reason he announced he would join the Hungarian Gypsy Party.

Opposition Democratic Coalition politicians Laszlo Varju and Peter Niedermuller, as well as E14-PM co-chair Peter Juhasz participated in the march.

Ader lays wreath at 1956 victims' memorial in Paris

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 20. vasárnap 19:54 |

President Janos Ader laid a wreath at the symbolic grave of Imre Nagy and other martyrs of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising in Paris' Pere Lachaise cemetery on Sunday at the start of his two-day official visit.

The symbolic grave was built on an initiative by Tibor Meray, a Hungarian writer and journalist living in Paris, and was inaugurated on 16 June 1988, a year before the ceremonial reburial of the victims of 1956 in Budapest. The memorial was designed by Laszlo Rajk and the plot was made available to Hungary's democratic opposition by then mayor of Paris and later French President Jacques Chirac free of charge.

After paying his tribute at the memorial in Pere Lachaise, Ader left for the Arc de Triomphe for a joint commemoration of the 57th anniversary of 1956 with his French hosts.

Hall in renovated Music Academy named after Georg Solti

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 22. kedd 21:48 |

The small concert hall of the newly refurbished Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music was named after world-renowned conductor Georg Solti and inaugurated by Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, on Tuesday.

"An old dream has come true. … The late conductor is a symbolic figure of Hungarian and universal music, someone who is able to connect Hungary with the world," Katalin Bogyay, President of UNESCO's General Conference, said at the ceremony.

Previously, a Georg Solti statue was unveiled in front of his one-time alma mater.

Addressing the ceremony, Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said that Solti had always been loyal to his homeland but Hungary had abandoned him both in 1939 and in 1945. In the 1990s, however, they found each other and Solti "is at home again".

Lady Valerie Solti, the conductor's widow, said that the seminal years spent at the Budapest Academy of Music had a major influence on the life and career of her husband.

The nearly three-metre-tall bronze statue was sculpted by Peter Parkanyi Raab.

Govt to discuss Tokaj world heritage programme before end November

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 16. szerda 21:47 |

The government will discuss by the end of November a Tokaj world heritage programme to support developments in the region's 27 municipalities, head of the Prime Minister's Office Janos Lazar said on Wednesday.

Lazar spoke at the foundation ceremony of a 1.5-billion-forint storage facility and processing hall for state-owned winemaker Tokaj Kereskedohaz in Tolcsva.

The state secretary said that Tokaj, among Hungary's 22 wine-growing regions, was of key importance for the government, to be promoted through both legal and financial means. 

The government is committed to maintaining the high standards of wine making in the region and is working to make Tokaji recognised as a "truly world quality wine", Lazar said. 

The Tokaj wine-growing region is included in UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Statue of conductor Solti to be unveiled in front of renovated Music Academy

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 17. csütörtök 19:18 |

A statue of conductor Georg Solti will be unveiled in front of the newly refurbished Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in central Budapest on Tuesday.

The bronze statue sculpted by Peter Parkanyi Raab is nearly three metres tall.

"I was honoured to be commissioned and to have been chosen by Lady Valerie Solti herself after being shown the work of several artists," Parkanyi Raab told MTI on Thursday.

The artist said the Academy building, where several statues and ornaments by great artists such as Alajos Strobl are on display, had been an inspiration.

He said Lady Solti had been a great help by lending him photographs that aided his depiction of Solti as seen through his wife's eyes.

IMF, World Bank regard Hungary economy well after early repayment, consolidation, says Varga

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 13. vasárnap 17:31 |Betű méret növeléseBetű méret csökkentése

The Hungarian economy received favourable assessment by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank thanks to the government's early repayment of a 2008 loan and measures to consolidate the economy, Economy Minister Mihaly Varga said on Sunday.

Hungary received much attention from investors, too, Varga told MTI after attending the autumn annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington.

The minister added that he had positive feedback regarding Hungary's economy at meetings on the sidelines of a session of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) on Saturday, too.

