Russia

PHOTO: Kissing Orbán and Putin carving in front of the Hungarian Parliament

Putin and Orbán

One of the readers of 444.hu sent a photo of a brand new carving, which is in the front of the Hungarian Parliament on the Buda side of the Danube. The carving depicts PM Viktor Orbán and President Vladimir Putin passionately kissing.

Nobody came forward yet claiming responsibility for the carving, 444.hu wrote. Neither do we know for sure its purpose, though we suspect it. Orbán has been receiving harsh criticism lately because of his “pro-Russia” policies. That includes blaming the EU sanctions for the economic crisis and the soaring inflation and highlighting that Ukrainians cannot win the war. Therefore, they should make peace instead of fighting.

Here is the photo. If you happen to walk by the statue today, please, send us a photo of the art to in**@da**************.com or share it in a comment under our Facebook post.

444.hu recalled a famous Fidesz billboard made for the 1990 general elections. It was the first free elections after the fall of Socialism, and Fidesz asked (mostly its young voters, as it was the party of the young generation then) everybody to choose between the kiss of a young couple and the kiss of the old Communist comrades. Here is the placard:

zelensky orbán
Read alsoDid President Zelenskiy bow to PM Orbán when they met in Brussels?

EU rapporteur: Hungarian secret services have been leaking to the Russians for years – UPDATED

PM Orbán and Putin Russian gas

Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield is a French MEP sitting in the European Parliament’s Green group and also a rapporteur of the EP on Hungarian issues. Delbos-Corfield said that the Hungarian secret services leaked deliberatly some data to the Russians but shared no additional details. The EU rapporteur thinks Hungary poses a threat to the European Union because the Russians influence the country’s government significantly.

The MEP took part in a discussion in Brussels, where she talked about those issues together with, among others, Gergely Karácsony, Budapest’s mayor. Delbos-Corfield said that Hungary was troublesome not only because of the corruption or the rule of law but also because the Hungarian secret services and some government institutions leak to the Russians, which is a security threat, euronews.com wrote.

“I do not understand why no member states react in the European Council”, she added.

She highlighted that there were articles published daily emphasizing the threat of Russia on the region. But nobody mentions that they have an ally, Hungary. She added that the Hungarian government parties won the previous general elections because of manipulation and fake news.

She said the EU was late to react on that in the case of Hungary. But it is important to stop the spread of the process. She suggested that the situation is the same in Poland, where democratic elections were only a camouflage, just like in Hungary. She recalled that the European Parliament accepted a resolution last year saying that Hungary had no longer a real democracy but a hybrid regime.

Budapest, Óbuda, block of flats, Hungary
Read alsoApart from Russia, only Hungary is likely to sink into recession in Europe

UPDATE – Rule of law must be protected across all sectors

Democracy, the rule of law, equality and fundamental rights form the foundation of the European Union, and they must be protected across all sectors ranging from government to civil society, the EU justice commissioner told the conference organised by the Brussels and Budapest city councils on which Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield took part. The abandonment of the rule of law, which constitutes the legal foundations of the bloc and its member states, would mean the end of the European Union, Didier Reynders told the Cities for the Rule of Law conference in Brussels.

Guaranteeing the rule of law and justice along common values is the basis of trust among member states, the commissioner said. The principle of the rule of law is non-negotiable and must not be allowed to fall victim to political compromise, he added. Reynders noted that the European Commission had the means to protect the rule of law, such as its annual rule-of-law report in which the body offers recommendations with a view to encouraging member states. The report is also a tool used to address general problems and stop the deterioration of the rule of law, he said.

Mayor of Budapest: rule of law was “a matter of life and death”

The report forms the basis of dialogue on the state of the rule of law with the individual member states and on improving the situation with the participation of local councils and civil society, Reynders said. The EC plans to publish this year’s rule-of-law report in July, he said. Dialogue always comes first, although it is not always enough, the commissioner said. A firm approach is needed, he said, insisting that the rule of law was under attack. Reynders said the EC was prepared to use all the tools at its disposal to protect the rule of law. These, he noted, include the mechanism in the EU budget linking funding to the rule of law, which in Hungary’s case led to the suspension of cohesion funding for the country.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said the state of the rule of law was “a matter of life and death”. He said Hungary was “very far” from meeting the requirements EU candidate countries were expected to meet. Karácsony said the tools established to protect the rule of law were “weak” and were being applied too slowly. He insisted this was a factor that had contributed to the emergence of a “hybrid regime” within the EU.

