Europe

State secretary marks anniversary of 1956 martyr Imre Nagy’s reburial

imre nagy commemoration

The deeds of Imre Nagy, the martyred prime minister of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, carry the message that Hungary’s national interests must come first, a foreign ministry official told a commemoration event on Friday.

Marking the 65th anniversary of Nagy’s execution and the 34th anniversary of his reburial at the late prime minister’s memorial statue in Budapest, Tamás Menczer, the state secretary for bilateral relations, noted that the martyrs of 1956 had not been given their last rights until decades after their executions.

The rehabilitation of Nagy and his fellow martyrs was a symbolic and cathartic event of Hungary’s change of regime in 1989, Menczer said, calling the event “the start of a new period in Hungarian political life”.

Menczer said Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s speech at the ceremonial reburial held in Heroes’ Square in which he demanded the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary and free elections was “burned into the nation’s memory”.

“We must also remember the unmarked graves, because it is those that symbolise the regime that had been incapable of doing, or — what’s even worse — refused to do the moral minimum,” the state secretary said.

Though the 1989 reburial brought closure and was a symbolic victory of the 1956 revolution, “the years that followed showed that to the leaders and representatives of the state party, the change of regime had merely been an attempt to secure their positions by transferring their powers,” Menczer said.

The change of regime brought freedom and peace to Hungarians, “but this can only be preserved if we continue to protect our sovereignty and Hungarian interests in the future, too,” he said.

“We reject all imperialist aspirations, including the concept of a united states of Europe,” Menczer said. “We are fighting for a Europe of nations, an EU comprising strong sovereign member states.”

At the end of the ceremony, Menczer and other officials laid wreaths at Nagy’s statue on behalf of the government, the president, the prime minister, the speaker of parliament, the Kúria, the chief public prosecutor’s office, the Constitutional Court and the Hungarian Armed Forces.

Orbán: West’s help to Ukraine ‘poorly assessed, flawed strategy’

Viktor Orbán sanctions package

The unprecedented seriousness of the situation in Ukraine is demonstrated by the fact that two nuclear superpowers are talking about using uranium munitions in Hungary’s backyard, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said in an interview to public radio.

Orbán said the US president was mulling providing Ukraine with ammunition containing uranium, and the Russian president was talking about reprisals in kind.

No resolution to the war in Ukraine can be found on the battlefield, the prime minister said in the interview recorded on Thursday. A ceasefire and peace negotiations are in Europe, Hungary and the world’s interest, he added.

The war “is getting more and more serious” and unpredictable, he said.

The bodies and leaders responsible for Hungary’s security must be constantly vigilant, he added, noting that at a meeting of the defence council, the defence minister, the chief of staff and the interior minister were handed specific tasks in the interest of the country’s security.

Though diplomatic work, he said, was also intensifying, favourable outcomes were unlikely because a “war psychosis” had gripped Europe and the consensus was that the war would be decided on the battlefield.

Hungary’s view is that the control of events must be placed in the hands of diplomacy and politicians should negotiate a ceasefire, Orbán said, adding that with a ceasefire, inflation would “return to its usual course”.

The prime minister said NATO had been “cautious so far” and its position and that of Hungary had converged. NATO, he noted, had chosen not to take part in the war and to refrain from sending weapons to Ukraine. The delivery of weapons, intelligence sharing and military support were decisions made under the authority of individual member states, he added.

Orbán called the Western strategy of supplying Ukrainian soldiers with weapons, equipment and intelligence a “poorly assessed, flawed strategy” which had ended up prolonging, deepening and broadening the war.

He also insisted that “speculators” turned up whenever there was a war and he accused the financier George Soros of being “a war speculator who hopes for financial gain at the cost of massive loss of lives”. Hungary as a supporter of peace, he added, was “on the right side” morally.

Orbán said pro-peace opinions would eventually become the majority view in the Western world.

Meanwhile, referring to Donald Trump, he said it was worrying that the former president of the United States had been indicted, adding that Trump was “the one person in the Western world today who can stop this war and establish peace”. Hungary’s interest, he added, was for someone who was pro-peace to lead the US.

On the subject of inflation, he said the government had committed itself to pushing inflation down to single digits by year-end. In addition to measures already taken, new measures would be needed, he added.

Orbán called the budget a “stable point” in an unpredictable environment, adding that in times of war, “a defence budget” was needed that protected support for families and pensioners, utility subsidies and jobs while guaranteeing the country’s security.

