New motorway stretch, twin tube tunnel inaugurated in Hungary – PHOTOS
Local and central government officials inaugurated a 4-kilometre new motorway stretch of the M85 motorway, between the city of Sopron and the border with Austria, on Saturday.
In his speech, Orbán noted that in 1921 Sopron and its surrounding villages voted in a referendum to remain within Hungary’s borders, but the global powers had separated Hungarians with the new borders forced on them. But, he added, the fact that “we are here 103 years later” was a testament to the nation’s strength and its confidence in the future.
The prime minister said that after the first world war Hungary’s enemies had decided that Hungarians “should be small and poor”. But Hungarians never accepted this fate, and “we always wanted Hungary to be a big and rich country”. “If we lose the war, we’ll win peace,” Orbán said. He said Hungarians had always lost out when the nation had been “pushed to civilisational borders”. “We were on the losing end when the Christian-Islam civilisational border was located on the country’s territory, centuries of war cost Hungarian lives, and the country’s economic strength was also lost,” he said.
“We were also losers of the Cold War when we were ripped away from Europe,” the prime minister said. “Sopron was also a loser of this period, with the most difficult period in its history being the time when the Iron Curtain was but a few kilometres away, multiplying all the tragedies of the Trianon peace treaty.”
Sopron has only been able to develop when it was connected to the world around it, Orbán said. The Sopron area connects not just north and south, but also east and west, and is where the Carpathian Basin meets the Alps region, Orbán said. “And what’s true for Sopron is also true for Hungary: it can only develop if it can take advantage of its favourable geographical location and if it connects to the world around it instead of closing itself off,” the prime minister added.
He said this required active political and economic relations as well as infrastructure connecting the country to the rest of the world such as airports, railways, bridges and motorways.
He said his government had decided to turn areas that had been on the periphery during the Cold War into central hubs and “put Hungary on the map, in the middle of Europe”.
The government has spent 4,200 billion forints (EUR 10.3bn) on public road developments over the last 15 years, building 870 kilometres of motorways and highways, Orbán said.
Including the M85 motorway, there are now 10 expressways that extend to the country’s borders compared to just three in 2010, Orbán said.
The completion of the M85 links it with the Austrian border and the entire Hungarian motorway network, he said.
Romania’s accession to the European Union’s passport-free Schengen zone meant that “we have eliminated the Romania-Hungary border”, he said, adding that Saturday’s inauguration could be considered connecting Hungarians in Burgenland with Hungarians in Transylvania.
He said next year will see the M44 expressway linked to the motorway at Kecskemet, in central Hungary, and preparatory works are under way on road M49 as well as the new section of the M4 motorway. Today there are ten four-lane expressways that extend to the border, but that number will rise to 19 within ten years, he added.
Next year the government will spend some 8,100 forints on more than 300 investment projects which will make Hungary a “real connection point” and a commercial and logistics hub in Europe.
Orbán said his plan was that in 2025 “we’ll push the clouds of war aside”, adding that the government was working to make 2025 “a fantastic year” for the economy.
BMW and China’s CATL and BYD plants will start production and the Demjan Sandor Programme which aims to scale up SMEs will also be launched, the prime minister said.
Wages will rise, and Hungary will see an unprecedented minimum wage increase over the next three years, he added.
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Deputy FM Magyar in Florida to negotiate with future Trump administration
Levente Magyar, a state secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has started business talks in Florida on strengthening economic ties between Hungary and the United States, building on the good ties with the incoming US administration.
Magyar said in a statement on Friday that the excellent ties between Hungary and the Trump administration could pave the way for new opportunities in the area of economic cooperation. On the basis of the talks, products and services could appear in Hungary that would benefit the whole economy, he added.
Among the people with whom Magyar met was the investor Tamás Péterffy.
Official: Age of sovereignty has arrived
2025 will usher in “a new age of sovereignty”, Balázs Orbán, the Prime Minister’s political director said, addressing the Budapest Global Dialogue conference on Friday. He said 2024 marked the end of an old era of an obsolete neoliberalism which had neither worked in the EU nor the US. Participating in a roundtable at the the conference organised by the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation, Orbán said the Western world was undergoing a shake-up and hopefully the biggest success of 2025 would be the end of the Russia-Ukraine war, “which has caused serious damage to the entire world”.
He said there was already “political momentum” to end the war thanks to new forces in the EU, the US, India and China. “We’re optimistic,” he said. “I think we can convince the warring parties to find a path to peace.” Commenting on the US elections, Orbán said the outcome was down to issues such as migration and law enforcement policy as well as the situation of the judiciary and “the stagnation of the economy”. He added that changes in America would positively affect the rest of the world, adding that a strong US, China and Europe, would have a stabilising effect.
Max Abrahms, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, said US foreign policy would discard liberal internationalism and become more transactional, adding that the US foreign policy would not be uniform but “differ from country to country and region to region”.
