The Draghi Report suggests that the goals of defence industrial policy should be organically integrated into the discussions of the Foreign Affairs Council in its defence policy formation, allowing member states to come up with a common stance. The report also recommends the establishment of a centralized European Defence Industry Authority, which would oversee joint programming and procurement functions and centrally manage the defence acquisitions of member states.
The Brazil-based polling firm AtlasIntel, which got the popular vote margins right by 0.3 points in the last two election cycles in the United States, has released its latest national vote prediction for the 2024 US presidential election. It shows President Donald Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris by 2.7 points, a slight shift towards Harris since their last release in mid-September.
The Hungarian national team ranked among the top performers at the Sudoku and Logic Puzzle World Championships held in Beijing, China. Hungary will host the next championships in Eger in 2025.
The Hungarian government has tripled research and development funding over the past decade, while launching programmes like the John von Neumann Programme and the Bring the Champions Home initiative to strengthen innovation and attract top researchers back to Hungary, State Secretary for Families at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation Zsófia Koncz stated at a Youth Innovaton Forum on Saturday.
A new exhibition featuring contemporary works from the Hungarian National Bank’s art collection opened in New York’s Fridman Gallery. Titled Abstract Narratives, the display opened on 19 October and will run until 16 November, showcasing a selection of artwork from several generations of renowned Hungarian artists.
The 18 September resolution doesn’t mention Hamas’ brutal incursion into Israel on 7 October or the 101 hostages that are still being held captive in Gaza. It also conspicuously avoids mention of the continuing Palestinian attacks on Israel. Hungary was one of the fourteen nations that voted against the resolution that holds Israel solely responsible for the conflict.
‘The U.S. has dramatically evolved since its founding, when tariffs were the only source of revenue for the federal government. Despite the higher costs falling on American consumers and the harms to U.S. employment and production, especially in the manufacturing sector, both the Trump campaign and the Biden–Harris administration have continued to defend the trade war tariffs.’
The Claude Monet: The Immersive Experience exhibition in the BOK Sports Hall uses modern digital technologies to bring to life some of the French impressionist painter’s most famous masterpieces, such as the Poppy Field and his series titled Haystacks. The artworks will be on display until 2 March 2025.
An exhibition titled Frida Kahlo – Her Photos featuring 241 previously unpublished photographs offering a rare glimpse into the iconic Mexican artist’s life, opens on Friday at the Mai Manó House in Budapest. The collection, presented by the Frida Kahlo Museum, includes images of the artist’s personal relationships, her recovery from a tragic accident, and her life at her beloved Blue House.
An in-depth interview with Zoltán Vass, son of a Transylvanian minister, who emigrated from Transylvania, Romania to America, initially to New York, then Hollywood, ultimately settling in Toronto 29 years ago as the minister of the First Hungarian Reformed Church. He also serves on the Board of the Hungarian Diaspora Council.
‘It’s not easy to stick to quality these days. A restaurant like Pajta can only be run with with love. It’s not worth it for the profit…This kind of catering is not about striking it rich; it is the kind that you can love.’
Minister of Justice Bence Tuzson of Hungary was at a commemoration ceremony to mark the 221st anniversary of the birth of 19th-century Hungarian statesman Ferenc Deák in Kehidakustány, Hungary on Friday. Deák, one of the chief architects behind the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, ‘set an example for those who are active in public life,’ Minister Tuzson stated at the event.
The Israeli Defense Forces have killed the last surviving senior Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, in a firefight. While this is a significant step forward for Israel in its war against the terrorist organization, it is far from the end of the conflict, as both Israeli and Palestinian reactions have indicated.
The Budapest Business Journal sat down with the two vice presidents of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKIFH), Zsuzsa Szabados and László Lengyel. They outlined what their organization is doing to help Hungarian companies with innovation and compete better on the international market, thus raising Hungary’s national competitiveness.
