Opposition Jobbik-Conservatives has called on Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó to summon Russia’s ambassador over a textbook recently published in Russia, in which Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution is described as a “fascist revolt”.
Jobbikdeputy group leader Koloman Brenner also called on the minister to protest in a memorandum against the textbook, stating that it “echoes the ideology of communist Soviet Union”.
Brenner said the government would need to take “serious steps of distancing itself” from the textbook. This could “at last restore the equilibrium of Hungary’s foreign policy”, he added. Brenner noted that in 2016, when the Russian side referred to developments in 1956as a “pogrom”, Szijjártó summoned the Russian ambassador.
Putin has a new history textbook written by his adviser Vladimir Medinsky. According to the new textbook, in 1956, rebellious radicals, former soldiers of fascist Hungary, took up arms and committed a large number of murders. The textbook concludes that it was a mistake for Russians to withdraw from Hungary.
New Russian state history book
In 1956, rebellious radicals, former soldiers of fascist Hungary, took up arms and committed many murders. According to a G7 article, this is how the new Russian state history textbook describes the 1956 revolution of Hungary. This volume will be compulsory for the education of 17-year-olds throughout the country. The volume for 11th graders was written by Vladimir Medinsky, an advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
G7 notes about Medinsky that as culture minister he fired the head of the Moscow archives for questioning the historical authenticity of the filmed legend of the Great Patriotic War, the story of 28 soldiers who stopped a German tank column in front of Moscow at the cost of their lives, 24.hu writes.
It was a mistake releasing Hungary
G7 points out that the book spends almost a hundred pages on Putin’s reign and 18 pages on the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war. In addition to the section on Hungary in 1956, it is noteworthy that the book considers the release of the Soviet satellite states, including Hungary, to be a major mistake.
As the book writes, “In 1989, the unilateral withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern and Central Europe began. This was a particularly ill-considered decision, because the weakening of the Soviet military presence in the Allied countries caused a rise in nationalist and anti-Soviet sentiment’.
Neo-nazism, brutal tactics in Ukraine
For example, according to the G7 article, in the sub-chapter on “Ukrainian neo-Nazism”, they discuss how, since the 1990s, generations have been “raised with anti-Russian, neo-Nazi ideals” and the Ukrainian army, following NATO orders, uses its own citizens as human shields, not allowing them to leave their homes. According to the textbook, ‘no army in the history of the world has ever used such brutal tactics on its own territory’.
Hungary’s government has the strongest legitimacy in Europe, enabling it to conduct the most sovereign foreign policy in the continent and focus exclusively on national interests, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at a festival in western Hungary, on Saturday.
There is great uncertainty in world politics but despite this, Hungarian foreign policy’s scope is broad, determined by geography and national aims, with the government able to look at these solely from its own standpoint, the ministry cited Szijjártó as saying at the Tranzit Festival held in Tihany.
Hungarians who elected the government voted for guaranteed security and for national interests to be enforced in the “new world order”, he said.
Its policies are also morally justified, as the government has never taken steps to prolong the war and has not contributed to a single death, he said.
“The legitimacy of Hungarian foreign policy is unique in Europe, simply because the Hungarian government has the strongest mandate in Europe,” he said.
Szijjártó slammed the EU for being dragged into a “spiral of sanctions” against Russia. “We are having trouble finding a sector isn’t subject to sanctions yet.” Sanctions against Russia are harming the EU and not bringing the end of the war closer, he added.
He also condemned weapon deliveries, saying they only caused more deaths and a risk of escalation.
The financial, migration and health-care crises of the past decade, along with the war in Ukraine, have upended the previous global state of affairs, and are likely to bring about an era of “unrest, jostling and a fight for position” in international politics, he said.
The elections of the past years have shown attempts to influence the results against every party that does not represent the globalist liberal side, he said. “The only country where those attemps failed is Hungary,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EU’s competitiveness has plummeted, and it’s losing out because “it has let itself be provoked into a race with the US for who gives more military support to Ukraine,” he said.
As a result, the price of gas in the US is now one-seventh of that in Europe, and electricity in China is by two-thirds cheaper, he said.
The “remarkably misguided” policies of the EU are also leading to blocs being formed in the world, he said. “This may be good for the bloc leaders but not for the countries caught in the middle,” he said, calling for “civilised” cooperation between East and West.