Austrian geopolitical strategist Velina Tchakarova said US-EU relations were likely to see a positive turn. “We have reached a crossroads”, she said, adding that the bloc would have to change its methods because Europe was now among the losers. The big question, she said, was how Europeans could solve security issues while meeting challenges related to industry and climate change.
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Power struggles and surveillance: The 2018 shake-up of Hungary’s Information Office
The summer of 2018 was a crucial period not only for the Information Office, which is a branch of the secret service in charge of foreign intelligence, but also for the Hungarian political system. An unprecedented intelligence operation and power struggle took place, putting the relationship between the government and the intelligence services on a new level.
For a long time, the Information Office operated under the supervision of János Lázár, then head of the Prime Minister’s Office. According to Telex, during his years as the head of the Information Office, János Lázár paid considerable attention to intelligence activities related to the EU institutions. This practice did not only concern OLAF, but also other EU delegations and officials in Hungary. The Information Office’s increasing surveillance activities not only put the Hungarian intelligence services in a delicate position but also undermined trust within the EU.
This arrangement was terminated in 2018 when the fourth Orbán government was formed, and the Information Office was placed under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led by Péter Szijjártó. However, the handover process was not smooth and the situation quickly became tense.
Szijjártó’s first step was to invite the heads of the Information Office, including István Pásztor, the director general of the office, to a meeting. At the same time, however, he received an unusual order from the security department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: a special 30-strong team was to be allowed into the Information Office, demanding full access to the archives.
The search for documents
The task force, made up of representatives from various departments of the Ministry of the Interior, spent weeks at the headquarters of the Information Office. The official purpose of their investigation was to conduct a comprehensive review of the functioning of the intelligence services, but in reality, they were interested in information on specific cases. These included the economic affairs of the Orbán family, in particular those of István Tiborcz, the prime minister’s son-in-law, and the public procurement scandal involving Elios Plc.
During the raid, prosecutors questioned staff, searched archives and confiscated computers. The dismissed managers were not allowed to return to their offices, and their personal belongings were not returned until later.
The raid was carried out by the forces supervised by the Minister of the Interior, Sándor Pintér, but the initiative may have been backed by Viktor Orbán’s circles. The aim was to find out what information the Information Office had collected in the previous years of the government, particularly on the affairs of the Orbán family. The events shed light on the internal power struggles between the different actors in the government.
OLAF monitoring and the Elios case
One of the most controversial areas of the Information Office’s work has been the monitoring of OLAF, the European Union’s anti-fraud office. Under the leadership of János Lázár, the Information Office actively monitored OLAF’s investigation in Hungary into procurement abuses by Elios Plc. OLAF staff were tapped by telephone, followed physically and even secretly recorded. The aim was to gain early access to information gathered by the EU body.
OLAF investigations eventually revealed irregularities in the Elios projects and recommended the recovery of HUF 13 billion (EUR 31 million) of EU funds. However, the Hungarian government covered this from the budget, thus avoiding direct financial responsibility.
The consequences
The events of 2018 highlighted the lack of transparency and political independence of the Hungarian intelligence services. The task force’s actions also raised legal questions, as the lack of official documentation could indicate illegal activity. According to Miklós Ligeti, legal director of Transparency International Hungary, the events raise suspicions of criminality in several respects.
The 2018 crackdown not only led to the replacement of the IH leadership but also to a complete reorganisation of the functioning and internal power relations of the Hungarian intelligence service. Viktor Orbán personally criticised the previous activities of the Information Office, and it became clear that the intelligence service was coming under tighter control of government interests.
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Featured image: depositphotos.com
Hungary, Türkiye bridge between East and West, Hungarian President says
Hungary and Türkiye form a bridge between East and West, according to a statement by the presidential Sándor Palace on Thursday in connection with the visit of President Tamás Sulyok to Ankara.
Sulyok was received with military honours in Ankara by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At their meeting, the presidents agreed that Hungary and Türkiye were linked by a common past, deep friendship, and a strategic alliance, confirmed by the frequency of high-level meetings.
Hungary is committed to further deepening cooperation based on mutual respect and its multifaceted partnership with Türkiye, the statement said, adding that common endeavours included energy, security policy, defence industry cooperation, as well as the further development of economic and cultural relations.
The statement noted the Hungarian-Turkish Cultural Season held this year, the motto of which was “A century of friendship and cooperation”, adding that its programmes provided an opportunity for further dialogue and further deepening ties between the two countries.
Also, 2025 will be the Hungarian-Turkish Year of Science and Innovation, with joint research projects and the exchange of good innovation practices, as well as the mobility of higher education lecturers and students among its goals, the palace said.
Türkiye “a key and indispensable strategic partner of the European Union”
The Hungarian president made clear at the meeting that Hungary considers Türkiye “a key and indispensable strategic partner of the European Union” in the areas of energy security, trade, regional security, as well as in combating terrorism and illegal migration.