Varga said he had met representatives of General Electric, a partner who has been hurt by measures targeting the banking sector in Hungary, but who will nevertheless face a favourable position in the production sector and other sectors of the economy.

The Hungarian state-owned Eximbank's AAA bond issue was unanimously well received, Varga said.

He said there was no lobbying regarding the government's banking tax.

"Although the government has kept the budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) last year, this year and expectedly next year as well, it believes that the banking tax is still an important source of revenue for the state budget," he said, adding that in the 2014 budget draft the amount of the banking tax remained level.

Orbán calls 8:1 soccer defeat "huge blow"

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 14. hétfő 15:44 |Betű méret növeléseBetű méret csökkentése

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the 8:1 defeat of Hungary's national eleven at the hands of Holland on Friday was a "huge blow".

"I couldn't yet get over the failure," Orbán told index.hu. 

Orbán said he would have normally joined the spectators at the match but his talks with Christian Democrat International leaders in Budapest on Friday precluded this possibility.

National coach Sándor Egervári resigned after what was one of the three worst defeats in Hungarian soccer history.

Socialists, E14-PM call for change to election law

2013. október 03. csütörtök 21:22 |Betű méret növeléseBetű méret csökkentése

The opposition Socialists and the E14-PM alliance have called for Hungary's election law to be changed, arguing that the recent flawed election in Baja in the south of the country revealed severe shortcomings in the law.

Tamas Harangozo of the Socialists and Gergely Karacsony of E14-PM also demanded that the National Election Committee state its position in connection with the interim local elections at Baja, in which voters were bussed into a polling station in one of the wards.

The two lawmakers said on Thursday that loopholes in current regulations must be closed.

"The outcome of the 2014 election should be decided at the polls rather than in court," Karacsony said.

He cited witness accounts of a person delegated by the local council sending text messages from the voting station about people who turned up to cast their ballots. Karacsony said such activity seriously violated the principle of secrecy at the election. The parties expect the National Election Committee to ban the use of telecommunications devices by members of the vote counting committee, he said.

Hungarian tofu among best innovations at Anuga food fair

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 07. hétfő 19:48 |Betű méret növeléseBetű méret csökkentése

A Hungarian-developed tofu made from spouted soy has been awarded among the best new innovations at the world's leading food fair Anuga in Cologne, Germany.

The competition dubbed trade13 chose the best new developments in ten categories and Hungary's non-GMO "Yaso" tofu has become an award winner in the Fine Food category.  

The Hungarian tofu has competed against some 1,200 products at the biannual Anuga fair, which features 6,777 exhibitors from 98 countries between October 5 and 9 this year.

Jeno Szilbereky, co-owner and managing director of Fitorex, the company that produces Yaso, told MTI that it plans to sell the production technology to countries in Asia and the Far East. Additionally, cooperation agreements are planned to be worked out for partners in Western countries, to supply base material for new products, he said.

Water Summit - Ban Ki-moon calls water common global cause

2013. október 08. kedd 19:40 |Betű méret növeléseBetű méret csökkentése

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said it was convincing and impressive that so many nations were represented at the Budapest Water Summit.

All these countries have recognised that water is a common cause, the secretary-general told a press conference.

Hungarian President Janos Ader said mankind has reached the 24th hour to remind decision-makers of the world of their responsibility for the safe water supply of the generations to come.

"We should no longer knock at the doors of decision-makers with the intention of change. It is high time to pound on them," he said.

Ban Ki-moon highly appreciated that Ader had taken a stand for the significance of water. He said that Hungary was playing a key role in raising awareness of water-related issues in the wider world.

The UN Secretary General said that all countries had an interest in solving problems generated by the climate change. For this reason, he has convened a summit meeting for next September.

OTP Bank shortlisted in Croatian Postabank privatisation

2013. október 10. csütörtök 17:42 |Betű méret növeléseBetű méret csökkentése

Hungary's biggest lender OTP Bank is one of two potential buyers picked by the Croatian government to bid in the privatisation of the Croatian Postabank (HPB).