He also urged Hungarians to keep their savings in state bonds. “In times of war, people who keep their savings in government bonds and treasury bills help the country.” Also, they received a higher interest rate than by keeping their money in the bank, he said. In addition to offering high interest on government bonds, bank savings will be taxed as long as the war lasts as a temporary measure, he said.

The prime minister slammed the EU for introducing costs on fuels and packaging, saying the new measures would stoke inflation.

Noting that the EU had control over certain types of tax on environmental grounds, he said Hungary was obliged to increase excise tax on petrol and diesel. Also packaging materials and bottles must be registered and tracked, adding to costs and the cost of waste processing. “These regulations are needless, impractical and badly timed…” he said.

The government, he said, was striving to give the economy new impetus and has prepared an economic protection action plan “to counterbalance the bad decisions” made in Brussels.

In next week’s government briefing, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, will present economic measures aimed at supporting the public as a “counterbalance to the bad instructions from Brussels”.

Meanwhile, regarding the EU position on mandatory migrant quotas, Orbán said Hungary and Poland had voted against it. “Slovakia, Bulgaria, Malta and perhaps Lithuania said a soft no,” he added.

In recent years, it seemed that they were able to shift the attention of the decision-makers in Brussels from the mandatory distribution of migrant quotas to border protection, “because this situation should not be solved by distributing migrants, but by protecting Europe’s external borders,” he said.

“But then suddenly a quick decision is made in a coup-like way that states that whichever country does not allow migrants in will be forced to do so,” Orbán said, adding that it was not by chance this coincided with George Soros handing over “control of his empire to his son just a few days ago”. His son, he added, had said he wanted to get more directly involved in politics in America and Europe.

Orbán said the Hungarian left had denied that there was even an intention to introduce such a measure in Brussels.

“Now the Soros empire has struck back and forced mandatory migrant quotas down the throats of the majority of Europeans with a coup-like decision,” the prime minister said.

Since this decision was taken, the news of the new situation has spread among migrants via “the Soros empire’s network”, and illegal migrants had become emboldened, Orbán said, adding that they were becoming increasingly aggressive at Hungary’s southern border.

“There’s a new viceroy at the helm of the Soros empire, and the Americans are putting a lot of pressure on Europe,” he said.

“All we want to say is let the Germans be right in Germany and Hungarians be right in Hungary,” Orbán said. “So the Germans should implement the kind of migrant policy they want.” But Hungary, he said, believed that such an experiment was risky and that mass influx of illegal migrants from another culture brought a raft of problems, the prime minister said. “And we don’t want to take that risk,” he added.

“We only ask those in Brussels not to tell Hungary whom we should live together with or what kind of migration policy we should implement, because that’s an internal affair of Hungary,” Orbán said.

Hungarian govt working to thwart introduction of resettlement quotas

Hungarian police Macedonia migration

Hungary’s government continues to work to thwart the adoption of mandatory resettlement quotas in the European Union, in line with Hungarian citizens’ wishes expressed in a referendum, the prime minister’s top security advisor told public news channel M1 on Thursday, referring to a 2016 plebiscite on EU quotas.

György Bakondi said that the package adopted last week would “have a long-term impact on the everyday lives of European citizens and European security”. He insisted that the package would weigh on public security, the welfare system and public health care.

The new regulation was approved “in a surprise move, through abuse of power, and by ignoring the interests of many nation states,” he added.

The Hungarian government will continue to find ways to thwart the introduction of “such a disadvantageous and dangerous step”. “Any measure resulting in the acceptance and keeping of people coming to Europe with no identification, with the help of organised crime, is a serious issue of sovereignty and national interest, and will not be implemented in Hungary as long as the country has a patriotic government,” he said.

Hungarian capital is among the Top 25 European Ecosystem in Affordable talent

MOL Campus skyscraper Budapest best office building

Budapest is celebrated in the world’s premier report on startup and economic enrichment – ranking as a Top 25 European Ecosystem in Affordable Talent

The 2023 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) by Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network was launched today at The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam. The GSER is powered by the world’s most comprehensive and quality-controlled dataset on startup ecosystems.  Informed by data on 3.5 million startups across 290+ global ecosystems, the report provides compelling new insights and deep knowledge about startup trends around the world. Contributions from expert thought leaders and local key players further enrich the report’s extensive, evidence-based findings, which are the product of over a decade of Startup Genome’s independent research and policy work.