During the current EU presidency, Hungary highlighted the promotion of Türkiye’s accession process. Overcoming migration challenges requires the EU to support Turkiye properly and to an appropriate extent, it said.
Türkiye “is an indispensable player” for creating regional stability and preserving security and peace, the statement said, adding that stability of the Middle East was a common interest.
Hungary regards it as highly important that no extremist ideology or radical group takes control in the region, so attention must be paid to respecting the rights of religious communities and minorities, the palace said, adding that Hungary pays special attention to the region’s Christian communities and it provides humanitarian aid.
After the talks, the Turkish president hosted the Hungarian president and prime minister at a state dinner, and a gala concert of the Hungarian-Turkish Cultural Season was perfored in front of around 1,900 invited guests, the statement said.
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Hungary evades US sanctions on Russian Gazprombank with Bulgaria’s help
A solution has been found with Bulgaria to the problem caused by the new US sanctions against Russia’s Gazprombank so Hungary’s energy supply remains stable, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Sofia on Friday.
After talks with Bulgaria’s president, energy minister and acting foreign minister, Szijjártó said Hungary now received most of its natural gas imports via Bulgaria, his ministry said in a statement.
Hungary has received more than 7bn cubic metres of gas this year via the TurkStream pipeline, which is essential to the country’s energy supply, he said.
“Both Bulgaria’s president and energy minister confirmed that we can count on Bulgaria to continue to be our reliable transit partner,” Szijjártó said.
“Thus, the supply of natural gas to Hungary can be unhindered via Bulgaria, which is important because the decision of the outgoing US administration to put Gazprombank on a sanctions list has put both Hungary and Bulgaria in a difficult situation,” he said.
Szijjártó said Hungary paid for natural gas through the Russian bank and Bulgaria received money from it for the transit.
“And if these financial transactions could not be completed, Hungary would not receive natural gas, either because it cannot pay for it or because it cannot be transported through Bulgaria,” he said.
Szijjártó said this problem had been addressed, a legal and financial solution had been found that was accepted by all partners and that was not subject to sanctions.
He also noted that bilateral trade was reaching new highs, stabilising over EUR 2bn.
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PM Orbán about the Hungarian ceasefire proposal and Trump’s flying start in January – UPDATED
“At Christmas at least, no one should die on the front line,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public radio on Friday, outlining his recent proposal to the warring Russian and Ukrainian sides regarding a ceasefire.
Orbán said that at Hungary’s initiative an offer was on the table, and the sides may also “agree on an exchange of prisoners of war at last, which would make hundreds of thousands of people happy”.
“One side has accepted the proposal while the other apparently rejects it, but still there are a few days until Christmas, so let’s hope that the situation can change,” the prime minister added.
“While we swim in international waters, the Hungarian pool is paramount; we must keep that tidy, first and foremost,” Orbán said. The 2025 budget is taking its final shape, giving an outlook for families and businesses for the next year, he added.
Orbán said Hungarian diplomacy had gone above and beyond to attempt to gain a “few days of a ceasefire” as was befitting “a thousand-year-old Christian European state”.
Orbán spoke with the Americans, the Russians, the Europeans, the Turks
The prime minister noted that he had spoken with “the Americans, the Russians, the Europeans, the Turks”, and he was positive that once Donald Trump took office the world would make an about-turn.
“We’re still in perilous times: the governments in Germany and France have failed and Syria, the biggest source of migration in the past decade, has seen it’s government toppled,” he said.
He added, however, that no longer would “we have to navigate stormy seas” and “calmer waters lie before us”.
Orbán said it would only take “a day or two after January 20” for the about-turn to take place, because “the new administration in America will get off to a flying start”, and the changes would soon reach Europe on issues “that are also most important to us”.
Romania, Bulgaria Schengen Zone membership “fantastic achievement”
The prime minister called Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen zone a “fantastic” achievement, adding that Romania’s accession had been long awaited by ethnic Hungarians and was “a crucial step for the unity of the Hungarian nation”. In the interview, Orbán said this achievement was owing to the efforts of interior minister Sándor Pintér and European affairs minister János Bóka.
Orbán said big European countries had blocked their accession, and removing the obstacle had been “no small diplomatic feat”.
He added that Hungarians in Transylvania had looked forward to Schengen accession for a long time, and now they could travel without barriers in the way.
Romanians, too, had wanted it, so a “sunny afternoon” had emerged in the history of stormy Romanian-Hungarian relations. He added that Romania “knows this and has been constructive”.
After a transitional period, “we can remove our police” from the Romanian-Hungarian border, he said, adding that the would relieve law enforcement of staffing problems.
Attempt to involve Hungary in the Syrian conflict
Meanwhile, Orbán said an attempt had been made to “involve Hungary in a hot conflict” by concocting and spreading a story that would put Hungary in the cross hairs. He told public radio that the “fake news” regarding Syrian President Assad’s appearance in Budapest had been “the most important event of the week” and the most “painful”.