The government does not follow this stance because they are “the agents of one force or the other”, but because this is in the nation’s interest, he said. “Those now accusing us of being pro-Russia watched idly as half the continent suffered under Russian dictatorship for decades.”
Meanwhile, Hungary has managed to stay on its feet and even to grow economically, despite the recent crises, he said.
Szijjártó said it was “important” for Hungary to grasp the opportunities offered by the “revolutionary change in the car manufacturing industry”. “We now have the fourth largest capacity for manufacturing electric batteries in the world, and will jump to second place once investments currently under way are completed. We will be second behind China, and this will mean a guarantee for the Hungarian economy to stay on a growth path in the coming years,” he said.
“Without plants coming to Hungary, the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Hungarians would be at risk, as the Hungarian car manufacturing industry employs 170,000 people directly employs three-and-a-half to four times as more indirectly,” he said.
Unfair practices are also employed in the battle for those investments, he said, citing attempts to mislead ordinary people and incite anxiety by making dishonest claims about the impact of such investments. “It is an extremely dishonest movement, and opposed to national interests, to mislead people … resulting in such factories being built in Germany, France, the US and Sweden,” he said.
“I greatly appreciate [Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán’s political talent, I trust he can handle the US,” American television host and commentator Tucker Carlson said in an interview with the website mandiner.hu on Friday.
Carlsonsaid Orbán’s US image is shaped entirely by the US that “hates him for reasons wholly unrelated to his actions”. “Orbán is not an extremist. He is an extremely talented politician. He is trusted with a country in central Europe, in the ring of seven neighbouring countries.” he said. The task requires “extraordinary diplomatic talent”, he said.
“I doubt Viktor Orbán or any other Hungarian loves Russians, but they have to get along with Russia, because this enormous country will always be there. They can’t just be filed away as a wicked empire and cease dialogue with it. They must maintain dialogue because they need energy agreements.” he said. Carlson said the “animosity” of the US and Ambassador David Pressmancame from the fact that Hungary was a Christian country, “even if it’s not particularly religious”. That is “deeply offensive for the US, which rejects true Christianity, “and its government downright hates it,” Carlson said.
Read also:
Leaked MAP: Putin wants to reconquer Hungary, Alaska, Poland? – Read more HERE
Sanan Sjugirov is a Russian international chess grandmaster who will represent Hungary in international competitions, the Russian state news agency announced yesterday.
According to Telex, the 30-year-old chess player is ranked the world’s 31st best. Interestingly, he is the higher-ranked chess player who changed his “sport” citizenship. Before, he won youth European and world championships and was ranked 28th best.
Sergey Smagin, the deputy chairman of the Russian Chess Federation, told the Russian news agency that Sjugirovis a strong player. However, in Russia, there are several players with his knowledge and experience. In Hungary, his place in the national team is guaranteed, he added.
The Russian chess grandmaster does not know how much salary he will get
Zoltán Polyánszky, the chairman of the Hungarian Chess Federation, told MTI, the Hungarian news agency, that due to the war, the Russian Chess Federation abandoned the European association and joined the Asian. As a result, many Russian players lost their chance to run in European competitions. Thus, Sjugirov submitted a plea to the Hungarian federation, which they approved.
He added that based on an agreement between the Russian federation and the Hungarian FIDE, the deadline for short-track country change is 31 August for Russian chess players. However, it is still an open question when, how and under which conditions Mr Sjugirov may start his career in Hungary’s national team. Mr Polyánszky added that FIDE will make official decisions concerning Russian players after the 31 August deadline. Afterwards, they will also decide about the salary of the Russian player(s).
Hungarian chess master sisters will get a movie – HEREare the details
Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president between 2008 and 2012, and deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, shared a map last July, showing the partition of Ukraine between Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Now, the map has been updated with all the ex-Soviet countries and territories being recaptured by Russia. The shocking chart depicts Hungary, Poland and Alaska as part of the Russian empire. It seems their audicity knows no boundaries.
The map appeared in Tambov, a city of 300,000 people, situated 480 km south of Moscow. Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent of The Wall Street Journal, Yaroslav Trofimov, shared the controversial map on his X (former Twitter) page. The post has more than 51 thousand views. Many people took to social media to give voice to their shock and outrage.