The other bank picked to make a binding offer is Austria's Erste Bank. The two have one month to submit their offers for the state's 99.13 percent stake in HPB.

In the first, non-binding round of bidding, OTP Bank offered 92.2-181 million euros for the stake. Erste Bank offered 130.2 million euros.

If Erste Bank acquires HPB, its market share will climb to 18.8 percent, making it the second-biggest player on Croatia's banking market.

OTP Bank acquired Croatia's Nova Banka in 2005. The bank, renamed OTP Banka Hrvatska, is the eighth biggest market player in terms of total assets.

Martonyi on Hungary's Foreign Policy Towards Slovakia

Timid, slow, hesitative and weak - this is how, according to former foreign minister Mr János Martonyi, the Hungarian cabinet responded to President László Sólyom being stopped from crossing the border of Slovakia on 21st August. The Hungarian head of state planned to unveil a statue of St Stephen in the predominantly Hungarian city of Komarno in Southern Slovakia.
Created: 1st September, 2009 10:05

The former foreign minister of Orbán's centre-right Fidesz government (1998-2002) said the Hungarian political elite "was probably surprised by the news of Slovakia stopping the Hungarian president from entering the country on 21st August". He added that a common political response had been lacking and a clearer and more categorical reaction would have been needed. The former foreign minister said he kept to his habit of not criticizing Hungary's diplomacy but he believed the response to the Slovak government's action was timid, slow, hesitative and weak.

"Had Hungary recalled its ambassador in Bratislava for consultation on that very day, it would have been a tough response to the Slovak action and today Mr Antal Heizer could have returned to Slovakia to reengage in a dialogue with the aim of starting a détente process", said Martonyi. This would have served both as a gesture and a message not only to the Slovak people but to Central Europe and the entire EU, he added, demonstrating that the Hungarian government wished to engage in a dialogue by all means, including bilateral.

Speaking about the preparations within Fidesz, the former foreign minister said the party would begin elaborating its foreign policy strategy this fall and the document would serve as a base for the party's election manifesto. Martonyi qualified the article appearing in the Magyar Nemzet daily hinting that he was the official Fidesz candidate for foreign minister as "speculation", recalling that the opposition party had a strict policy of not giving out positions a priori.

(fidesz.hu)

Navracsics: "This Budget is a Return to 2005"

"The budget plan unveiled by PM Gordon Bajnai is a return to 2005. The same thing is happening again: the socialists are not telling the truth about the state of the economy and are trying to deceive the public", said parliamentary group leader of Fidesz, Tibor Navracsics at a press conference. Created: 3rd September, 2009 15:28 "Based on what we have learned from the previous talks the Prime Minister held with the socialist party's parliamentary group and the recent cabinet meeting, it seems we are returning to autumn 2005", declared Tibor Navracsics, the parliamentary group leader of Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Union at a press conference on Tuesday. "Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai has himself announced the start of the election campaign", continued Navracsics, adding that "at the moment we do not know what role he wishes to play in it but we see that he assigns the same task to MSZP as his predecessor, Mr Gyurcsány, did". "The same thing is happening again: the socialists are not telling the truth about the state of the economy and are trying to deceive the public", Navracsics emphasized. The parliamentary group leader recalled that in addition to not telling the truth, just as in autumn 2005, the people are worse off today and the government was trying to conceal all this from the electorate by taking up loans and indebting the country's future generations. He emphasized that the 2010 budget "would be a drastic austerity measure which has two messages. On the one hand, by taking money away from local governments, public services will be inaccessible for the citizens. As a result, life in Hungary next year will be more difficult." The parliamentary group leader said the budget's second message was that only the rich would be able to afford living normally in Hungary. (fidesz.hu)

The Socialists' Difficult Legacy

In an interview he gave to the National News Agency Corporation (MTI), the parliamentary group leader of Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Union said he was sure that the next government would have to face the "difficult legacy" of the outgoing socialist cabinet. Tibor Navracsics noted that the exact details of this legacy will only be known after the elections. He made no secret of Fidesz's aim of "changes" in the public administration.