Orbán noted that during the first phase of the Syrian civil war around 2015, a massive migration and terror wave “swept through Europe” and hundreds of people had died in Europe.
“So what’s going on in Syria and its impact on Europe is not … a joke or fake news that can be spread; this could get bloody,” he said.
The prime minister said “someone wants to involve Hungary in a hot conflict … and make Hungary a target.” He added that someone was hunting Assad and whoever claimed that Assad was in Hungary had wanted to make the country a “hunting ground”.
“Who’s behind this? Who came up with this? For what purpose? Who from Hungary were involved? Through whom was this hoax spread? What did they want to achieve?” he asked.
We covered the issue in THIS article.
UPDATE: Orbán says all troubles are rooted in the war
Concerning Hungary’s 2025 budget, Orbán said “the key word is war … all troubles of the European economy are rooted in the war [in Ukraine],” adding that “if we want to cure the European economy, Hungary’s included, we must start by putting an end to the war.”
He said parliament had set the date for adopting the budget to December because “the US election has provided an answer to the question whether 2025 should call for a war or a peace budget.”
A turnaround will happen and “the 2025 budget should be based on that turnaround,” he said. “So far, we have had war years, and now … years of peace will come; the goal is to make the Hungarian economy strong again,” Orbán said.
For Hungarian families, he said, this meant that “in 2025, we can start on an upward path”. “We’ll have a fantastic year ahead.”
Once “the ominous cloud of war” disappears, he added, life would change and “efforts will become more meaningful; the budget is built on that fact of psychology,” the prime minister said.
He said the government expected an economic growth of above 3 percent “in the first peace year after the war” and planned “a number of measures to lift the country”.
Firm financial foundations for economic growth
He noted the recent three-year agreement with trade unions and employers aiming at ensuring a 40 percent pay rise, “the largest in Europe in recent decades”. He also noted a significant hike for teachers in 2024, which he said would continue next year, as well as higher wages for water management staff and for the judiciary.
The prime minister added, however, that wages were “still unfair” in certain sectors, but he pledged to provide a remedy in the next three years. “Now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel; once the war is over, everybody will see that their efforts have a point … and their work is profitable,” he said.
Referring to a credit rating agency’s recent decision to revise Hungary’s rating from negative to stable, Orbán said this meant that “rating agencies are saying that Hungary’s economic plans for 2025 have firm financial foundations.” He said some agencies had more positive views and others were “more restrained”, but “the carpet is hovering … it will fly”.
Hungary will complete 500 new investment projects next year and start 300 new ones, with BMW and China’s BYD car plants, as well as several large battery makers starting production, Orbán said, adding that “all this reflects that the government’s hopes for economic growth really have firm financial and economic foundations.”
Meanwhile, in connection with the murder of a boy 24 years ago, details of which have recently come to light, Orbán said a lesson from case was that “a missing child must be searched for and you should never give up.” He said, however, that the police had done a “fantastic” job; they “never gave up, they did not shut the case down, and they take their job of fighting crime seriously.”
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Hungarian interior minister wants stricter border control, offers help
Interior Minister Sándor Pintér highlighted the importance of the protection of the external borders of the European Union and of in-depth controls within the bloc, at a press conference held after a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) in Brussels on Thursday.
At a press conference held on Thursday evening together with Magnus Brunner, the commissioner for internal affairs and migration, Pintér said that it was of “historic” importance that the Schengen integration process of Bulgaria and Romania had been completed, “after negotiations spanning almost a decade”.
Their integration into the Schengen Area was the most important achievement of the Hungarian EU presidency, he said.
After the decision, the meeting reviewed the inter-operability of IT systems with the Schengen Area’s associated members, especially in view of a planned border registration system, Pintér said.
Although the full-scale introduction of the automatic IT system for registering the border crossings of third country citizens is being delayed, the JHA reiterated its commitment to set up a schedule to minimise the damage caused, he said. “The goal is to finish [work on] interoperability by 2027.”
The council also pledged to reinforce Greece’s borders with Türkiye and Bulgaria, as well as the stretch between Bulgaria and Türkiye. The latter will receive a contingent of over 100 Hungarian, Romanian and Austrian troops, he added.
Besides border protection, controls will be strengthened within the EU too. Hungary will maintain “secondary border control” on its Romanian border until June 30, just as Austria does on its Hungarian border, he added.
Fake asylum seekers have no place in Hungary, the interior minister said
Asked whether Hungary could request to suspend granting asylum requests similarly to other EU member states, Pintér noted that Hungary has no joint borders with Belarus or Russia as Poland and other countries do, that pointed to a threat of hybrid warfare.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s borders remain open to Ukrainian refugees, he said. “Those coming from other countries on the old Silk Road will continue to be turned away, and if they do get in, there is no way they will be granted asylum without unequivocal proof of persecution,” Pintér said.