He said Budapest and most European cities were better at meeting the requirements for democracy and the rule of law than central governments. Capital cities can be considered “islands of the rule of law” in countries where the rule of law and democracy are lacking, he added. But cities are under attack by means that include EU funding being withheld from them, Karacsony said. He said European capitals needed to cooperate on the distribution of EU funds at the local level.

Here is when Russia starts building Hungary’s new nuclear power plant

Paks nuclear power plant

Construction of the Paks 2 nuclear power plant (NPP) is planned to start next year, Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom’s chief executive, told journalists in Moscow on Tuesday.

“We will pour the first concrete next year,” Likhachev said, responding to a question about the commencement of construction in Hungary. The Rosatom head said the pace of construction was in accordance with the contract, and this could speed up depending on the wishes of the client, otherwise the project would go ahead based on “current contractual obligations”. Paks currently operates 4 VVER-440 reactors, while preparations are under way to build two new Rosatom-designed reactors, boosting capacity to 4,400 megawatts from 2,000 megawatts.

Paks Nuclear Plant Hungary
Read alsoThe Hungarian government says nuclear power is the future

Apart from Russia, only Hungary is likely to sink into recession in Europe

Budapest, Óbuda, block of flats, Hungary

Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE) still demonstrate its resilience. In Europe, only two countries are facing recession: Hungary and sanctioned Russia, the Vienna Institute for International Economic Research (wiiw) reported in its winter forecast. 

Economic activity has slowed significantly, with GDP growth still expected in most countries in the region in 2023, wrote portfolio.hu. While high inflation is causing serious problems for households and businesses, this is not the first time we have seen impressive resilience in the EU, according to a new winter forecast from the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW).

Using energy as a weapon has failed

Putin’s strategy of using energy as a weapon has failed, said Richard Grieveson, Deputy Director of WIIW. One reason is that Eastern Europeans have also been able to considerably cut their gas consumption. By 2023, an average growth of 1 percent is forecast for the EU member states in the region, 0.8 percentage points above the growth of the euro area (0.2 percent), which will be stagnant.

The average annual growth in the Visegrád countries will be merely 0.6 percent, and the Hungarian economy will be the only one facing recession, expected to shrink by 1 percent.

Growth in the 23 Central Eastern and South Eastern European countries surveyed by the Institute is expected to be 0.1 percent this year. The south-eastern European EU member states in particular are proving to be resilient enough to largely avoid a full-year recession. The economies of the Western Balkans are also expanding by only 1.8 percent, while Turkey’s is growing by up to 3 percent.

Exceptions from growth: countries hit by recession

The exceptions from growth are Hungary and Russia, whose economies will contract by a further 3 percent this year after shrinking by 2.5 percent last year.

Hungary’s unemployment rate in 2022 was 3.6 percent. This year it could also rise slightly, with the jobless rate estimated at 4.5 percent. What will increase even more sharply this year is inflation.

“According to WIIW, annual inflation in this country could be as high as 16 percent, which could even bring a double-digit average for 2024, with a 10 percent price increase expected.”

Even war-torn Ukraine is expected to recover

Ukraine’s economy is projected to recover within a certain time. The country is expected to grow by 3 percent after a 30 percent contraction in 2022 but still faces significant challenges and uncertainties due to the ongoing war and the destruction of critical infrastructure. Also, the widespread damage and power outages have increased production costs and affected economic activity in the last quarter of 2022. To get back on track, the country has to achieve a budget deficit of 20 percent of GDP, but this will require substantial financial support from the West.

Oil sanctions are taking a toll

The economic downturn in Russia gathered momentum in the last quarter of 2022. Although for the year as a whole, the GDP contraction was only 2.5 percent, lower than the minus 3.5 percent forecast. The institute believes that oil sanctions are having an effective impact on Russia.

The fall in oil prices will significantly reduce tax revenues, 40 percent of which come from the energy sector. The EU’s oil embargo and price restrictions on Russian oil have forced the country to sell its oil at a huge discount. The price of Urals – the most important Russian crude – fell to USD 47 per barrel, which is 43 percent lower than Brent in the North Sea.