A recent study by the Center For the Study of Democracy and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air that focuses on the Czech Republic and a multinational company, Orlen Unipetrol, since 24 February 2022 Czechia has spent over 7 billion EUR on Russian oil and gas. That is, more than five times the aid it has provided to Ukraine. In 2023 the country’ reliance on Russian oil grew to 60 per cent; this year it has decreased top pre-invasion levels, but nevertheless remains around 50 per cent.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticized the EU’s war posture in a recent radio interview on public Kossuth Radio, reaffirming Hungary’s stance against participating in the Ukrainian war efforts. He also called for peace negotiations and discussed Hungary’s distinct approach to migration, economic policies, and EU relations.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked the European Council for nothing less than nuclear weapons or a NATO membership. The Ukrainian president presented his five-point ‘victory plan’ to EU leaders on Thursday, which is more of a wish list than an actual plan. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called it a ‘lose-lose situation’ and firmly stated that Hungary will not participate in it.
‘When it comes to family policy, I know that many Canadian conservatives view Hungary as a leader, particularly in its various incentive programmes and structures that place families at the centre of government policy,’ senior Canadian conservative advisor Samuel Duncan highlighted in an interview with Hungarian Conservative.
Hungary and Romania’s Ministers of Economy inaugurated Aeroplex Central Europe’s aircraft maintenance base in Bucharest, marking a major step in bilateral aviation industry cooperation and the expansion of Aeroplex’s services across Eastern and Central Europe.
According to on-site reporting by Euronews.com, the abandoned farm house that used to be occupied by migrants near Horgos (Horgoš), Serbia, just 1.5 miles from the Hungarian border, has been completely cleared by local law enforcement. A local resident recalled that there had been an increase in crime in the area while the migrants were present.
The Patriots for Europe EP group held their first summit on Thursday in Brussels. The meeting was attended by all the leaders of the PfE parties and took place ahead of the European Council summit scheduled to discuss the war in Ukraine, migration, as well as key economic policies, all of which Hungary differs on with most member states.
For the first time, Hungary’s High-Tech School Programme honoured its most innovative teachers. The awards, announced at a Budapest conference by Andrea Várkonyi, Chair of the Foundation for Innovative Education, highlight the programme’s impact on schools and students.
Two orphaned wildcats were rescued and released into the wild by Budapest Zoo staff in Somogy County. The wildcats, found as cubs in June, were rehabilitated and successfully returned to their natural habitat.
Hungarian Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky announced a historic agreement with Sweden to jointly develop the Gripen fighter jet. This cooperation elevates Hungarian–Swedish relations to a strategic level, the minister stated.
128 Orthodox Jewish men were not allowed to board their connecting flight to Budapest, Hungary in Frankfurt, Germany by the German commercial airline Lufthansa in May 2022. Only some of these passengers disregarded COVID-19 rules at the time, but they were all penalized as a group. For this incident, Lufthansa has agreed to pay $4 million in penalties.
‘Scholz’s statement is the first ray of light piercing the fog of war that has shrouded Europe for the past two years. It could be downplayed, but Germany remains one of the EU’s most influential member states, and Berlin’s wright is undeniable, despite its current economic challenges. The experience of recent years shows that what Germany pushes for in the EU often becomes reality sooner or later.’
A recent The Wall Street Journal’s editorial argues that UNIFIL, the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in operation since 1978, has been allowing Hezbollah to stockpile weapons and build up infrastructure in southern Lebanon, the very place UNIFIL is supposed to keep safe from terror groups.
Deputy General-Director of the World Trade Organization Zhang Xiangchen praised the Hungarian strategy of economic neutrality, stating that it is the way forward. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó highlighted that the Hungarian government is fully committed to the implementation of the strategy.
‘In this temple of political spectacle and exaggerated posturing, he [Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary] demonstrated, over the course of three hours, that among the spoiled children, there was only one adult in the room,’ Rodrigo Ballester writes in an opinion piece published by Brussels Signal on Viktor Orbán’s ‘debate’ at the European Parliament last week.
Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris got herself into an embarrassing scandal, after conservative activist and writer Chris Rufo revealed that she had included virtually unedited passages from uncredited sources, including the open online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. Rufo’s accusations of plagiarism led to the resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay earlier this year.