As Budapest commemorates its 150th birthday this year, a grand celebration awaits all who join in the festivities.

Securing a spot in the 2024 UEFA European Championship marks a historic achievement for the Hungarian national football team, as it is the first time since the memorable 1985 campaign that they have qualified for a major tournament without the need for playoffs.

Katalin Novák reminded that in the last 30 years, the population of Hungary has decreased by more than 700,000, and the ethnic Hungarian population of the neighbouring countries has also significantly diminished. However, she said, that decline is not something that cannot be stopped. ‘Let the Carpathian Basin be the source of passing on life,’ she declared.

On the basis of the ten-point proposal developed by the Ministry of Economic Development, the Hungarian government is launching a 2.9 billion forint Automotive Supplier Development Programme to enhance the role of Hungarian businesses as suppliers of multinationals in Hungary.

Minister of EU Affairs János Bóka of Hungary told reporters in Belgium on Wednesday that the EU’s policy of sending excessive military aid to Ukraine should be critically re-evaluated. The minister also declared that the EU must demand that the hostages held by Hamas be released immediately and unconditionally.

Speaking at the MEDays Forum international conference, the Hungarian foreign minister stressed that as a result of mistaken immigration policies, parallel societies have emerged in Western Europe. He remarked that what Europeans are seeing is ‘loud minorities exerting pressure on those who have lived there for centuries…and the threat of terrorism intensifying’.

The rise in reported incident numbers does not necessarily indicate a real increase in the number of attacks, as more cases come to light partly due to regulatory reporting obligations, it was revealed in the organization’s annual report.

Although Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen was acquitted by a court of second instance, the legal battle, unfortunately, may not be fully won. As Räsänen wrote in a press release, she hopes ‘the prosecutor will be satisfied with the decision, but if not, I am ready to defend freedom of expression and religion also before the Supreme Court of Finland, and if necessary, even before the European Court of Human Rights.’  It soon turned out that the prosecutor is considering turning to the Supreme Court.

Alongside the distribution of laptops that started last year, more than 4,000 locations have been equipped with wireless internet access, and with a budget of 10 billion forints, the electrical networks of the relevant institutions have been renovated.

One of the star players of the Israeli national team brought with him the boot of a kidnapped football player, which he showed reporters at the press conference in Felcsút.

If the draft law is adopted, guest workers in Hungary will be employable only under the strictest rules, and foreigners will be allowed to work in Hungary only if no Hungarian workers are available for the vacancies they seek to fill.

Hungary’s economy expanded by 0.9 per cent in the third quarter of this year compared with the previous quarter, adjusted data show, and contracted by 0.4 per cent year on year, based on unadjusted data, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday.

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.