“The sanctions imposed on 5 December are the most effective yet,”

says Vasily Astrov, Russia expert at WIIW. The loss of revenue will be financed from the higher – but still bearable – budget deficit. The forecast of the institution contrasts with the latest update from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which revised Russia’s GDP forecast for 2023 up to 0.3 percent growth from the previous 2.1 percent recession.

US Ambassador: Orbán still pushes Putin-backed policies

US Ambassador David Pressman Budapest

Hungary’s ambassador to the US, David Pressman, says that political leaders in the Hungarian government often talk about promoting peace. However, they continue to push for a policy backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán compared Ukraine to Afghanistan and called it a “no man’s land” when he hosted a closed-door meeting of foreign journalists at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC). More on this HERE and HERE.

Hungary’s rhetoric is in contrast with that of the EU

This message is in almost stark contrast to the rhetoric of other members of the Western alliance, who last week pledged to donate dozens of modern tanks to Ukraine, Politico reports. Orbán’s statements have sparked outrage among Ukrainian officials, with foreign affairs spokesman Oleg Nikolenko saying Hungary is deliberately damaging Hungarian-Ukrainian relations. The Hungarian ambassador to Ukraine has also been asked to comment on the matter.

According to the paper, the Hungarian PM’s approach is seen partly as a domestic political ploy to divert attention from Hungary’s economic problems. But experts say Orbán’s rhetoric is about more than short-term political gamesmanship: the Hungarian prime minister is seeking to preserve his long-standing relationship with the Kremlin, Index writes.

Pressman: the Hungarian government still pushes harmful policies

“Political leaders in the government of Hungary often speak of promoting peace, but — from condemning sanctions to embracing Russian ‘cease-fire’ proposals — they continue to push policies endorsed by Putin,” Politico quoted David Pressman, the U.S. ambassador in Budapest, as saying.

The paper adds that while the Western allies have sought to provide Ukraine with more military support than ever before, Hungary reiterates its position that Kyiv should stop fighting.

Viktor Orbán MOL excess profits
Read alsoAnalysing Orbán’s possible Huxit: geopolitical expert weighs in

Minister: Hungarian government not Kremlin propagandist, only voices pragmatism

szijjártó brussels

Restoring pragmatic cooperation between East and West is a national security interest for Hungary because whenever there was a conflict between the two blocks, central Europe has always suffered from it, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday.

Restoring East-West cooperation national security interest

The ministry cited Szijjártó as saying at a podium discussion organised by the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade that the existing political and economic world order had recently fallen apart. As a result, the basis for Europe’s economic development, the combination of advanced western technologies and cheap Russian energy resources, has been lost, he added. Nobody knows if the ties currently being cut can be restored in the future, and Eurasian cooperation seems less realistic now, with the armed conflict in Ukraine and the war rhetoric, he said.

“We believed in a future where good cooperation can exist between regional integrations and in a global order where the West and the East can work together in a pragmatic and civilised manner,” he added. Experience from history shows that Hungary and central Europe have always lost out on conflicts between East and West. “We are arguing in support of restoring cooperation because it is a core national security interest and not because we are someone’s spy,” he said.

Hungarian government: a voice of pragmatism

Even before the war in Ukraine, European discourse had been excessively focused on ideology and politics, he said. Already at that time, it was difficult to negotiate based on pragmatism and common sense, and the armed conflict has further deteriorated the situation, he added. When someone uses a voice of pragmatism and common sense, they are immediately accused of breaking the unity of the EU and NATO, and even representing Russia and the Kreml’s propaganda, he said. There are three issues that could bring overall changes in order to find real solutions to the existing challenges, he added.

The first is a return to mutual respect in international relations, which has been fully missing in recent times, Szijjártó said. The second is for everyone to understand that ideological and political approaches must not overrule physical realities, he said. The third is whether channels of communication can be kept open between the opponents, he added. Regarding the latter, he said efforts by Türkiye were especially important because they helped resolve the problem of Ukrainian grain exports. Hungary’s success depends on how much it can be integrated in the international economy, primarily in its export performance and attracting foreign investments, he added.

