The Ministry of Justice offers its sympathy to France

Ministry of Justice

László Trócsányi

Minister of Justice

Minister of Justice László Trócsányi sent a letter of condolence to His Excellency Roland Galharague, Ambassador of France to Budapest after the brutal attack on the editorial board of French weekly Charlie Hebdo.

The Ministry condemns most firmly those acts of hatred that threaten the basic values of our democratic culture. Minister Trócsányi expressed his solidarity in the fight against terrorism and offered his and his colleagues’ sympathy to the family members of the victims wishing quick and full recovery to the injured.

Parliamentary State Secretary Róbert Répássy and State Secretary Gergely Patyi participated at the commemorial event organised at the Institut Français of Budapest.

(Ministry of Justice)

Hungary closed record year in the absorption of EU funds in 2014

Prime Minister’s Office

János Lázár

Minister of Prime Minister’s Office

January 8, 2015 2:17 PM

Hungary closed a record year in the absorption of EU development funds in 2014. Based on relevant data, the 100 per cent absorption of the funds available during the previous fiscal period is almost certain, Deputy State Secretary for Development Policy Communication Nándor Csepreghy announced.

Based on end-of-December 2014 data, HUF 1,845 billion has already been disbursed; however, this figure may increase somewhat as due to the holidays, the Hungarian State Treasury may still receive further confirmations from commercial banks  - the Deputy State Secretary said.

Nándor Csepreghy stressed: altogether Hungary has disbursed HUF 6,865 billion from the development funds made available during the 2007-2013 period. Based on the Government’s expectations, Hungary will have almost certainly attained the 100% absorption target in respect of the development funds made available to Hungary during the 2007-2013 EU development cycle, given that in 2015 less money will have to be disbursed than in previous years and additionally, beneficiaries will complete and account for a much larger number of calls.

The Deputy State Secretary takes the view that Hungary may be the first Member State to use 100 per cent of the available development funds. Nándor Csepreghy pointed out that the negative projections concerning a major loss of EU funds have proved to be wrong as Hungary has out-performed the pro rata level by some HUF 150 billion.

The disbursements of the 2007-2013 period will be closed in 2015, the Deputy State Secretary said, and added that the Government had authorised a higher commitment level in the absorption of EU funds in order to guarantee a 100 per cent absorption rate even in the event of the failure of some projects. This year, parallel to the closure of the 2007-2013 multiannual period, more and more calls will be announced for the absorption of the 2014-2020 development funds.

At the end of 2014 the spokesperson of the European Commission said that most of the Hungarian operational programmes have been approved on a professional level, however, the official notification has not yet arrived. Once the approval is official, the Government may immediately place the issue of calls for the new development period on the agenda, Nándor Csepreghy said.

(Prime Minister's Office)

CEPOL is the first EU institution to have its headquarters in Hungary

The Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán

The Prime Minister

V4-Switzerland Summit in Bratislava

December 10, 2014 1:16 PM

Hungary wishes not simply to observe, but to shape what is happening on Europe’s eastern borders, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared at the Summit of the Visegrád Four (V4) and the President of the Swiss Confederation on Tuesday in Bratislava (Slovakia).

It was a strategic error not to have constructed the pipelines of the north-south energy corridor over the past 25 years, because the corridor is also important from the perspective of security, the Prime Minister declared.

Mr. Orbán explained that Hungary is working to make sure that projects that enable the construction of the energy corridor are also included in the current economic stimulus package, the so-called Juncker package.

The Prime Minister called the conflict in Ukraine, which was the other main topic of the meeting, “Europe’s great challenge”, because it foreshadows the question of whether the Europeans are capable of establishing peace on Europe’s eastern borders.

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Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI

Hungary is doing everything possible in the interests of achieving peace, he added.

At the press conference following the summit, President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter stressed the importance of concurrently achieving both security and growth, and highlighted the importance of European security, which “must be a joint project of the Europeans”.