“We accept real refugees, but fake asylum seekers have no place in Hungary,” he said.
The ministers also tabled legislation proposal on the fight against the sexual abuse of children, “but we couldn’t achieve results there. I hope that the Polish presidency will be more successful on that topic, as it is about our future, our children,” he said.
The council also discussed opportunities for cooperation with third countries on migration challenges, he said. They also reviewed semi-annual reports of European security and intelligence agencies, including that of the Hungarian anti-terrorism and constitutional protection offices, he said.
They then adopted strategic directives, and the council’s priorities in domestic and judicial cooperation in the new cycle, “an outstanding achievement for the Hungarian presidency and the council itself, as it was the first such document adopted in a decade,” he said.
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Hungarian FM Szijjártó: Hungary, Turkiye outline ‘new strategic milestone’ in bilateral cooperation
Cooperation between Hungary and Turkiye is better and more mutually beneficial than ever, and the two countries have also outlined a new “milestone” target for the coming years, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Ankara on Thursday.
Hungary–Turkiye cooperation
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today as part of the Hungarian peace mission, “which is especially important as the only really successful attempt at mediation in the war in Ukraine in the past thousand days is connected to Turkiye,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.
“Hungary has stuck to the same stance for a thousand days. It has become certain that there is no solution on the battlefield, that a settlement is possible only at the negotiating table, and that we need a ceasefire and peace talks as soon as possible,” he said.
At the meeting, they welcomed the unprecedented heights of bilateral cooperation which, he said, benefited both countries.
Meanwhile, the two countries reached a “strategic milestone” this year, when Hungary became the first non-neighbouring country to which Turkiye exports natural gas, Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary has already bought 275 million cubic meters.
“Today, we agreed to maintain that cooperation, and Hungary will receive natural gas next year too,” he said.
Turkiye and Hungary have also outlined a new milestone, to be achieved in the coming years, he said. “An agreement was made under which the leading oil companies of Hungary and Turkiye, MOL and TPAO, will start a new strategic cooperation that will enable MOL to be involved in exploring and tap new oil fields in Turkiye and also open an opportunity to the Turkish oil company to enter the Hungarian market,” he said.
“This is the new strategic goal we must achieve in the coming years,” he said.
Meanwhile, bilateral trade has hit new records, he said. “Cooperation also extends to new sectors, with cooperation between banks and in railway construction also on the list.”
Regarding energy security, Szijjártó said Turkiye was an important contributor to securing Hungary’s natural gas supply.
“More than 7 billion cubic meters of gas has arrived in Hungary through the Turkish Stream pipeline via Turkiye. This is a good deal more than the total [deliveries] last year. This year has shown that the Turkish Stream pipeline is capable of delivering more than 20 million cubic meters a day, which is good news regarding the energy security of the coming period,” he said.
Turkiye and Hungary also agreed on coordinating the measures they will have to take due to the US’s decision to put Russia’s Gazprombank on the sanctions list, Szijjártó said.
“Cooperation between Hungary and Turkiye continues to be very beneficial … and in view of current processes and trends, we can say that next year, Hungary will profit from it even more; and so will Turkiye,” he said.
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Orbán cabinet: Budget resources to climb for all important areas in 2025
Raising support for families and strengthening businesses are the most important goals of next year’s budget, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, said at a weekly press briefing on Thursday.
Supporting families, strengthening businesses
Gulyás said the government’s budget bill contained additional resources for all important areas. Lawmakers are set to take the final vote on the bill on Friday, December 20, he added.
Tax allowances for families raising children will double over a year, while the Demján Sándor Programme will make HUF 1,400bn available for scaling up SMEs, he said. The 2025 budget ensures the resources necessary to maintain the system of regulated prices for household utilities, while it will raise the value of pensions, adjusted for inflation, and guarantee the country’s physical security, primarily against illegal migration, he added.
He said HUF 3,750bn was earmarked for family support, HUF 3,717bn for healthcare and HUF 3,876bn for education. The 3.7pc-of-GDP deficit target is realistic, he added, auguring a reduction of the gap to under 3pc in 2026.
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Orbán cabinet: Fake news on Syrian president’s arrival in Budapest could be coordinated secret services operation
Fake news lacking any factual basis about the ousted Syrian president landing in Budapest resulted in a dangerous situation, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday, adding it was possible that a “coordinated secret services operation” was behind the reports.
What’s behind the fake news about the Syrian president’s arrival in Budapest?
Gergely Gulyás told a regular press briefing that it could not be ruled out that the reports did not just result from human error but a “coordinated secret services operation”.
A national security investigation is under way which is expected to reveal whether those that spread the fake news were also part of the secret services operation or they were “merely useful idiots who could be used by other states for their own purposes,” Gulyás said.