Russia’s aspirational map, from Alaska to Germany to Greece to Mongolia, now graces the streets of Tambov. “We’ll teach you to love the Fatherland,” it says. In case you thought it’s only about Ukraine. 📸 https://t.co/eM6GKmLZWjpic.twitter.com/UKvUTUPRXR
The said map even comes with the inscription: “We’ll teach you to love the Fatherland”. And the Russian world spans from Alaska to Germany and from Greece to Mongolia. The map clearly suggests that Moscow would not stop in Ukraine but might try to recapture Hungary as well. Hungary was occupied by the Soviet forces during WWII, after bloody fights between September 1944 and April 1945. The result was the almost complete destruction of Budapest and many parts of the country. Furthermore, Hungary became part of the Soviet block during the Cold War despite its failed 1956 revolution and freedom fight against Soviet (Russian) occupation.
Read also:
Putin: region Hungarians live in is old Russian land – Read more HERE
Greece, Alaska, Mongolia, Germany, Hungary – all belong to Russia & Putin?
The post-1945 world order’s main rule was that borders were unchangeable. The international community accepts only divisions (like in Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia in our region), but never military occupations. According to G7, Putin would change that and make the United Nations acknowledge its territorial gains in Ukraine. However, such a step might encourage other countries (like North Korea or African states) that military offensives are worth the price since there is a chance the international community will accept the results.
Of course, it is highly unlikely that Russia would seriously consider recapturing Alaska, a state of the United States once sold by the Russians to Washington. However, the threat in Central Europe may be plausible. That is what Poles always use as their main argument when lobbying for more support for Ukraine. Nevertheless, even Western politicians and the chief of staff of the NATOgeneral secretary suggested Ukraine should accept territorial losses in return for security guarantees and NATO membership. Though the latter withdrew his proposition due to Kyiv’s outrage, G7 suggests Ukraine’s slow-pace advance on the battlefield may support such thoughts.
PM Orbán also expressed his opinion on the matter. He believes Washington should initiate peace or at least armistice negotiations with Moscow and end the bloodshed by restoring trade with Russia, even if that means a frozen conflict like the one in Eastern Ukraine having taken place between 2014 and 2022.
“We must admit that we do not know everything, and we will be wiser than [US President Joe] Biden, his government, or Ambassador Pressman,” American television host and commentator Tucker Carlson said at a talk with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s political director in Budapest on Tuesday.
Referring to David Pressman, Carlson said the US ambassador to Hungary did not understand Hungary of Hungarians: “You don’t know anything about [Hungary], you don’t speak Hungarian. Leave!” During the talk with Balázs Orbán, who also heads the board of the organiser Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Carlson also insisted that the US had sabotaged Germany’s energy supplies. “The Biden administration blew up NordStream … and the Germans won’t say anything about it.”
Carlson said NATOwas on the brink of collapse, according to a report on the website mandiner.hu. Meanwhile, Carlson said Hungary was inspiring for the USas it “knows who it is, knows its own culture” and was trying to preserve it. Hungary, he added, was a central topic in US think-tanks. While “many are trying to stop Hungary,” Hungarian politics remains moderate, he said.
“No one seems on the verge on killing anybody else … [Hungarian politics] doesn’t seem super-heated and crazy, it doesn’t seem revolutionary,” he said. He praised Hungary for remaining Western and a NATO member while communicating: “We’ve got our own thing going on here … maybe just leave us alone”. Hungary is a model of how “you can preserve your dignity and have a pro-human society without killing anybody, without screaming and without blowing up what you already have,” he said.
Carlson also urged young people to read “paper books” as opposed to electronic devices. “Schools come and go and their purpose changes over time … modern universities are now anti-God … but books don’t change, and they help people to discern between good and bad,” he said.
Atomstroyexport, a unit of Russian nuclear power company Rosatom, has started building new reactors for the Paks 2 project at the site, the company said on Monday.
Hungarian subcontractors have begun ground preparations for the foundations and the housing of the VVER-1200 reactors.
The construction phase started after Hungarian and Russian representatives signed on 18 August an amendment to the contract on the construction of the two new nuclear power plant blocks.
Around 1 million cubic meters of earth must be excavated and removed in the area of block 6, and this work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the autumn, the company’s statement said.