Express Innovation Agency has partnered with Startup Genome to recognize Budapest’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in the #GSER2023 —

  • Budapest created $1,788,667,218 in ecosystem value from Jul 01, 2020 to Dec 31, 2022, a positive change of 13.67 percent  since the previous GSER period. Ecosystem value is a measure of economic impact, calculated as the value of Exits and startup valuations.
  • Top 25 European Ecosystem in Affordable Talent — measures the ability to hire tech talent
  • Top 40 European Ecosystem and Top 35 European Emerging Ecosystem in Funding — measures innovation through early stage funding and investor’s activity
  • The AI, Big Data, & Analytics, Fintech, and Life Sciences sectors are highlighted for their density of talent, support resources, and startup activity
  • The skilled workforce, government incentives, and startup friendly taxation are cited as reasons a startup should move to Budapest

“Startup Genome is honored to work with Express Innovation Agency in accelerating ecosystem growth, boosting job creation and uncovering key insights for decision makers to maximize economic impact in Budapest,” shares JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO of Startup Genome. “We are excited about the future of startup innovation in the region.”

GSER 2023 ranks the top 30 as well as 10 runner-up global ecosystems and includes a top 100 ranking of emerging ecosystems. It also highlights startup communities from a regional perspective, separately ranking ecosystems in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, MENA, North America, and Oceania. Key themes of this year’s report include inflation, AI  regulation, talent attraction, global VC funding, and a wide range of market sub-sector analyses.

“Hungary is well known for its tech talent and deep tech expertise, and as it gets paired with sales and marketing talent from the West, we get a powerful combination. As an undervalued ecosystem, there’s room for growth, which also means opportunities for startups, investors, and ecosystem players alike.” — Péter Balogh, tech angel and entrepreneur

The GSER is created in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Dealroom, and Crunchbase. The 2023 GSER provides invaluable insights and guidance on how to promote thriving startup communities — the #1 engine of job creation and economic growth. Discover how 140 entrepreneurial ecosystems compare and view the full report here.

Fidesz MEPs welcome EP position on regulation of AI transparency

robot-artificial intelligence

The European Parliament’s negotiating position on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, which the body adopted on Wednesday, is an “important milestone” towards legislation handling “risks and citizens’ fears” without stumping innovation, an MEP of ruling Fidesz told the plenary.

The negotiating position, a first step towards legislation on the matter, was adopted with 499 votes in favour, 28 against and 93 abstentions.

Balázs Hidvéghi said the law should focus on consumer protection.

MEP Edina Tóth said “we support innovation but we must also consider the dangers of implementation, and set up a legal framework so that AI can work as a safe tool for citizens and companies.

The position emphasised that AI development in Europe should be in line with European fundamental rights and values.

EU legislation is planned to establish obligations according to the level of risk of any particular application of AI. It would fully ban biometric identification, biometric catergorisation of sensitive personal data, predictive policing systems, and untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases, among others, the European Parliament said.

Hungary’s 2024 budget is a defence budget, finance minister says

Hungarian government parliament crisis Hungarian House Speaker

Addressing the debate of the 2024 budget in parliament on Tuesday, Finance Minister Mihály Varga qualified the budget as “a defence budget”, saying that in times of war Hungary must guarantee its security, protect families, pensions, jobs and maintain low utility costs.

That is why the focus of the budget is to strengthen the scheme to keep utility costs low and boost national defence, the finance minister said, adding that Hungary faced challenges on several fronts such as the protracted war and “failed Brussels sanctions” that had resulted in a serious energy crisis in Europe. The additional burdens in energy prices are costing the country more than HUF 1,000 billion (EUR 2.7 billion), he said.

Varga said protecting the country’s results achieved so far was the government’s primary task, adding that financial stability was essential for security. A strong economy combined with budgetary discipline were needed in this regard, he added.

The government is committed to reducing inflation to single digits by the end of this year, and inflation is targeted at 6 percent next year, while the economy is expected to grow by 4 percent in 2024, the minister said. The public debt as a percentage of GDP will be reduced to 69.7 percent this year and 66.7 percent next year, he said, adding that a deficit target of 2.9 percent of GDP was slated.

László Windisch, head of the State Audit Office, called the budget draft “well-founded” and said its targets were realistic. He added, however, that the excise tax revenues may end up amounting to HUF 53 billion less than planned.