Hungary has a vested interest in a strong European Union, with around 80 percent of Hungarian exports directed to other member states, he said. This is also the reason why the government is actively participating in the disputes concerning the community’s future, he added. Dominant political ideologies only weaken the block and the notion of a Unites States of Europe is a dead-end street, he said. A strong EU must be based on strong member states that proudly represent their own cultural, historical and religious roots, he added.

Szijjártó meets Bahrein counterpart

The foreign minister met Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, his Bahraini counterpart, for talks in Budapest on Tuesday. At a joint press conference after the meeting, Szijjártó highlighted that the visit was the first to Hungary by a Bahraini foreign minister. Concerning the war in Ukraine, Szijjártó said Hungary and Bahrein were in agreement on the position that the war should end as soon as possible. “We want peace before this regional war with global impacts develops into a global war. We all would like to avoid that,” he said, adding that Hungary and Bahrein supported settling the conflict through talks.

Szijjártó welcomed the earlier signing by Bahrain of the Abraham Accords normalising relations with Israel. Regarding bilateral economic cooperation, Szijjártó noted that the Hungarian-Bahraini joint economic committee held its inaugural meeting in 2022 and reached an agreement on energy cooperation in the framework of which Hungarian oil and gas company MOL is bringing two types of technologies to Bahrain. The Hungarian foreign minister presented to Al Zayani the Hungarian Order of Merit, Middle Cross, for arranging the issue of documentation to Hungary on the Sinopharm Covid vaccine during the pandemic.

mma, fight, world cup
Read alsoFinally! Hungarian WMMA fighter crowned world champion in Bahrain

Russian companies are flocking to Hungary amid the sanctions

The European Union is slowly approaching Russia with the tenth package of sanctions, while Hungary has become popular among many international entrepreneurs. More than 10 percent of all domestically registered companies registered last year are of Russian interest. 

The EU is approaching Russia with the tenth package of sanctions

Due to the war, the European Union is approaching Russia with sanctions in the form of export restrictions, such as the ban on the import of Russian coal, the ban on maritime oil trade, or the termination of the export of various technological devices that can also be used for military purposes. In addition, there are a lot of debates about the fact that Russian financial institutions have been excluded from the international SWIFT interbank payment system. However, most of the sanctions apply mainly to private individuals and Russian state organisations, a total of 1,386 individuals and 171 organizations in the European Union, writes Portfolio. Part of the measures imposed on them is that it is forbidden to directly or indirectly provide them with any funds or assets, which makes it impossible for them to launch businesses within the EU.

Russian private assets have been frozen

Altogether, around 19 billion euros of private assets have been frozen in the 27 member states, but the exact amount of Russian state assets is not known. And in Hungary, from one month to the other, in December, the value of Russian properties closed by the authorities jumped from 3,000 euros to 870 million euros. This measure affected many companies within the EU: according to a survey by the NGO Transcrime, there are 31,000 companies in Europe owned by Russian beneficiaries. Out of these enterprises, 1,400 are controlled by 33 individuals who have recently been sanctioned. Real estate, construction, hospitality, financial and energy sectors are the ones most affected. In terms of countries, Germany, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria list the highest numbers of companies operated by oligarchs. The assets of these companies exceed 420 billion euros.

Russian companies are fleeing

However, not all Russians have been banned from conducting business in the EU. In fact, several entrepreneurs critical of President Vladimir Putin’s regime have left Russia. Most of them fled to Serbia with their wealth, where the investments of foreign companies and individuals exceeded 4 billion euros. 1,020 Russian-owned companies were founded in Serbia in 2022 – over 12 times more than in the previous year when 82 such companies were established.

Hungary is a popular destination as well

According to data from the Opten.hu company database, there are currently 671 operating companies in Hungary, one of whose owners is either an economic entity with Russian ties or a Russian citizen. Russian companies are continuously appearing in Hungary, since the pandemic; roughly 50-60 companies linked to the country have been established each year. After the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, 77 companies of Russian interests were founded in Hungary. In other words, more than 11 percent of all operating businesses appeared in Hungary last year. This year, however, the momentum has stalled for the time being: by 27 January, only 3 companies had been registered.

Ukrainian mayor to Viktor Orbán: “We’ll get you, you bastards!”

Viktor Orbán EU member Hungary

Boris Filatov, mayor of Dnipro, took Orbán’s statement to heart. The politician was commenting on the Hungarian PM’s statement in which he compared Ukraine to Afghanistan and called it a no man’s land. Besides, that was not the first statement of Viktor Orbán which caused scandal.