 

 Created: 10th September, 2009 16:10

 

Speaking of the upcoming parliamentary debate of the budget for fiscal year 2010, Navracsics said the parliamentary group of Fidesz had no intentions of handing in an alternative budget proposal because "this would make no sense since the majority would turn it down in all cases". He also gave voice to his skepticism regarding the optimism voiced by international financial institutions concerning the state of the Hungarian economy, noting that there were previous examples when these international bodies showed trust for the cabinet's claims about the economic conditions only to learn afterwards that the government provided them with false data and information. "We are afraid that as we get closer to the elections the socialists are returning to their tactics of concealing the real figures for unemployment or the state of the economy", Navracsics said.

Asked whether it was beyond question that Fidesz would win the next elections the parliamentary group leader said "no", reminding that elections were to be held a good six months from now. "If we work hard, a year from now, Hungary's prime minister will be called Viktor Orbán", Navracsics recalled the words he said in June at the 23rd congress of Fidesz. Speaking of the first measures the Fidesz-led government would take, the parliamentary group leader declared that scrapping the property tax, introduced by the incumbent socialist cabinet led by Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, would be one of the priorities.

"We have enough time to finish our election manifesto, our experts are working on the public policy plans", stated Navracsics, concerning the election preparations of Fidesz. With respect to the party's candidate for prime minister, Navracsics said Fidesz "needn't have worries, party chairman Viktor Orbán had no challenger for the post".

Asked about Fidesz's reactions in case extreme rightwing Jobbik party reached the 5 percent threshold at the next elections, Navracsics responded: "the same applies to MSZP: if Fidesz wins the next elections, both the socialists and the extreme right will be opposition parties."

(fidesz.hu)

 

The Most Dangerous Budget in the Past 20 Years

Speaking at Budapest's Millenáris Park, Orbán called the draft "a lying and irresponsible" document that endangers not only our next year, but our children's future as well.

 

 Created: 14th September, 2009 16:18

 

 

Orbán described the draft as "a BKV- budget of national proportions", referring to the scandal surrounding the Budapest Transport Company, saying that just like in the case of BKV, someone within a closed circle takes everything, while the rest will pay the bill.

Hundreds of thousands of people could lose their jobs, he continued, asserting that pensions will no longer be paid, the health care sector will collapse, hospitals will not be able to provide medical services, there will be no electricity, doctors and nurses will not be paid their salaries, nor will teachers, because of the budget. Schools and nurseries will be closed down one after another, and local authorities could also collapse, he said.

Orbán said that "the Gyurcsány-Bajnai era" can be summed up in five words: "Őszöd, Zuschlag, offshore, severance payments, austerity measures". This era has taken away the truth, the law, security and people's money. And by this budget they are preparing to take away our future, as well.
The budget is proof that even now the real prime minister is Ferenc Gyurcsány, he said, "who has placed his stand-in Bajnai at the steering wheel". Viktor Orbán said that it is Fidesz's political duty, when it has the opportunity, to determine who and to what extent are responsible politically and legally for destroying Hungary.

(orbanviktor.hu)

Navracsics: "A New Budget Right after the Elections"

Parliamentary group leader of Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Union Tibor Navracsics confirmed that once Fidesz would be elected into government, the party's first task would be to prepare a new budget for the remaining of the fiscal year. Navracsics also spoke of the signs he believed mean that a large-scale negative campaign was being prepared by the socialists for the election.

 

Created: 24th September, 2009 15:58

 

The new budget Fidesz would prepare would, as Navracsics confirmed, include the strategic measures the opposition party has been emphasizing in the past years: creating jobs, cutting taxes, boosting economic growth and restructuring the usage of EU-funds. "The citizens will perceive the new budget as one reflecting the government's vision of a new direction for Hungary", he added. Asked how many days of patience he expected from the people after the formation of the new cabinet, Navracsics said "only a few days will be at our disposal to show in what new way we want to govern the country. We have a different idea of Hungary's future."