Windisch also said meeting the budget targets was conditional on the accuracy of the government’s macroeconomic forecasts, adding that the draft “requires institutions of the central budget and municipalities to take further measures of economy”.

He also said the central budget faced payment obligations of an expected HUF 430 billion connected with central bank losses in 2023.

Hungarian FM: Europe needs strategic autonomy, advocacy

France Szijjártó

Europe needs strategic autonomy, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Paris on Wednesday, arguing that the continent would lose out if it kept following other global political players instead of enforcing its own interests.

Szijjártó held talks with the foreign affairs and defence committee of France’s Senate, discussing primarily the war in Ukraine and its consequences, according to a ministry statement.

The war has significantly weakened Europe both politically and economically, the minister said.

“It has weakened the continent politically because the past one year, three months and two weeks has not been enough for us to move closer to peace; we haven’t been able to stop this war,” he said.

“And secondly, we’ve become weaker economically because owing to the differences between the European and American responses to the war, European businesses find themselves at a huge competitive disadvantage compared with American businesses,” he added.

Szijjártó said that whereas the US Inflation Reduction Act “shamelessly and completely openly supports American companies against European ones”, European sanctions were hurting Europe’s economy more than Russia’s.

This puts European businesses at a huge competitive disadvantage, and all of the negative effects are felt in the vicinity of the war first, he said.

“Moreover, we represent a nation whose members are dying in the war, so I told the members of the French Senate’s foreign affairs and defence committee that Hungary has an absolute interest in peace,” Szijjártó said.

“We, of course, condemn the war,” he said. “The question is not what we think of the war or its outbreak, but rather how it will end.”

“There is no resolution to this war on the battlefield, only casualties,” Szijjártó said. Every single new delivery of weapons brings more casualties, so Europe should instead concentrate on creating peace, he added.

“Of course, this approach of ours is out of line with that of the European mainstream,” Szijjártó said, adding that it also differed from France’s approach in several ways.

But what is certain is that France and Hungary agree that Europe is in need of some sort of strategic autonomy and the ability to make its own decisions and enforce its own interests, he said. Because if it constantly follows other world political players, it will lose out, he added.

Major announcement: Amazon to expand in Hungary

amazon

Amazon is about to provide new services in Hungary with its Eastern European expansion. A new office in Budapest is on its way as well.

As Forbes reported, Amazon is about to expand in the Hungarian capital. There has been an ongoing Eastern European expansion, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been opening new offices in Poland, Czechia and Romania. The first Hungarian office is about to open in Széchenyi Square. Cloud services have been available for Hungarians for a long time, but now, due to constant growth, an offline presence is required as well to provide higher-quality service for customers.

Amazon Web Services

AWS started in 2006, providing numerous tech services; testing AI, developing web and social applications, machine learning and the most-known cloud services. AWS is used by many Hungarian software developers and companies. What Euronics, ingatlan.com, Raiffesein Bank, Prezi, aiMotive and Lensa have in common is the fact that they all use AWS services. AWS is providing technological services, as well as market support, business advice and marketing strategies.

Tomasz Stachlewski, Head of Technology for EMEA CEE at Amazon Web Services, told Forbes that their main goal is a wider distribution of technological innovations. AWS has been providing cost-efficient services to companies to achieve this goal. Amazon has been dealing with machine learning (personalised webshop recommendations, Alexa, shipping drones, etc.) for about 25 years now.

Why Hungary?

The Hungarian workforce is highly equipped in the tech sector. Thus, it is an ideal place for AWS to further develop their service. There is a high demand from Hungarian customers and companies for technological innovation as well as marketing and business advice. Przemek Szuder, Managing Director of AWS in Central and Eastern Europe, has told Forbes that there was a delay in the Hungarian expansion due to the Covid pandemic, but the new office is opening this June.

Moreover, AWS is planning to support teaching and studying with innovations. AWS also has an interest in supporting new startups and Hungarian businesses. Przemek Szuder said:

Our aim is to contribute to the Hungarian startup ecosystem by mentoring, sharing knowledge regarding the industry and potential investments, as well as investing in promising businesses.

Supporting these businesses will have a positive effect not only on Hungary, but the whole world as well. Therefore, thriving businesses will lead to international innovations.

 

Orbán: European politics are full of ‘blah-blah’

Viktor Orbán Olaf Scholz Germany Hungary

European politics need people “who want something, who still have the energy, dedication and passion”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after talks with Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s Vox party, in Budapest on Friday.