The Swiss politician also pointed out that the heads of government attending the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) meeting in Basel, Switzerland, had voted in favour of implementing the Minsk Protocol and had agreed to set up a separate working group to ensure the implementation of the agreement.

At the Bratislava meeting of the V4, the Prime Ministers of the Visegrád Group pointed out the importance of Swiss investments in Europe, and with reference to the order of magnitude of those investments voiced their request that the V4 should benefit more from them in accordance with the Group’s significant role.

The Summit’s participants also adopted a joint statement in which, among others, they declared their support for the security of the region.

(Prime Minister's Office, MTI)

Growth requires stepping beyond traditional dogmas, Prime Minister says

The Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán

The Prime Minister

December 15, 2014 12:55 PM

Hungary has proven that in order to stimulate economic growth, several traditional economic dogmas should be transcended, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the Serbian Tanjug news agency ahead of a China-Central Europe summit in Belgrade.

It is a common viewpoint in Europe that within several years Central Europe will become the engine of economic growth within the European Union, the Prime Minister underlined.

In recent years, Hungary has become a leading country in Central and Eastern Europe, and besides its adherence to strict budgetary discipline it is now among the states that produce the fastest economic growth, he highlighted. Hungary is expected to have achieved growth of 3 percent this year.

Not only has Hungary emerged from the economic crisis, but it has changed its attitude towards the crisis by considering it an opportunity rather than a problem, the Prime Minister said, adding that Hungary's political stability proves that it has not only survived the crisis but has actually gained strength during the difficult period.

The Prime Minister’s written statement noted that employment has reached a 22-year record, adding that the Government’s objective is to ensure that the number of people with jobs increases to 5 million.

It was also underlined by the Prime Minister that public debt has been on a decreasing trajectory and the budget deficit is being kept under 3 percent, as a result of which the European Union has abrogated its excessive deficit procedure against Hungary.

Viktor Orbán concluded that Hungary has proven that economic growth can be boosted and new jobs can be created while at the same time curbing public debt and the budget deficit.

The Belgrade summit will take place on 16-17 December with the participation of 16 Heads of Government.

(Prime Minister's Office, MTI)

Most important milestone of the EU-China cooperation reached

Prime Minister’s Office

János Lázár

Minister of Prime Minister’s Office

December 18, 2014 3:30 PM

By signing the agreement on the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade rail line, we have reached the most important milestone of the cooperation between the EU and China, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán underlined after the signing ceremony held on Wednesday in Belgrade.

The agreement on the construction of the high-speed rail line was signed by the Prime Ministers of Hungary, Serbia, China and Macedonia.

Viktor Orbán pointed out that this new rail line will allow the exploitation of Hungary’s advantageous geographical position.

This agreement points beyond itself as thus “we succeeded in showing how China and the EU will be able to cooperate to the benefit of all parties”, the Hungarian Prime Minister explained.

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Photo: Barna Burger

According to Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, the rail line connecting the two capitals is beneficial to both countries, not only from a development point of view, but also in terms of the population’s quality of life.

As a result of the new agreement, the interests of China, and of the Eastern European countries will be better and faster served, which may give a push to the economies of the countries concerned. The European Union is the most important trade partner of China and with the help of the rail line construction the economic relations may be further extended, the Chinese Prime Minister emphasized.

Serbian Prime Minsister Aleksandar Vučić also underlined the improvement of the relations of the concerned countries and their people, adding that the current journey time of eight hours may be reduced to less than two and a half hours, thus making rail transportation faster than road transportation.

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Photo: Barna Burger

Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski emphasized that the project is not only important for the region, but also for Europe and China as well. It will change the movement of people and of goods and it will have a significant effect on the economy, the companies and on the people, too.

After signing the agreement, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó talked about the details of the project, throughout which a 334 km rail line will be reconstructed or modernized. In terms of the current agreement, the Serbian, Hungarian and Macedonian rail companies will jointly prepare an implementation schedule, while the feasibility study will be developed by China.