He added that the Hungarian services had to make great efforts as early as on Sunday to refute the fake news.
Gulyás said that as a result of the fake news, employees of the Hungarian foreign representative office and Hungarians living in the country had come under threat, protection had to be provided for the Syrian embassy in Budapest, and an increased risk of terrorist activity had to be calculated with.
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Schengen enlargement: No border controls between Transylvania and Hungary from 1 January – UPDATED
The European Union’s Justice and Home Affairs Council has decided to remove checks on persons at the internal land borders with and between Bulgaria and Romania from Jan 1, 2025, the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU said on Thursday.
Schengen enlargement
“It is a historic moment to finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania as full Schengen members,” a statement from Brussels cited Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pintér as saying.
Speaking to the media before the council meeting, Pintér said Bulgaria and Romania were ready to join the Schengen zone. The minister expressed hope that a decision would be taken on approving the two member states’ Schengen membership.
He pointed out that Hungary supported the Schengen accession of Bulgaria and Romania as early as 2011 when it first held the EU presidency.
“I believe that if a country is technically ready, has made huge efforts and initiated regulatory changes, then they deserve to become part of the Schengen area,” Pintér said.
Pintér said the ministers would also discuss the EU’s home affairs strategic guidelines, adding that the current guidelines were adopted ten years ago so they had to be renewed.
Another point on the agenda of the meeting is online child abuse. On this, Pintér said he expected to see a serious clash as there were arguments both for individual and personal rights and for the protection of children.
EU affairs minister: Hungary’s presidency ‘distinctive’, ‘an unquestionable success’ – UPDATE
The Hungarian presidency of the European Council has been “distinctive, active and strategic, and an unquestionable success”, Janos Boka, the EU affairs minister, said on Facebook on Thursday. Briefing parliament’s foreign affairs committee on the Hungarian EU presidency earlier, Boka praised the presidency as one that had fostered “concrete decisions” on competitiveness, the integration of the Western Balkans and the enlargement of the Schengen Area.
So far, the presidency organised more than 1,000 meetings of working groups, 50 Coreper meetings, 13 informal Council meetings, and the largest diploamtic events of Hungarian history: a summit of the European Political Community and one of the European Council, he said. The Hungarian presidency aimed to become a catalyst for change, and “Hungary will keep the hope for change alive after the presidency, too,” Boka said. “The European Union must change, but that won’t happen on its own; it requires work — in cooperation with European institutions if possible — but if not, then against them,” he said.
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Budapest mayor Karácsony slams 2025 budget as ‘anti-Budapest,’ calls for united municipal action
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said the government’s 2025 budget was “not only anti-Budapest but also against all municipalities” and called on mayors nationwide “to find remedy for the damage”.
Speaking at a year-closing press briefing of the National Federation of Municipalities (MÖSZ) on Wednesday, Karácsony said mayors should find leverage for the measures the government “is seeking to impose on its own municipalities as punishment”.
The government “is trying to give the false impression (…) that the solidarity contribution paid by the capital and other municipalities will help smaller, poorer municipalities,” the mayor said. Citing a Constitutional Court ruling, he added that “the solidarity contribution has no direct impact on the financing of poor localities”.
“The money they collect from us will never be received” in poorer towns, he added.
He noted that under the 2025 budget municipalities would be required to pay a combined 360 billion forints (EUR 876.2m) in solidarity contributions to the central budget, a sum 13 times higher than in 2017, when the tax was first imposed. Meanwhile, municipalities would benefit from a less than 0.5 percent increase in state financing, Karácsony said, adding that “taking inflation into consideration, municipalities will actually receive less money” than last year.
According to the mayor, Budapest will turn to “remaining instruments of the rule of law”.
“We can’t and won’t pay this toll, which will not end up with small municipalities but is meant to patch up the holes in the budget brought about by the government’s bad financial management.”
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PM Orbán: Hungary proposed Christmas ceasefire, Zelensky rejected it
“At the end of the Hungarian EU presidency we made yet another effort for peace,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an entry posted on X on Wednesday evening.
Orbán proposes Christmas ceasefire
“We proposed a Christmas ceasefire and a significant exchange of prisoners of war. Regrettably, Ukrainian President Zelensky point-blank rejected this (proposal) … We have done what we were able to,” Orbán wrote.
Prior to the post, Zelensky voiced resentment that Orban had made a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky said peace and security in his country required “decidedness by the US, unity in Europe, and commitment by all partners in line with the United Nations Charter, its objectives and principles”. “No one should boost (their) personal image at the expense of unity” but focus on Europe’s common success, Zelensky said. “There can be no discussions about the war that Russia wages against Ukraine without Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
“We all hope that PM Viktor Orbán at least won’t call Assad in Moscow to listen to his hour-long lectures as well,” the Ukrainian president added.