While there is an increasing amount of “blah-blah” in European politics, statements repeated over and over again but followed by no action, Europe is increasingly losing its competetiveness, Orbán said.

Those who think along similar lines must work together; the cooperation between Hungary’s ruling Fidesz and Vox had been confirmed at the talks with Abascal, he added.

“We would like to see a right-wing turn in Europe, too,” he said.

Abascal reiterated the need for cooperation between those that fight for a much stronger Europe.

He said he deeply condemned the “persecution and blackmail” that Brussels employed against Hungary.

“Ideological discrimination is the real danger to European unity,” he said. It could also create a precedent because currently Hungary and Poland are in focus but Brussels bureaucrats could target any other country in the next moment, he added.

Statements from Orbán outrage Kyiv: ‘Call your friend Putin’

Putin Orbán Russian gas disgraceful role

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday that in the current situation, it would be a “bloodbath to start a counteroffensive”. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the Hungarian PM’s absurd stance violated EU values and international law. He wrote that if the Hungarian prime minister is really concerned about human lives, he should call his “friend Vladimir Putin” to withdraw his troops from Ukraine. In that case, the war would end.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was a guest on Kossuth Radio’s Good Morning, Hungary (Jó reggelt, Magyarország) programme on Friday morning. He discussed Hungary’s 2024 budget, inflation, the Turkish presidential election and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, among other issues. We wrote about this in detail HERE.

On the sanctions packages closely linked to the war, he said that the conflict in Ukraine has winners and losers. However, those who lose relatives are the ones who suffer the most. “In the East, the situation is unchanged, the war has entered a brutal phase,” Index quotes Orbán as saying.

Orbán said that “Hungary is not involved in the war, we are watching from outside. It imposes a direct threat on us, but we are not involved.” According to him, “everybody in the West is enthusiastic about the Ukrainian counteroffensive”. However, “if I attack, my losses are three times greater than if I defend,” he said.

“In these circumstances, it is a bloodbath to launch a counter-attack. We must initiate a ceasefire before then. One of the biggest challenges in politics is to admit your own past mistakes. To such an extent they have fallen into the trap of believing that the war can be won with Western support and fighting that it will be very difficult for them to turn off this path,” he said.

This was the sentence that sparked a huge outcry among Ukrainians. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, responded with a lengthy post on Twitter. You can read his whole tweet below:

As we reported earlier today, Patriarch Kirill has written a letter to PM Viktor Orbán on the occasion of his 60th birthday. The Moscow Patriarch has awarded Orbán the First Degree of the Order of Glory and Honour.

NATO can’t discuss accession of a country at war

Szijjártó NATO

The NATO membership of a country at war cannot be on the agenda at the defence alliance’s next summit in Vilnius, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Oslo on Thursday, adding that NATO must not become party to the war in Ukraine, lest it risk a third world war.

Szijjártó told a press conference after an informal meeting with his NATO counterparts that the negative effects of the war in neighbouring Ukraine affected Hungary more strongly. The Hungarian government therefore wants peace as soon as possible, however, this stance remains in the minority in the transatlantic region, Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.

The minister noted NATO’s declaration last year that it was not party to the conflict in Ukraine and that it would do everything possible to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia.

“Adherence to this decision is critical for us . this has to remain the basis,” Szijjártó said. “This has to be the determining factor for everything shaping NATO’s actions concerning Ukraine, including preparations for the summit.”

“Fortunately there hasn’t been any indication either today or the Foreign Affairs Council meeting that would have cast doubt over the validity of this earlier decision,” Szijjártó said, adding that the decision needed to be strengthened at the Vilnius summit next month and an increase in the risk of escalation should be avoided.

Concerning Ukraine’s potential NATO membership, Szijjártó said: “We have to be clear, the accession of a country at war cannot be on the agenda.”

The minister said he believed there was an agreement on this in NATO circles, “but clearly, certain countries don’t dare or want to express it this firmly and directly in public”.

He said that while it would be possible to give Ukraine the impression that it would be given a timetable for its accession at the summit, this would not be fair. “We shouldn’t foster illusions that obviously won’t come true,” he said.

Szijjártó also spoke out against the Ukrainian military receiving any combat training from NATO, warning that this risked expanding the conflict and contradicting the alliance’s earlier decisions.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said that the annual EUR 500 million of development aid NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg proposed member states allocate to Ukraine could only be done on a voluntary basis.