"Basically everyone in Fidesz knows that even a large-scale victory at the next election is not to be taken for granted but instead as a sign of trust", said the parliamentary group leader, adding that Fidesz must not disappoint the citizens. "We are not saying that we will create one million new jobs in ten years but that in order for Hungary to keep its competitiveness in the Central European region, we will need one million more legal jobs created", he emphasized.

(fidesz.hu)

 

Orbán: "No Grace Period Needed"

In an interview he gave to the weekend edition of a Hungarian daily, Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán said his future government would not ask for a "grace period". He repeated that the first tasks would include cutting taxes, reorganizing public administration and finding 3000 more policemen to improve public security.

 Created: 28th September, 2009 15:40

"If the country is in a bad shape and is perceived to be unsuccessful, there will be a response to all that from the citizens. The people are angry and they are rightly so", said chairman of Fidesz Viktor Orbán, adding that he hoped to turn this anger into a "positive energy". He added that he felt the "destructive sentiment" throughout the country but he believed that this could be changed by showing more respect for the people. "I don't want to see the people engulfed by dark sentiments and turning towards political extremities", Orbán emphasized.

Speaking of the next government's duties, the chairman of Fidesz said if elected, the cabinet would have "one night to celebrate the victory and work will begin the next morning". Orbán said that a new budget will be prepared, jobs will be created, small- and medium-sized entrepreneurships will receive more financial support and 3000 new policemen will be sent to the streets. With respect to the economy, Orbán stressed the need to create one million new jobs in order to recover from the crisis.

Answering to a question concerning the state of the budget, Orbán said he expected the state debt to be around 90-100 percent of GDP. "We should not rely on miracles or loans to solve this. We need Hungarian workforce, Hungarian entrepreneurs. We have to rely on ourselves", stated Orbán.

Public security will be a top priority of the next cabinet, according to Orbán who said that 3000 new policemen will be on the streets. "We don't need any other form of paramilitary groups. All we need is the police", he added.

(blikk.hu)

Fidesz Shocked by Words of Mrs Veres

Created: 6th November, 2009 15:31

 

Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Union was shocked to hear the words of MSZP MP Éva Szabó, the wife of former socialist finance minister and MSZP MP János Veres, about mothers intentionally doing harm to their babies to receive higher state benefits.

 

 

The June 2008 issue of "Balközép" (Centre-Left) monthly, published by the Hungarian Socialist Party reported that Éva Szabó MP, wife of ex-finance minister János Veres said in a meeting that "In order to receive higher benefits some ignorant and easily influenced mothers are capable of using even evil methods. They are willing to take medication which results in them having seriously handicapped babies."

Those present at the meeting were astonished by her remarks, but admitted that they themselves heard of similar cases.

(www.fidesz.hu)

2010 Hungarian EU Presidency Budget in Danger

There was a sharp debate about the apparent 25% deficit of the 2010 Hungarian EU presidency budget at the meeting of the four-party EU Presidency parliamentary working group.

 Created: 22nd February, 2010 14:11

The government wants to finance a quarter of the planned HUF 9 billion budget - HUF 2.1 billion - by selling state owned, disused properties abroad (such as embassy buildings).

By basing the budget on anticipated income, the government jeopardizes the successful implementation of the EU Presidency, Fidesz said. Ministries are not able to award contracts or undertake financial obligations, so it is possible that preparations will have to be stopped by the end of 2010, just a few months before the Hungarian EU Presidency starts.

The parliamentary working group therefore requested the government to guarantee the total budget for the preparations in 2010 and provide up to date information to the members of the group about all developments.

The parliamentary group also requested government to pay, without delay, extra allowances to around 700 civil servants who work on preparing the Presidency, which they were due in January 2010 and they are legally entitled to.

The multi party parliamentary working group on EU Presidency was initiated by Fidesz in February 2008 and has met every two to three months since then.

(www.fidesz.hu)