The new construction phase applies to all the main structures, requiring a large increase in staff, machines and equipment, the statement said, adding that around 10,000 works are involved in the construction.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday held bilateral talks with Rustam Minnikhanov, the head of the Republic of Tatarstan, the prime minister’s press chief said.
The two leaders were in agreement that Hungary and Tatarstan were prepared to continue working together based on their shared achievements in sectors where cooperation is possible, such as agriculture, Bertalan Havasi told MTI. Despite the sanctions and political difficulties, the Hungarian companies present in Russia are exploring ways to expand their activities, they said.
Orbán said Hungary and Tatarstan were also aiming to continue their cooperation in the areas of culture, science and higher education, adding that Hungary would continue to welcome students from Tatarstanwithin the framework of the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship scheme.
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Want to study in Hungary? Here are some scholarships for international students – Read more HERE
The Russian touristic federation recommends Hungary for Russian tourists to get a Schengen visa with which they can travel freely in and between many countries. That is because the procedure is relatively easy in Hungary.
According to Privátbankár, the other recommended countries in the Schengen area are Italy and Greece. In 2022, the EU welcomed 84% fewer Russian tourists than in 2021 because getting a visa is not easy. Many member states like Belgium, the Baltic countries, and Czechia do not even issue the travel documents for Russiancitizens.
In 2022, 600,000 Schengenvisas were issued. Spain’s share is the highest, 154,000. Since the EU raises barriers, Russians go to other places for holidays. The highest numerical growth was in Türkiye in that respect (2.6 million), but the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Egypt are also very popular.
The amended construction contract of the upgrade of the Paks nuclear plant has been signed, marking the end of the project’s preparatory phase and paving the way for the start of construction works, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Friday.
The signing of the contract is an important milestone in the construction of the new reactor blocks, Péter Szijjártó said after a video call with Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom’s chief executive, and a meeting with Alexander Merten, the deputy head of ASE, the Rosatom unit that is the general contractor for the project.
The signing of the new construction contract was made possible by the modified financing contract’s entry into force on 16 August, Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Merten.
There are several provisions in the new contract that will speed up and facilitate progress in the project in the coming period, the minister said. Work on the diaphragm wall is ongoing, with 467 metres of it already built, and groundwork for block six is set to get under way, he said, adding that ground consolidation work was set to start in the autumn.
The signing of the new construction contract and the transition to the project’s construction phase will make it possible to pour the first concrete by the end of next year and reach another key milestone, Szijjártó said.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said the project’s financial transactions were ongoing for which the necessary contract modifications were completed.
The Paks upgrade is a major international project that is not subject to any sanctions, with both Rosatom and Hungary cooperating with several Western companies, he said.
Szijjártó said Europe would not impose any sanctions on the nuclear industry in the future either, emphasising that Hungary would never support such a step, as it would go against its national interests.
Energy security is one of the most critical issues today, he said, adding that the countries that can produce as much of their own energy as possible would be the most secure in the future.
In Hungary’s case, nuclear power plants are the only way to produce large amounts of energy, Szijjártó said, adding that nuclear energy was a safe, environmentally friendly and cheap way to produce electricity.
The upgrade of the Paks plant is therefore a long-term guarantee of affordable energy in Hungary, the minister said. Hungary therefore views any attacks against or moves aimed at blocking the project as attempted violations of its sovereignty, he added.
German businesses know very well how important Hungarian factories, skilled workers and engineers are to the global success of German brands from vehicle production to the defence industry, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the inauguration of Rheinmetall Hungary’s plant in Zalaegerszeg on Friday.
Hungary, central Europe and Germany, Orbán said, were “inextricably linked”. “We are and will continue to be the most natural allies in maintaining competitiveness,” he added.
Besides the manufacture of fighting vehicles, the facility also has a test track and R and D centre so that production and R and D can be done in one place, Orbán noted.
“Made in Hungary in every sense of the word,” he declared, adding that “made in Hungary would not be what it is without German technology.”
Orbán said some people may think that the development of the Hungarian defence industry was scrambling in response to the war, but in fact the first relevant decisions were made in 2017. The Zalaegerszeg factory was, he added, the outcome of joint German-Hungarian “wisdom and foresight” based on an assessment of the European and world political situation.
He thanked Rheinmetall’s chairman and chief executive, Armin Papperger, for contributing towards the government’s decision-making.