He also said it was important that the NATO-Ukraine committee be convened in a way that allows for requiring the country to respect the rights of national minorities.

Szijjártó said that though Hungary was under strong pressure to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession, the government had made it clear that the decision on when this happens would be determined by parliament.

“We refuse to accept any pressure,” the minister said. “Hungary’s parliament will make a sovereign decision on the ratification, which the government will of course support.”

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said several of his NATO counterparts had spoken highly of how Hungarian peacekeeping troops had stood their ground in Kosovo, which he said Hungary could be proud of.

He said that in addition to threats from the east, NATO should also devote attention to challenges from the south, such as the increased threat of terrorism from the Middle East and Africa, which he warned could lead to more mass migration waves making their way to Europe.

“We therefore consider it very important to help develop the defence capacities of the African, Western Balkan and Caucasian countries,” he said.

Szijjártó said because NATO members had not been repaid the money that financed the Afghan army even despite the alliance’s withdrawal from the country, the Hungarian government has reallocated HUF 320 million (EUR 863,000) of it towards the development of the defence capabilities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with 120 million forints each to Georgia and Moldova and 40 million each to boosting the capabilities of Jordan, Mauritania and Tunisia.

He also said that Hungary continued to oppose arms deliveries to Ukraine, adding that several African countries were concerned that those weapons could end up in the continent’s unstable regions.

Seiren’s HUF 15 bn investment to create 170 new jobs in SW Hungary

Seiren

Japan’s Seiren has inaugurated a HUF 15 billion (EUR 40.3m) car seat cover plant in Pécs, in southwest Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Tuesday, adding that the company’s first plant in Europe will create 170 jobs.

The government supported the investment with a HUF 4.5 billion grant, Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.

The plant will produce some 2.5 million metres of seat cover for Europe’s car market in an eco-friendly technology, the minister said.

Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the global economy over the last three years, the auto industry’s transition to electric vehicles and the global expansion of Eastern companies remains uninterrupted, Szijjártó said.

Whereas in 2008, 81 percent of all global investments came from the West and 19 percent from the East, last year 55 percent of all investments were financed by Eastern capital and just 45 percent came from the West, he said.

Szijjártó said it was no surprise that there was fierce competition in the West, including Europe, for investments by strong Eastern businesses.

“We, Hungarians have entered this race as well, and I believe I can say without any exaggeration or complacency that we’re successful in it,” Szijjártó said.

Hungary’s low taxes, its uniquely stable political system in a European context, and the absence of discrimination based on geography make the country an extremely attractive investment destination, he said.

Hungarian FM: Egypt needs more support to cope with migration pressure

Péter Szijjártó Egypt

Countries that rein in illegal migration deserve special respect when “the ill-fated policies of Brussels” result in increased pressure of migration on Europe, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday, calling for greater financial support for Egypt.

Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Budapest that relations between the two countries had always been based on mutual respect, adding that Hungary had gained much as a result in terms of security and the economy.

“The value of this long-standing friendly cooperation has further grown, when global security has become rather fragile,” he said. “What makes Hungarian-Egyptian cooperation even more significant is that we both belong to the pro-peace global majority,” he added.

“We’d like to see the war in Ukraine end as soon as possible,” he said. “We represent the position that there is no solution to this war on the battle field; only diplomacy, talks, a ceasefire and peace talks can bring the desired results,” he added.

Szijjártó said that mass illegal migration was a severe security challenge, adding that Hungarian authorities had prevented 270,000 illegal border crossing attempts last year “without any help from Brussels”.

“In addition to not getting help, Brussels is continually worsening the situation by making pro-migration statements and encouraging migration,” he said.

“By now, human smuggling has basically become a flourishing business throughout Europe thanks to Brussels’ migration policies,” he said. “And since Brussels policies are stoking migration pressure, we must respect countries that help prevent this pressure from growing further,” he added.

Egypt is one such country, being one of strongest bastions of the line of defence in north Africa, despite the internal warfare in neighbourly Sudan which is also unleashing a wave of migrants, he said.

“So we’re asking Brussels … to increase financial support for Egypt, to enable Egypt look after the refugees from Sudan,” he added.

“We also call on Brussels to give technical and technological support to Egypt to help the country protect its borders so that refugees from Sudan cannot cross over to Libya, from where there is straight passage to Europe,” he said.

Cairo deserves gratitude for reining in the wave of migration because in the current situation Europe would find it very hard to cope with an additional security challenge, he said.