“According to the agreement, the Chinese party will provide the financial assistance necessary for the investment; foreseeably, we will receive a credit offer covering 85 per cent of the total investment value”, the Minister said. The first discussions on the USD 2.89 billion project were held one year ago at the Central Eastern Europe - China summit in Bucharest.

This agreement is of great importance, because from now on it will be Hungary and Serbia to provide the best transit route for the Chinese goods going to Western Europe, Szijjártó said, adding that following the implementation of the agreement, the volume of the goods going from China to Europe may also increase.

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Photo: Barna Burger

According to the plans the rail line allowing a maximum speed of 160 km/h will be inaugurated at the end of 2017.

The agreement was signed on Wednesday in the framework of the CEE-China summit, where the ministers of China, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Albania, and the deputy ministers of Poland and Croatia have participated. The Chinese Prime Minister also held bilateral negotiations with the delegations of the summit.

(Prime Minister's Office)

Foreign policy transformation reaches halfway point

December 30, 2014 12:37 PM

The ongoing transformation of Hungary's foreign policy aimed at enforcing the country's economic interests more effectively has reached the halfway point, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated in an interview to Hungarian news agency MTI.

"The world has substantially changed and this means Hungary's foreign policy must change both institutionally and in its approach," emphasised the Minister, who entered office in late September.

The government has already carried out the biggest change, namely integrating the institutions overseeing external economic relations and cultural diplomacy into the foreign ministry's structure. All institutional conditions are now in place for Hungary to achieve its goals of taking a leading position in the EU in terms of the export-GDP ratio and the contribution of industry to the national economy. Hungary can also now assume poll position in central Europe in terms of per capita direct foreign capital investment, the Minister stated.

Péter Szijjártó also stressed that Hungary should pursue a pragmatic foreign policy, no one blames the United States for maintaining close economic cooperation with China or any western European nation for fostering good ties with countries in the Far East. Yet cooperation between China and central Europe is a target of criticism even if China's trade turnover with the 16 CEE countries falls short of its trade with Italy, he argued.

The Minister highlighted that ethnic Hungarian communities in neighbouring countries have an interest in smooth relations between Hungary and its neighbours. Common achievements may build a degree of confidence, enabling these nations to resolve what seem to be tough disputes, he said.
Among achievements with Slovakia, Péter Szijjártó mentioned the construction of new border-crossing points and more intense economic links between border regions.

Romania is a strategic partner for Hungary and its second biggest export market, trailing only Germany, he said, adding that further efforts would be required to bring about tangible improvements in the situation of Romania's ethnic Hungarian community.

Péter Szijjártó called Hungarian-Serbian relations "harmonious", noting that all fields of cooperation had benefitted from recent historic reconciliation.
The minister stressed the need to settle the Russian-Ukrainian conflict through negotiations as soon as possible. A rapid, negotiated settlement also lies in the interest of Europe which, in the long term, needs to cooperate with Russia "in a correct way, on the basis of respect for one another and for international law" pointed out the Minister.

Péter Szijjártó called the Visegrad Four cooperation a major resource for Hungary, all the more so since central Europe would, he said, surely remain an engine of growth in Europe.

Concerning EU affairs, Szijjártó stated that with the new election of a new leadership Europe had finally got a chance to concentrate on long-term efforts to regain its competitiveness and establish strategic cooperation with the fastest-growing regions of the world.

The Minister said it was regrettable that the South Stream gas pipeline project had been scrapped. Hungary now needs to find new sources to ensure the security of its energy supplies, he said. He reiterated that the Hungarian-Russian deal on upgrading the Paks nuclear power plant fully complied with the EU regulations, there would be no need for any EU interference.

Péter Szijjártó said that one should not expect the policy of Eastern Opening yield spectacular achievements overnight. He added, however, that Hungarian exports to China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Egypt and Morocco had increased.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)