“First of all, bitchface, no man’s land is not ours, it’s yours. We have been living here for thousands of years, we are not from the Urals,”

the mayor of Dnipro begins his message on his Telegram page. According to index.hu, Boris Filatrov said “it takes a special talent to be hated everywhere from Romania and Slovakia to Serbia and Ukraine. The Treaty of Trianon is, after all, a punishment for your historical meanness.”

“Get out from under the umbrella of EU and NATO, and we’ll take you bastards out in three days. F**king bastards. No, not the Hungarian people. The bastards are the ones in power over there.”

Viktor Orbán: deliberately damaging Hungarian-Ukrainian relations?

PM Orbán’s disparaging remarks have also prompted a referral to Hungary’s ambassador in Kyiv. Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said the Hungarian prime minister’s disparaging statements about Ukraine were totally unacceptable. He said Hungary is deliberately damaging Hungarian-Ukrainian relations.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman was reacting to what Viktor Orbán said behind closed doors, when he hosted a closed-door meeting of foreign journalists at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. In the long run, Kyiv cannot win despite all Western help. The Russians regularly start wars weakly, but then, they correct errors and become unstoppable. Therefore, Ukraine’s successes are in vain. The prime minister said he believed that Russia’s goal now was to turn Ukraine into an “ungovernable wreck”, and that it had succeeded.

“It is now like Afghanistan. No man’s land,”

the prime minister said of Ukraine, according to a reporter for The American Conservative.

As a result, Ukraine summoned the Hungarian ambassador to Kyiv. He had to answer why Viktor Orbán thinks Russia aims to make Ukraine an ungovernable pile of debris.

The step was also commented by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó. “The consequences of war are that thousands of people die and whole regions of the country become desolate. This is why Hungary wants peace and an immediate ceasefire instead of arms transfers. This has been Hungary’s clear position since the beginning of the war,” he said. Hungary does not want to get involved in the war, neither in words nor in deeds.

“No man’s land” was not the first scandal that day

According to hvg.hu, from the 15 foreign journalists in the closed-door meeting, someone asked the prime minister if he wanted Hungary to stay in the EU. “Definitely not!” he said, adding that the country has no choice, because 85 percent of the exports are within the EU.

Later, the text was amended to say that while it is personally painful for Orbán that Hungary is a member of the European Union because of the constant harassment from the EU, there can be no question of remaining a member because Hungary’s economic well-being depends on it.

paks_nuclear_plant_hungary
Read alsoGerman ministers try to block Hungary’s nuclear power plant expansion, says minister

Russians represent Hungary at the European Figure Skating Championships

European Figure Skating Championships 2023

The Hungarian National Skating Federation (Magyar Országos Korcsolyázó Szövetség, MOKSZ) has chosen mainly Russian competitors to participate in the European Figure Skating Championships. There is only one Hungarian-born among the six competitors. The other five competitors include one Ukrainian-born and four born in Russia.

The championships are held 25-29 January in Espoo, Finland. For almost a year now, it has become common for Russia to be banned from participating in international competitions because of the war.

How can Russian competitors still participate?

24.hu had several questions about the predominant number of foreign athletes, and contacted MOKSZ. So far, the news portal has not received any reply. Among other matters, the portal wanted to know whether they plan to keep the remaining Hungarian skaters, as more and more of them are leaving the country. The portal’s journalists were also wondering why the federation sent Russian competitors if they were aware that Russian competitors were banned from competing.

How this can happen despite the bans can be easily explained by the regulations of the International Skating Union (ISU). According to the regulations, it is not necessary to be a national of a country to compete representing it at European or world championships organised by the federation.

The Hungarian delegation

In figure skating, Julia Láng (the only Hungarian) and Aleksandr Vlasenko are competing. The Russian Vlasenko has been a member of the Hungarian team since 2020. Mariia Ignateva, also Russian-born, is competing in ice dance and has been part of the Hungarian team since 2021. The other ice dancer is Danijil Szemko, who was born in Ukraine. As 24.hu reports, he has been living in Hungary since 2016, has Hungarian citizenship and speaks Hungarian. In pair skating, the Russian-born Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko are participating. Both have been competing in Hungarian colours since the 2021-22 season. Apart from Vlasenko, the Russian competitors all live in Russia, are Russian citizens and train under Russian coaches.