Szijjártó highlighted cooperation in energy, technology and training, adding that a new nuclear power station was being built in both countries with the same technology and main contractor.

He also noted that 125 Egyptian students study with scholarships in Hungarian higher education, and 890 applications have been received so far this year.

Meanwhile, the sides signed an agreement at the meeting on cooperation in plant protection.

In response to a question on Hungarian peacekeepers injured during Kosovo riots on the previous day, Szijjártó said it was a Hungarian national security interest to ensure peace in the Western Balkans, which is also why the government is calling for EU enlargement in that direction as soon as possible.

“We are not only talking about this but also making an effort, which is why hundreds of Hungarian soldiers are serving in the Western Balkans, in a NATO mission in Kosovo and EU mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” he said.

Commenting on Monday’s events, he said Hungarian soldiers had acquitted themselves with supreme professionalism and acted in line with commands. The fifteen soldiers injured received hospital care and none is in life-threatening condition, he said. The Hungarian group of doctors sent to the site will decide which must be transported home, Szijjártó added.

No decision has been made yet on whether new soldiers will be sent to replace the injured, the minister said.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán sends greetings to Croatian counterpart on national holiday

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Monday sent his greetings to Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic on the occasion of Statehood Day of Croatia, Orbán’s press chief said.

“National sovereignty is one of the most important values for us here in central Europe,” Orbán said in the letter marking the national holiday.

“We are proud that Hungary was among the first countries to assure Croatia of its support [in achieving statehood] and was also among the first countries to recognise the country’s independence,” he added.

Bertalan Havasi cited Orbán saying that Croatia’s Schengen accession was also a common historic success for Hungary and central Europe. Eliminating the internal borders of the European community brings several new opportunities in developing ties, in economic cooperation, and also in terms of citizens’ daily lives, he added.

At the same time, Orbán said that protecting the external borders of Schengen was a common responsibility. “We must succeed as neighbourly Schengen countries in the protection of a southern borders, and I can assure you that my country is ready to give all its support to Croatia,” Orbán said in his letter.

Justice minister: EP working to hinder Hungary EU presidency

European Parliament building

The European Parliament is preparing to vote on a resolution concerning Hungary next week, Justice Minister Judit Varga said on Facebook on Wednesday, adding that the document served to hinder Hungary in taking over the rotating presidency in 2024.

“We shall not allow an opportunity like that to be taken from Hungary!” she said.

Member states’ rights to the rotating presidency of the European Council are decided in a unanimous vote, Varga said.

The EP has no say in the matter, Varga said. “Those with real weight on the matter have never even contemplated the idea that Hungary should not be allowed to fulfil its role. We are in daily contact with the Council, and preparing for the task,” she said.

The presidency will be an excellent opportunity for Hungary to spread its views in other member states, and also to shape Europe’s future, Varga said.

Hungary’s focus will be the future of demographic challenges, competitiveness and cohesion policy, she said.

Hungarian minister: Europe youth becoming radical

Hungarian social media delete Facebook

In a speech at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Regional Development Minister Tibor Navracsics said that a generation change is taking place with the youth using Europe as an “online platform” for communicating their political messages in memes and collating simplified and pointed messages.

This generation change is steering Europe towards polarisation and radicalisation, Navracsics said in his address prior to the general assembly meeting of the Hungarian Atlantic Council, MTI reported.

The youth today have grown up integrated entirely into a democratic and uniform Europe and are part of an online revolution, he said. “They see the world and the problems differently, which is the first important factor,” the minister said.

Radical parties are coming up in Europe while moderate conservatives are either turning radical or they are becoming weaker, he said. “The messages of liberal parties become more and more radical whereas Christian Democrat has become a synonym of being an opposition force,” Navracsics said, adding that the situation of the Social Democrats “isn’t much better, either”. “Because of this, the disputes are becoming sharper,” he said.

Navracsics said that the Russian-Ukrainian war raised questions concerning Europe’s security. The war’s message, he said, was that “the myth of Europe’s invulnerability has permanently collapsed,” adding that it turned out that mankind had not learnt any lessons from history.

Navracsics called a ceasefire key to stopping the war and giving way to talks to be launched as soon as possible in the interest of brokering a just and fair peace.

“If this war escalates, it will threaten the future of Europe,” the minister said.

The future of Europe also depends on how successful the efforts towards turning it into a cultural community would be. “It is a promise still unfulfilled and explains the internal conflicts within the community; if we understood each other’s culture, it would help spare most of our political disputes,” Navracsics said.