Source: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Benko Vivien Cher
The German Lynx fighting vehicle “manufactured on Hungarian soil” is operated by Hungarian workers and Hungarian engineers, Orbán said, adding that those involved in operating this cutting-edge technology had acquired their education in Hungarian schools, and this fact served as a ripost to those who slammed the country’s public education system.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said that strength was needed to ensure peace, and the government was pursuing its plan to create an independent defence industry.
Strength for peace means mental, economic and military resilience, with mental strength needed for Hungary to “resist the pressure the backers of war who want to force the country into war,” he said. “For Hungary, peace is the sole moral and political position to be undertaken,” he added.
Economic strength, Orbán said, was needed for Hungary to overcome problems caused by the Russia–Ukraine war and the related sanctions. And military strength is needed to demonstrate that Hungary’s security would be protected in times of war, too, he added.
The prime minister said the government had been “in crisis mode” for almost four years, but was pursuing “big plans” nonetheless. “We haven’t abandoned creating an independent Hungarian defence industry,” he said, adding that the government was intent on ensuring that Hungarian innovation and technology would be world-class.
Source: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Benko Vivien Cher
Hungary’s defence spending will hit two percent of GDP, and it was hopeful that this level would be maintained next year as well, Orbán said, noting that the country is obliged to maintain this level of spending as a member of NATO.
Orbán highlighted big investments made in the region, adding that Zalaegerszeg had become a vantage point to the future in terms of the vehicle industry, defence technology and electronics.
He also noted a deal involving Israeli company UVision to set up a JV plant in Hungary to manufacture combat drones.
In addition, Europe’s most advanced ammunition factories will start operating in Varpalota next year, also operated jointly with Rheinmetall, he noted. Further, the Airbus factory in Gyula manufacturing parts for combat helicopters started operating a year ago, he added.
The prime minister mentioned that Czech company Aero Vodochody, which manufactures combat and training aircraft, “has been taken over by Hungarians, so there is already a Hungarian-owned aircraft factory”.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Papperger said “Europe’s most modern and finest tank factory” provided Hungary with “outstanding defence capabilities” and had been built at record speed.
Hungary, part of the European air defence initiative, had the capability and capacity to produce air defence weapons and ammunition, he said. “We can see that Hungary is poised to become an important player in Europe’s defence industry,” he added.
Sebestyén Gorka, the Hungarian-born British-American foreign policy expert and host is an unconditional supporter of Donald Trump. He used to work for him in the White House. Therefore, he can give us a glimpse about the former president, whom the Hungarian government often refers to as the hope of the “peace camp”. Gorka also confessed that he’s not thinking of leaving the United States anytime soon because as he put it, Fidesz has become as corrupt as the MSZMP (the former socialist party in Hungary).
Sebestyén Gorka, or Seb Gorka, was interviewed by Válasz Online about his views on the current political climate in Hungary and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. PM Orbán has stressed multiple times that President Trump is the only figure in the Western world who could bring peace. Therefore, it is interesting to hear the thoughts of Seb Gorka, a true expert on Trump’s foreign policy. In the comprehensive interview, he also touched on the current state of Hungarian politics.
Donald Trump could end the war
Trump claims that if he remained president following the 2020 election, the invasion of Ukraine would not have happened in the first place. Gorka thinks that there is no doubt about that. He argues that Moscow did not launch a single attack against its neighbours during the four years of Trump’s presidency. Gorka said:
When George W. Bush was in power, Russia invaded Georgia. When Obama, Putin grabbed Crimea. And now, with the senile Biden occupying the Oval Office, Russia has attacked Ukraine again.
Is it just a coincidence? The expert says no. Gorka thinks that Putin is afraid of Donald Trump. He added that the war would not have happened if Trump was still in charge, governing in the White House. When it was revealed that 300 Russian mercenaries were working on destabilising Syria and the Middle East, President Trump ordered the Pentagon to liquidate them one by one. Putin did not even call a press conference on the matter. Gorka believes that Putin is too scared of Trump.
Corruption in Hungary
The foreign policy expert reckons that PM Orbán’s options are limited in taking sides during the war since there are many Transcarpathian Hungarians living in Ukraine. However, the expert also says that the 40 years of Marxism have left its mark on the country and it affects its politics to this day. This is part of the reason why he lives in the United States now. Gorka worked for Fidesz in the nineties, therefore he knows PM Orbán and his methods. He said:
I had high hopes that the “conservative” side would not become as corrupt as the former communist MSZMP. I was wrong about that. It is enough to look at Lőrinc Mészáros.
