Bulgaria and Romania have taken an important step towards full Schengen membership: from March 2024, air and maritime transport will be subject to the rules of the free movement area. However, Austria has still not lifted its veto against full membership for Bucharest. For Hungary—and for the EU as a whole—enlargement of the area would be crucial for a number of reasons, and it is possible that Vienna will be persuaded by Budapest, which will soon hold the EU presidency.
Tristan Azbej explained that through these amendments, Hungary will not only provide humanitarian aid but also contribute to economic development and peace-building efforts.
Tamás Lánczi, the head of the new office appointed by the Prime Minister, outlined the body’s fundamental role in analysis and disclosure, with transparency being its paramount tool. The office carries out inquiries and collaborates with other state entities. Also, upon detecting irregularities, it publicly discloses them while informing the relevant authorities.
The proprietary coating by Resysten, which is invisible, colourless, and odourless, provides protection between cleaning intervals, ensuring the well-being of passengers and the company’s employees even during busy festive periods.
In her speech, President Novák of Hungary recalled the most memorable events of 2023, a year ‘when there was reason to rejoice, to be proud,’ including Pope Francis’s visit to Budapest, the Nobel Prize awarded to Katalin Karikó and Ferenc Krausz, the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, and the Hungarian national football team’s qualification as group winners for the European Championship.
56-year-old Ilan Weisz, a father of three, was possibly held hostage for nearly three months, as authorities did not discover his body for an extended period of time.
The Hungarian Prime Minister’s chief security advisor György Bakondi talked to the Hungarian television TV2, and explained why Hungary is not willing to comply with what is included in the European Union’s migration pact.
Under the scope of the Union’s REPowerEU programme, €779.5 billion have been transferred to Budapest and the amount is now included in the government budget, Finance Minister Mihály Varga announced today. According to Minister for Regional Development Tibor Navracsics, an additional €445 million will also arrive from Brussels soon.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration ahead of Christmas which proclaims that the Catholic Church is now allowing for the informal blessings of ‘couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples’. Despite Cardinal Fernández, head of the Dicastery, insisting that this does not change the Church’s traditional view on marriage, it still resulted in statements indirectly criticizing the declaration by bishops all around the world, including Hungary.
BYD, the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China is opening a new factory in the southern Hungarian city of Szeged. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has called it ‘one of the biggest investment projects in Hungary’s history’.
Recent high precipitation has caused river levels to rise all across the country. In Budapest, the Danube is expected to rise above the level of the embankment on Thursday. Preparations and warnings are in place in other parts of the country as well.
The press release by the US DOS claimed that the newly established Sovereignty Protection Office of Hungary is a tool ‘that can be used to intimidate and punish those with views not shared by the ruling party’ and therefore it is ‘inconsistent with our shared values of democracy’. In response, PM Orbán stated that the US government should stop lecturing Hungary.
The Roman Catholic Church’s charity organization, Caritas Hungary has provided some four million forints in aid to the families affected by a tragic boarding school accident in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuisesc) in Transylvania. Caritas has also launched a donation drive to further help the victims of the accident.
At the year-end press conference, PM Orbán explained why he chose to veto the €50 billion aid package to Ukraine at the recent EU Summit, how he views the potential Ukrainian and Swedish NATO accession, and what he believes the biggest struggles of 2023 were. He also talked about what hopes he has for the new year of 2024.
On 18 December, a release ceremony was held for the Hungarian troops of the EUFOR Althea mission. From January 2024, the EU peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be led by a Hungarian commander, Major General László Stitz.
The planned new route is set to connect the city of Zalaegerszeg to the M7 Motorway by converting Route M76 into a 2X2-lane new motorway section.
State Secretary for International Communication and Relations Zoltán Kovács also met with the Israeli Hungarian hostages’ relatives and wrote in his Facebook post: ‘No “context” needed—just release the hostages!’. The State Secretary’s post reacted to the outrageous responses of the presidents of America’s most prestigious universities, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, to the question posed by Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik whether calling for the genocide of Jews went against the universities’ code of conduct. All three presidents answered that it depended ‘on the context’.
US First Lady Jill Biden celebrated the upcoming festive season by posting a video of a New York City-based, mostly black tapdancing group in odd costumes awkwardly dancing to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Many people voiced their discontent online over the weird display.
The base interest rate has been cut for the third consecutive time, something that has not happened since 2020. These developments will greatly help eople who are looking to take out a mortgage, a business loan, or invest some money in stocks listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange.
At the handover ceremony Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky stressed that the new 2A7HU tanks, which are among the most modern globally, ‘represent a whole new world, even compared to the A4s, and are more modern than those used by the German forces.’
The comprehensive discussion covered diverse aspects of waste management, showcasing MOL Group’s commitment to sustainable practices and environmental responsibility.
The political director of the Prime Minister emphasized that the EU treaty is unequivocal: expanding the EU requires the consent of the member states, and Hungary’s rights cannot be restricted beyond a certain extent by any procedural rule.
István Schink was originally fired from his post at the II. Rákóczi Ferenc Secondary School in Munkács (Mukachevo), Ukraine in January. An April ruling by the District Court reinstated him, however, he was again removed three weeks later. That was also challenged in court, and the judges sided with Schink again.
The statement denouncing the law on the protection of national sovereignty alleges that it potentially restricts press freedom, by threatening the operation of and intimidating the ‘independent’ media.
Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky announced in a video on his Facebook page that the Hungarian government is partnering with the German automotive and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall in a deal to develop ‘state-of-the-art, latest-generation’ tanks for the defence industry.
Regarding the acceptance of the fifty billion euros financial package for Ukraine, he noted that it would have meant a serious and immediate detriment to Hungary. ‘We see that the European Union wants to finance a failed strategy, and it makes no sense whatsoever,’ he expressed.
According to a statement from the ministry, Péter Szijjártó stressed that the German-owned ZF Chassis Modules Hungary Ltd will manufacture shock absorbers, as well as front and rear axles for electric cars produced from 2025 at the BMW plant in Debrecen and the Mercedes plant in Kecskemét.
The Prime Minister said the EU was in the habit of making bad decisions, and he listed the 2008 financial crisis and migration as examples, as well as the decision regarding the war in Ukraine to go ‘towards war and sanctions’ rather than in the direction of peace.
While talking to the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, Ákos Bence Gát of the Danube Institute criticized the hectic and unreliable way the withholding and release of funds is ruled on by the EU. He also talked about Ukraine’s potential accession to the Union, which is the main agenda point of the ongoing EU Council meeting.
In a missive addressed to European Commissioner for Budget and Administration on Thursday, the Hungarian Minister of Finance recalled that there is a long-standing consensus that the defence of the European Union’s borders is a collective responsibility of the member states, and yet, Hungary bears almost exclusively the financial burden of the protection of its southern, Schengen border.