Guy Verhofstadt: Europe is not the problem, Orbán is

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Guy Verhofstadt MEP, former ALDE group leader and former Prime Minister of Belgium, was the guest of honour at Hungarian opposition party Momentum’s conference in Budapest on Friday. Mr Verhofstadt spoke about EU member states, Brexit and Orbán, among others.

No EU Member State is strong enough to be a global political actor

The opposition party Momentum issued a statement after the conference. According to the statement, Verhofstadt said, among other things, that although no EU member state is strong enough to act as a global political actor, the European Union and the European continent together can already compete with China, Russia, the US and India. “We must regain European sovereignty,” the Belgian MEP said.

He also reacted to Viktor Orbán’s comparison of the European Union to Hitler’s empire-building ambitions last week (Orbán said, when talking about European unity, that “Byzantium, Charlemagne, Otto, Napoleon, Hitler all dreamed of European unity on different bases”). Verhofstadt said the European project was precisely to bring peace to the continent after centuries of bloodshed, Telex writes.

Straying away from the EU has never ended well

He also said that those states that are on the periphery of the EU have never fared well; recession and inflation follow a move away from the EU. According to Verhofstadt, the British have learned this lesson, having “realised since the referendum that they were stupid”. Hungary must stay in the EU because “the problem is not Europe, it is Orbán”, he said.

Momentum MEP Anna Donáth told the conference that Hungary must regain the diplomatic influence it gained during the regime change, and “as a truly sovereign country, we must put our own ideas on the table when reforming the EU”. Greater integration is needed in areas such as foreign policy and the military, energy security, the green transition, ensuring European prosperity, and European funding for education and health.

Europe is Europe because of its diversity

At the same time, she expects national autonomy for the culture and way of life of nation states. “Europe is Europe because it is diverse, multilingual and multi-ethnic. It is a heterogeneous federation in terms of its traditions, history and culture. Therefore, Europe must respect and even strengthen the autonomy of nation states in shaping their culture and way of life,” said the Momentum MEP.

Minister: Hungarian government is working for a Christian Europe

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Hungary’s government works each day for a Christian Europe, Justice Minister Judit Varga told a conference on the lessons of the history of the European Union on Monday.

In her speech at the event organised by the National University of Public Service (NKE), Varga referred to the words of Robert Schuman, one of the “founding fathers” of the EU, who said that “Europe will be Christian or it will not be at all.”

Hungary’s government stands by conservative values because things that prove successful after being tried in Hungary could also be successful “on a large scale in Europe”, the minister said.

Varga said respect for unity and diversity was a guiding principle in her daily EU-related work.

Meanwhile, she noted that the European parliamentary elections next spring will be followed by Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of the year. Because Hungary only gets to hold the rotating presidency every 13.5 years, it must make use of the opportunity and demonstrate its aptitude and creativity, she said.

Varga said Hungary’s task during its presidency would be to present a “liveable alternative”.

She emphasised that Hungary had joined an EU in which the culture of consensus had been considered the most important fundamental principle of the treaties. The government believes that member states cannot always give up their independence, and have the right to implement many EU policies through their own means, the minister said.

NKE rector Gergely Deli noted that 9 May marked the celebration of European peace and unity, as well as the anniversary of the historic Schuman declaration which led to the establishment of the EU.

Schuman envisioned a form of cooperation among European countries which made wars avoidable, he said, adding that the fighting in Ukraine meant that the importance of peace was felt up close in Hungary.

Tibor Navracsics, the minister for regional development, spoke about the enlargement of the EU and said “we cannot afford to prevent the Balkans or, in a given situation, the post-Soviet region from joining the EU”. He insisted the EU could survive as long as it can fulfill its “peace project, which includes enlargement”.

The community must allow Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania to join and give those countries a perspective, Navracsics said. He also added that the accession of those countries would “essentially change” the operations of the EU, adding that the idea of a “multi-speed Europe” would be “no disaster” as long as there was an opportunity for members “to change gear”.

Referring to the UK quitting the EU, Navracsics said Brexit was “proof that now you cannot be better off if you leave the EU”.

Concerning the “sharp debates within the EU, with the Hungarian government and the European Commission involved”, Navracsics said they were triggered because “a new political system is evolving … but it is not supported by a political community”. “There is no uniform, European demos … which could lend legitimacy, strength, visibility to the European institutions,” he insisted.