Hungarian figure skaters are leaving their teams

According to 24.hu, more and more Hungarian figure skaters are leaving their teams. The portal highlights that it was valaszonline.hu that has brought attention to the fact that more and more Russian-born figure skaters are competing in Hungarian colours in international competitions. As valaszonline.hu writes, Vivien Papp, who is considered a highly talented athlete, decided to switch countries because of the Russian majority in the Hungarian teams. She has been training in Italy since last year.

Several other figure skaters made the same decision because of the Russian dominance. Mózes Berei, for example, gave his coach, Júlia Sebestyén, the same reason for the change of team:

This inscription, HUN, means my country and my heart to me, to a Russian, it is just letters, and you chose him instead of me.

His teammate, Balázs Berei has continued in the US. In addition, Léna Ekker and Katinka Zsemberi have also left their team as a result of the Russian dominance.

handball stadium hungary
Read alsoHungary cancels hosting the European Handball Championship?

Fuel will be Europe’s most expensive in Hungary?

MOL fuel station Hungary oil

The next phase of sanctions on Russian refined oil products set to take effect in a few days will have a big impact on Europe’s diesel market, a cabinet parliamentary state secretary has warned. József Balogh, an energy market expert, told ATV that the result could be a horrific fuel price rise in Hungary.

“I have a good story. I saw space for four digits on a fuel station two days ago”, József Balogh, an energy market expert, told ATV. He argued that there are fuel station owners in Hungary who think about a drastic price rise on the market. Four digits would mean prices above 1,000 HUF/l (EUR 2.56). However, Mr Balogh believes that such an increase is currently unrealistic. “Prices go down, but nobody sees the future”, he added.

He argued that the government destroyed Hungary’s fuel market with the fuel price cap. He also highlighted that fuel prices are high because of the government’s so-called “Robin Hood tax” on fuel products, which the Orbán administration increased to 41 percent. Moreover, the weakening of the forint also affected the prices in that segment, ATV wrote.

Balogh said the EU would not buy oil from Russia from 5 February but suggested that the community will buy the same relabeled Russian oil from Turkey. That is because the EU has no choice: it lacks 1.5 million barrels of diesel every day.

The price of diesel well exceeds the price of petrol in several European regions due to tight supply, Csaba Dömötör said in a video message on Facebook. Diesel has a higher market share in European countries than in other parts of the world, he said, adding that Russia had been Europe’s primary source of diesel imports for decades.

Dömötör cited an article in the Financial Times on the likely impact of the sanctions, namely that they will lead to price increases and possibly shortages. He also cited the article as saying that the jump in oil prices would offset the dip in the price of natural gas seen in recent weeks. This, the FT said, could dash hopes that fuel prices had already peaked.

The paper also said that without Russian imports, Europe would have to compete with regions that are “physically closer to the source” and would have to rely on refineries in India and the Middle East as well as exports from China. “This will hardly be cheaper,” Dömötör said. The state secretary cited the FT as saying that diesel supplies in Europe “face turmoil in the months ahead”.

taxi in Budapest
Read alsoBad news: Drastic increase in Budapest taxi fares

German ministers try to block Hungary’s nuclear power plant expansion, says minister

paks_nuclear_plant_hungary

Hungary’s foreign minister has blasted German Green Party ministers, accusing them of “blocking” the Paks nuclear power plant expansion “for ideological and political reasons”.

Péter Szijjártó said the move was unfounded in European law, and there was no ban on nuclear cooperation with Russia, according to a ministry statement on Friday. At a press conference, Szijjártó said the European Commission had not vetoed the Paks nuclear power plant expansion, adding that German Green Party ministers were obstructing the project.

Russia’s Rosatom has contract with a German-French consortium to build the plant’s control system, he noted. Whereas France’s export authority has already granted the relevant permissions, the German government is blocking these for now, he added. Decisions concerning the energy mix fall under national competences, and energy security is a national matter, the minister said, adding that nuclear cooperation was not subject to sanctions.

Amid the current turmoil, countries that can produce a major portion of their energy needs can be regarded as secure, and in Hungary’s case nuclear energy guarantees such a scenario, Szijjártó said.