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Hungarian FM Szijjártó: Hungarian government proposed Christmas ceasefire, exchange of POWs
Hungary’s government has proposed a Christmas ceasefire and prisoner exchange in Ukraine, but the Ukrainian leadership has rejected it, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Wednesday.
Szijjártó talks about Hungary’s proposal
Szijjártó said that after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán tabled the proposal during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Hungarian government contacted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office. “The communication channels are open in every direction, and we would like to keep them that way, as that is the only hope for peace and for peace talks,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.
“What a shame that President Zelensky, in a public post on X a few minutes ago, excluded and rejected everything we talked about in the morning,” Szijjarto said.
“We have done everything in our power. The Hungarian peace mission was a constant theme of the Hungarian presidency, and we hope that peace will soon return to the region. It is obvious that we will have to make strenuous efforts for that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said he also had talks with Alexandr Novak, the Russian deputy prime minister for energy affairs, and “clarified legal solutions that will ensure preserving the Hungarian-Russian energy cooperation, and so Hungary’s energy security.”
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FM Szijjártó: Hungary and Russia are committed to maintaining energy cooperation
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Vladimir Putin have held extensive phone talks and both are in full agreement that everything must be done to maintain energy cooperation, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Wednesday.
Hungary’s energy security, the war in Ukraine, and developments in Syria were discussed during the talks lasting more than an hour. Szijjártó said the current US administration had made it hard for some central and south-east European countries, including Hungary, to make payments for natural gas and nuclear fuel by placing Gazprombank under sanctions.
Slovakia, Serbia and Turkey also face similar challenges, and consultations with these countries, too, were underway, he said. Szijjártó said Orbán and Putin had agreed that all avenues must be explored exhaustively “to eliminate this problem”. Putin made it clear that Russia is committed to maintaining energy cooperation and guaranteeing Hungary’s energy supply, he said, adding that there was nothing on either Hungary’s or Russia’s part to prevent a solution from being found.
He said a solution had already been found for fuel rods for Hungary’s nuclear power plant, and payment methods for the Paks expansion development, as well as for natural gas trade, were being worked out. Szijjártó noted that he had spoken with Alexei Likhachev, the chief executive of Rosatom, about speeding up the Paks project, and he would also hold a meeting with Alexander Novak, the Russian deputy PM in charge of energy affairs, in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, regarding Ukraine, the minister stressed the importance of keeping diplomatic and communication channels open in the current unprecedentedly dangerous period. Hungary, he added, has maintained its peace stance for a thousand days, and Orbán had spoken at length with Putin today on achieving a sustainable peace settlement.
Szijjártó said Putin had mentioned obstacles to peace such as the Ukrainian law that “essentially prohibits the current presidential administration from negotiating peace” with Putin. He noted that Orbán visited Florida this week to meet Donald Trump and also met the pope at the Vatican as part of efforts towards forging a peace settlement. “[We] will continue the Hungarian peace mission, seeking the fastest path to peace in order to save lives,” he said.
Regarding Syria and the Kremlin’s position, he said Putin had indicated an interest in ensuring stability and peace in the Middle East “so that extremist ideologies and political movements” cannot further undermine security there. Hungary, he added, was focused on the situation of Christian communities and would continue to provide them with the humanitarian support necessary.
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900,000 Hungarians participate in National Consultation amid economic and policy debates
Around 900,000 Hungarians have filled out National Consultation questionnaires so far, and responses are still coming in thick and fast, Balázs Hidvéghi, the parliamentary state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office told public broadcaster M1 on Wednesday.
Hundreds of thousands participate in National Consultation
He said Hungarians knew “there’s so much at stake” and that it was important to express their opinion.
Regarding next year’s budget, Hidvéghi noted that the final vote would take place at the end of next week, and the government wanted to take people’s opinions into account in view of new economic policy measures and trade neutrality.
Hidvéghi referred to signs in Europe of an economic cold war emerging alongside poor EU policymaking which harmed Europe’s competitiveness. Brussels, he added, had imposed ham-fisted green policies with unrealistic targets, putting European industry — especially its car industry — in a tough situation. “And they want to introduce energy restrictions,” he said, insisting that sanctions against Russia were largely to blame.
Meanwhile, he called the recent meeting in Budapest of the Patriots for Europe EP group had been “very important”, saying that representatives from various countries had agreed that European interest “must be put first” and that the diversity of European nation-states must be preserved.
Further, they agreed that European competitiveness must be restored and boosted, which meant strengthening European industry and small and medium-sized enterprises.
“We don’t need policies at odds with reality but policies that start out from the reality taking European interest into account,” he said.
Also, Hidvéghi said the declaration adopted on migration was “identical to the Hungarian position”.
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Orbán: Hungary aims to become global leader in education and research with investments in universities
Hungary, as “the westernmost Eastern people and the easternmost Western people”, wants to connect to all of the world’s economic power centres, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the inauguration of the renovated pavilion buildings of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Budapest on Tuesday.