We have recently reported that Mészáros bought a superyacht which you can read about HERE. Seb Gorka thinks that his fellow American conservative friends should be more mindful when making ties with the Hungarian Fidesz party. In addition, they should be aware of the party’s true colours.
A van capsized in Csongrád-Csanád County near Ásotthalom on the main road 55. The driver was a Russian citizen who forced 19 illegal migrants into the cargo hold, including three children. All illegal passengers suffered injuries, but a Syrian boy lost his life.
According to 444.hu, ten ambulance cars from two counties rushed to help the casualties. Six people suffered severe, while 12 minor injuries, including two other kids.
Prosecutors bring charges against people smuggler who caused fatal accident
Prosecutors have brought charges against a Moldovan man on suspicion of people smuggling and causing a fatal accident after he crashed his minibus into a ditch at Ásotthalom at dawn on Thursday. After midnight, the man picked up 19 illegal migrants claiming to be Syrian citizens with the intent of transporting them to Austria on the instructions of a client, Csongrád-Csanád County prosecutors said in a statement.
When police carried out a spot check on the outskirts of Ásotthalom, the suspect drove away at high speed and lost control of the car while taking a corner, crashing into a drainage ditch. One of the passengers died at the scene, while four suffered serious injuries. Fourteen sustained minor injuries. The suspect fled into the forest, and after a search of several hours, police took him into custody.
Hungary protecting Europe by helping Sahel
Europe would face ruin if migration from Africa’s Sahel region took off, a government official said in a newspaper interview. Referring to the unstable situation in Niger, Eduard László Mathé, the ministerial commissioner for government policy in sub-Sahara, told the weekly Mandiner that problems must be handled locally rather than giving in to “endless African migration”. The Hungarian government had been the first in Europe to recognise this.
Read about the only Hungarian national who escaped from Niger HERE.
The Sahel, Mathé added, served as the security frontier of Europe. Potentially, tens of millions of African migrants may head to Europe now. During its presidency of the European Union in 2024, Hungary will consistently stress the issues associated with the countries of the Sahel. This African region is inhabited by a mixed population of 90 million, consisting of both nomadic people and settlers. Countries with growing populations, the ministerial commissioner added, were highly vulnerable to climate change and food poverty.
Not long ago, a government delegation visited Chad and examined the possible outcomes of the worsening refugee crisis on the Chad-Sudan border, including a humanitarian crisis due to the Sudanese civil war. Mathé said that the problems Africa is facing at the moment could soon become the problems of the EU. Hungary, the state secretary added, has started to build strong relations with Niger and Chad, and it offered humanitarian relief in the hope of stabilising the region’s economies with a further view to protecting Europe. Mathé said Hungary, with its long-standing attention to the dangers inherent in North Africa, had been among the first to react to the coup in Niger, and its Western partners appreciated its engagement.
Refugees returning to Ukraine need help with travel, information, financial support and health services, according to a survey by the Hungarian office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The survey conducted between April and June 2023 shows that the war displaced more than 5.2 million people within Ukraine, while another 6.2 million fled the country.
Fully 66 percent of Ukrainians only returned to Ukraine for short visits, and 30 percent intended to return for good. Most people cited homesickness and an improvement in their particular region as reason to return on a long-term basis, according to the report published on Wednesday.
Help with travel (52 percent) was the greatest need, followed by general information (43 percent) and financial support (39 percent). Fully 27 percent required help accessing health services and medicines.
More than half of respondents said that they received travel assistance in Hungary. Another 39 percent received support for accommodation, 36 percent received financial support, and 32 percent received food, they added.
In total, 54 percent of those fleeing the country chose Hungary as a temporary residence, while 12 percent and 5 percent sought refuge in Germany and Austria, respectively.
And, most importantly, Ukrainian refugees need the war to end to return home.
