The government aims to have the closest possible ties with the motherlands of Hungary’s ethnic communities, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said, adding that even when there are disagreements, they must not have any negative consequences for national minority groups.

During a joint press conference with Alexey Likhachev, the head of the Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom, Péter Szijjártó welcomed the start of the construction of new reactors in Paks. He pointed out that the expansion is currently the largest nuclear project on the continent with a construction permit.

The objective of the exercise is to test the military’s readiness for and response to an imagined situation threatening Hungary’s security. Another goal is to test the capabilities of the civilian public administration when it comes to troop movements and logistics, the Hungarian Defence Minister noted.

The 31-year-old former crypto entrepreneur, who was the second largest donor to the Democratic Party in the 2022 midterms election cycle only behind George Soros, was convicted on fraud charges for embezzling about $8 billion of his customers’ deposits.

According to the PM, while ‘lost sovereignty was in the focus of the last century’, Hungary regained its sovereignty at the end of the 20th century, so ‘this decade is about retaining that sovereignty’. The lesson that can be learned from the dissolution of the Socialist bloc and of the Soviet Union, Viktor Orbán suggested, is that ‘it is worth being radical, recalling the activism and courage of the system-changing Fidesz politicians.

Following an accident on Friday, where two actors were injured, the director of the National Theatre officially resigned. However, Minister of Culture János Csák did not accept the resignation, and stated that Vidnyánszky will carry on with his duties as director until the investigation into the accident is closed.

Unlike the existing conditions, CSOK Plus does not distinguish between new and used residential properties. New homes are generally more expensive, which means that the same amount of money will buy a smaller property. However, the good news for buyers is that 80 million forints might be sufficient for purchasing a multi-room new apartment or house. On the other hand, new constructions are often more energy-efficient and have more modern layouts compared to properties that are several decades old.

A trial period for the app will start in April with the involvement of several tens of thousands of users, and will be launched for citizens across the board in September. From that time on, citizens will be able to use the DÁP app for identification if requested by police, submitting applications to authorities for certificates or for any other interactions with the state administration.

The International Network for Immigration Research has been just inaugurated by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. The network will allow research centres across multiple countries to coordinate research and share findings with each other on the contentious issue of immigration. Four experts on the subject held an insightful discussion at the MCC Campus in Budapest, Hungary to mark the occasion.

In his regular Friday morning interview with public Kossuth radio, Viktor Orbán addressed issues such as migration, the economy and Ukraine’s EU accession.

Paul Kessler, a 69-year-old Jewish man attended a pro-Israel gathering in Thousand Oaks, California when a pro-Palestine group showed up. He died after a punch knocked him to the ground and hit his head. The police have already questioned a suspect, but released them, as they have received conflicting eyewitness reports about who the aggressor was.

Balázs Orbán presented the French version of his book The Hungarian Way of Strategy at a roundtable discussion organized by the Hungarian consulate in Paris. The second part of the book, focusing on economic issues, is expected to hit the shelves before Christmas.

Turkey is an extremely important regional player in terms of security policy, and its voice is indispensable in international conflicts that risk the security of all of us, the Hungarian defence minister said after meeting his Turkish counterpart in Budapest.

During a scheduled press conference, Gergely Gulyás said the government expects inflation to drop significantly by the end of November. Regarding the frozen EU funds, he noted that Hungary is obviously functioning without them as well.

Ursula von der Leyen, presenting the report on the expected reforms for the EU accession of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, as well as the accession prospects for the Western Balkans and Turkey, announced that the European Commission recommends initiating accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, as soon as they meet final conditions.

At a press conference following her meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, President Katalin Novák Novák ruled out the possibility of any ties between Hungary and Russia ‘which could undermine ties with its allies and commitments within NATO as well as in the European Union’.

The illegal migrants were found crammed inside the vehicle in the north-western part of Hungary. Human smuggling charges were brought against the driver.

János Csák, the Minister Responsible for Culture and Innovation mentioned as a positive example that the Széchenyi István University has integrated into Győr’s economic life, and the new Scientific and Innovation Park strengthens cooperation in the field of research, development, and innovation.

The report quotes NMHH President András Koltay, who highlighted that transparent regulatory operations, market and societal relationships, and fact-based assessments are essential to prepare and respond most effectively to the challenges.

According to May data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Hungary performs better than the EU average in several indicators. The rate of hospital-acquired infections in Hungary is about half of the EU average, as stated by the State Secretary for Healthcare on Wednesday.

Oleksii Arestovych, a former advisor to the Ukrainian president recently announced his candidacy for the Ukrainian presidency, the election for which is scheduled to happen in 2024—however, due to the martial law in force in the country, the elections might not be organized.

Most universities grant additional points to applicants for language exams, advanced level exams, sports achievements, and results in academic competitions. However, in the new system, institutions are now able to award extra points for other achievements like work experience, prior qualifications, volunteer work, or the completion of preparatory courses, based on their individual decisions.

At the launch event, Finance Minister Mihály Varga highlighted that the combined market share of MBH and OTP, Hungary’s two largest banks, now far exceeds the share of foreign banks operating in the country.

The Hungarian Prime Minister and his team are clearly in a creative mood: they have published a funnily irreverent Star Wars-themed TikTok video, built on some key sentences in Viktor Orbán’s 23 October speech.

In the mid-2010s, the Hungarian defence industry was declared a key national economic area with the goal of providing Hungarian-made state-of-the-art defence equipment to the renewed Hungarian armed forces and make Hungary an arms exporter. Since then several major international companies have announced plans to bring their manufacturing and development capacity to the country.

Minister of Culture and Innovation János Csák terminated the employment of National Museum Director General László L. Simon on Monday. The director general’s downfall was caused by his inadequate addressing of the LGBTQ-related controversy around the World Press Photo exhibit the museum hosted.

In his presentation titled ‘Digitalization in Service of Sustainable Development,’ Áder pointed out that the National Digitalization Strategy set the goal for the widespread adoption of technologies and the expansion of capabilities by the government. According to the strategy, by 2030, 95 per cent of households will be covered by a gigabit-capable network.

Speaking at a conference on defence industry supplier development held at the Bálna Defence Centre, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky pointed out that in pursuit of advancing the defence industry, strategic agreements have been concluded with several major international players, including German, Norwegian, French and Turkish companies.

On the margins of the sixth China International Import Expo, Economic Development Minister Márton Nagy held talks with the leaders of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest commercial lender, emphasizing Hungary’s aim of becoming a regional financial hub in addition to being the meeting point for Eastern and Western capital and cutting-edge technology.

According to the ministry’s statement, Foreign Minister Szijjártó minister reported on the progress of the Paks project during a hearing of the Sustainable Development Committee of the National Assembly, welcoming the fact that the visible phase of the project is now underway.