“We’re making good progress on this, and this is something Hungarian universities will be big winners of,” the prime minister said.
Orbán said the world was on the verge of fundamental changes, arguing that the liberal world order had come to an end, and the winners of the new era would be those who fully realised their potential. But those who “fall in line” and “fail to recognise the strength in their national character”, he added, would quickly fade into irrelevance.
He said Hungary was preparing to set its role on the international stage on new foundations.
“We don’t want to follow the path carved out by others, but rather to make use of the advantages that stem from our own history, our own economic structure and our own culture,” Orbán said.
He said Hungarian animal science was world-renowned, adding that the University of Veterinary Medicine offered “perhaps the highest-quality education” in the country. He said it was the institution that made the most scientific discoveries and was among the world’s top 150 universities, “of which all Hungarians can be justly proud”.
Orbán said the university aimed to become one of the world’s top 50 such institutions, and the newly opened buildings and new research laboratories could help this plan succeed. Now the university has the proper background that will make it possible for students and researchers to perform above average also in terms of international publications and patent development, he added.
He said the developments at the University of Veterinary Medicine were part of the new era of Hungary’s higher education system, with Hungarian universities aiming to belong to the global top tier. He cited the latest European Union figures showing that Hungary was spending the most on higher education in proportion to GDP in the whole of the EU.
He said Hungary has tripled spending on research and development in the past ten years. As a result, there are currently 12 Hungarian universities in the global top five percent as against seven universities five years ago, he added. The number of international students in Hungary has nearly doubled in the past ten years, he said.
Orbán said Hungary would not allow Brussels to penalise young Hungarians “because we protect our sovereignty”. As a result the government has set up the Pannonia scholarship scheme, he added. “We do not have to rely on other people’s money, but we on our own can also develop successful scientific cooperation with the best universities around the world,” he said.
He said further buildings of the University of Veterinary Medicine were planned to be revamped in the future, adding that the hope was that the war would end in 2025, the European economy would return to its normal track, Hungary’s economy would be set on a growth path, and this would enable the allocation of funds necessary to further develop the university.
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Hungarian FM Szijjártó: Hungary to veto EU sanctions against Georgia officials if necessary
Hungary’s government believes the European Union’s proposal to impose sanctions on Georgia’s interior minister and two police officials is “nonsensical and uncalled for”, and will veto the motion if necessary, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Tuesday.
Szijjártó meets Georgian FM
Hungary and Georgia are both led by patriotic governments “against which the liberal mainstream has launched serious ideological and political attacks”, Szijjártó said at a joint press conference with Georgian counterpart Maka Botchorishvili, according to a ministry statement.
The minister said Botchorishvili’s first foreign visit was to Hungary, which had come at a time “when both countries constantly have to fight to preserve their sovereignty amid the current extraordinary security challenges”.
Szijjártó congratulated Georgia’s ruling party on its recent election victory, saying the electorate in the South Caucasus country had “made its will clear”.
“They elected a pro-peace, pro-family, patriotic conservative government, and as it usually happens in a case like this, the liberal mainstream got upset over this,” Szijjártó said. “Because typically, if an election is won by a conservative, patriotic party, the liberal mainstream immediately questions the democratic nature of the political system, and if it’s won by a liberal party, they celebrate the fantastic rule of democracy.”
He said the situation was the same in Georgia, arguing that if the opposition had won “Brussels would be saying that democracy has never been in better shape”. But now, he said, “they’re trying to ignore the will of the people and are questioning the outcome of the election”.
“This is a very repulsive, transparent, and now a very boring game of the liberal mainstream, which we reject,” he said.
Szijjártó expressed his support for Georgia’s European Union aspirations, underlining that Budapest would provide all the help it could to speed up the process, but Brussels’s approach, he added, was alienating the country.
He criticised a recent resolution approved by the European Parliament concerning Georgia, which, he said, took “a humiliating tone towards an entire nation”.
“We reject this… The European Parliament has a pro-war, liberal, left-wing majority which constantly attacks those who speak openly about peace,” Szijjártó said.
He also said that “minutes ago”, Brussels had put forward a proposal to impose sanctions on Georgia’s interior minister and two of its police officials.
“This is nonsensical, outrageous and totally uncalled for,” Szijjártó said. “Hungary firmly opposes placing Georgian government officials on sanctions lists, and if such a proposal is drafted, we will, of course, veto it.”
He encouraged Georgians to continue to stand up for themselves and their national sovereignty.
As regards bilateral relations, he welcomed the progress made on the implementation of a strategic partnership agreement signed two years ago.
Bilateral trade turnover is up 34 percent this year, and Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air remains a market leader in Georgia’s air travel sector, Szijjártó said. Hungarian pharmaceutical exports to Georgia are on the rise, Hungary offers university scholarships to 80 Georgian students each year, and the two countries are working to enable the central European import of green energy, he added.
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