Lőrinc Mészáros, nicknamed as PM Orbán’s cashier since he developed his wealth with the help of expensive state assignments and procurements, bought a new luxury yacht. However, it seems the former owner was a Russian oligarch unable to leave Russia because of the EU sanctions introduced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
444.hu leaked some photos made of Lőrinc Mészáros and his family on board a newly-bought luxury yacht named ROSE D’OR (golden rose). The yacht popped up in Malta (Valetta) and Sicily (Taormina, Siracusa, Riposto) in 2023. On 31 July, it arrived in Napoli and departed later to Amalfi and Capri. A journalist of 444.hu, Dániel Németh, took some photos of Mr Mészáros, his wifeand his son on board the yacht. You may check them out HERE.
The yachtis brand new. It was built in 2023, and the model’s name is 62STEEL. There are only three of them in the world. It is 62 metres long, and its highest speed is 18 knots (33.3 km/h). It has six cabins and can welcome 12 guests. The crew’s number is 13, with the captain. Its diesel tank is 130,000 litres and can do 5,000 nautical miles (9260 kms) with a full tank. Of course, filling it costs a lot. Its price in Hungary is HUF 83 million (EUR 214,703), but diesel prices will increase significantly tomorrow.
It has two Caterpillar 3512C motors with 2,400 horsepower. And, just like every other Mészáros-yachts (Lady Mrd, Seagull, Artemy) before, it was registered in Malta. Furthermore, there are two pools on board, a jacuzzi-like in the front and a bigger one. There are stores for jet skis, boats and other devices for water games. According to the Superyachtfan, it costs USD 75 million.
Here you may check out a video of the superyacht:
Putin-fan Russian billionaire behind the yacht?
The same site said the ship’s ownership structure was modified with the help of a Hungarian leasing company, Népszava wrote. Its former owner was Konstantin Strukov, a well-known and Putin-close Russian oligarch. Brussels sanctioned him after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. According to the relevant Forbes lists, Mr Strukov is the 55th wealthiest in the world. Superyachtfan has not answered Népszava’s questions regarding the yacht. But the Hungarian news outlet believes the ship’s name ROSE D’OR (golden rose) may also refer to Strukov, who owns one of the greatest golden mines in Russia.
According to a British-American investigative new outlet, ruscrime.com, the Russian billionaire owned a ship named Rêve d’Or (golden dream) between 2011 and 2022. Strukov is one of the biggest financial supporters of Putin’s Unified Russia party.
HEREyou may read about the TOP 10 richest Hungarians.
PM Orbán’s government had a surprising ally in the operation: Iceland. The Belarusian businessman they sheltered is a close ally of President Lukashenko, Alexander Moshensky.
Moshensky’s “assets include the prominent food manufacturers Santa Bremor and Savushkin Produkt”, Euractiv wrote. He is the honorary consul of Iceland in Belarus. Hungary helped shelter him because the Orbán government is against all sanctions against Belarus. But Iceland was also very actively trying to remove him from the list: the foreign ministry started more than 30 phone calls to EU decision-makers, 444.hu wrote. An Icelandic newspaper, Heimildin, wrote that the Hungarian government has a representative in Moshensky’s Santa Bremor. The company’s CEO is Sergey Nedbailov, Hungary’s honorary consul in Belarus. Here is a photo of him:
HEREyou may read about how PM Orbán received the Russian Order of Glory and Honour in June.
HIA delivering donations to Slovenia flood victims
Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) is delivering two truckloads of donations to victims of recent floods in Slovenia, the organisation said on Tuesday. Food, drinking water and hygiene products are being forwarded in close cooperation with the Slovenian Evangelical Church to the residents of Dravograd and Gornji Grad, the statement said.
Around fifty aid packages prepared on the basis of local residents’ requests will be transported by helicopter to Gornji Grad, which is difficult to access by public road, it added. Transport difficulties are still causing disruptions in supplies to retailers and shortages can be expected at some flood-hit settlements, it said. The HIA has already transferred 5 million forints (EUR 12,500) rapid aid to support the affected communities, and a collection is still under way (phone hotline 1353 or via website segelyszervezet.hu).
Hungary’s energy supply continues to be secure as Russia is still delivering crude oil to Hungary in line with its contractual obligations, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Monday.
He said in a post on social media that Europe, including Hungary, still confronted key energy security challenges since imports remained the continent’s main sources of energy, and he referred to “worrying reports” about attacks on energy infrastructure in the war-torn neighbourhood.
Szijjártó said that he had talked by phone with Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister for energy affairs, who underscored Russia’s commitment to delivering crude to Hungary, “so the country’s energy supply remains secure”.