Any obstacles to Hungarian-Russian nuclear cooperation are “deeply contrary to national interests”, he said, adding that Hungary would not vote for any measures that would undermine that cooperation.

paks_nuclear_plant_hungary
Read alsoNew Hungarian nuclear power plant could be built on fault line?

Are Transcarpathian Hungarians taken by force to die against the Russians?

Ukraine soldier war Russia

The Russian-Ukrainian war has been going on for 11 months. Masses lost their lives in the clashes. Among the losses, the 128th mountain hunting brigade in Munkács stands out, in which most Transcarpathian Hungarians serve. In the meantime, conscription began in Transcarpathia.

Many Transcarpathian Hungarians have died in the war

One of the morgues near Munkács is already filled with the corpses of soldiers killed on the Eastern Front, but their identification and release is being deliberately slowed down, writes magyarnemzet.hu. It was already a common practice that only five or six deaths were reported a day, while the number of victims was much higher. Among the latest victims are Iván Fejer and Sergeant Ivan Hluhanics. Iván Fejer, who served from the first day of the war, died on 18 January of his serious injuries sustained at Bahmut. He was an Árdánháza soldier, born in 1981. Moreover, Sergeant Ivan Hluhanics, the commander of the anti-tank missile unit of the 128th brigade, lost his life at the front. The 48-year-old soldier from Mércs died on 14 January while performing combat duty.

It should be noted, that these Hungarians are an indigenous minority in the territory of Ukraine, therefore, they count as Ukrainian citizens.

Viktor Traski from Transcarpathia serving in the 128th mountain hunting brigade:

Are Hungarians forced to fight against the Russians?

According to estimates, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and police have appeared in Transcarpathia in recent days, reports pestisracok.hu. They take a census, hand out invitations, and collect Hungarians on the street, in the market, on the bus, at the kindergarten and in the cafés. More and more videos are appearing on social media sites showing people being dragged from their homes on the street. According to a report, people were collected from a settlement relatively close to the Hungarian border by forcing the man, who was riding a bicycle peacefully, into a bus together with two or three soldiers’ bicycles. In addition, once a police car pulled in front of a man on a bicycle, forcing him to stop, writes Index.

According to another story, those returning home at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border can even receive a military call-up immediately. The border guards handed the summons to the man who was traveling home and then told him that he had one day to pack all the necessary things and report to the recruitment office.

It is not an anti-Hungarian measure

Another source reveals that conscription is not an anti-Hungarian measure. They target everyone, including Gypsies, Ukrainians and Ruthenians. It is not true that there are more raids in Hungarian villages, however, they started earlier than in the mountainous villages. Regarding the 128th brigade, it is exposed to the bloodier battles because it is considered a strong, well-trained brigade, an elite unit – not because Hungarians are in it.

The Hungarian government says nuclear power is the future

Paks Nuclear Plant Hungary

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, has talked by phone with Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister for energy affairs, and they agreed to accelerate the pace of the upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant wherever possible.

Hungary will not support any proposals by Brussels that make Hungarian-Russian nuclear cooperation harder or render it impossible, Szijjártó said on Facebook on Thursday.

Nuclear energy is the energy of the future, Szijjártó said, adding that the swift construction of the Paks plant’s new blocks was crucial for Hungary.

Hungary’s government welcomes that the Russian government also assigns great importance to the upgrade of the plant, he said.

The current energy crisis has made it clear that the countries that can produce most of their own energy will be the ones that are truly secure, Szijjarto said.

Szijjártó said he and Novak had also reviewed the situation of natural gas deliveries to Hungary. The minister said that thanks to the TurkStream gas pipeline, which he said was the only east-west pipeline in Europe operating at 100 percent capacity, gas deliveries to Hungary were uninterrupted and the country was receiving more than 12 million cubic metres of gas a day.

balázs orbán
Read alsoFidesz: Whoever controls the media decides who controls people’s thinking

Hungary bought most Russian gas when prices peaked

Hungary paid almost four times more for Russian gas imports in 2022 as in 2021. According to Eurostat data, the bill in 2022 was EUR 7.353 billion in the first 11 months. In 2021, the government paid only the quarter of that, EUR 2.189 billion. The question is how gas prices will change in May.

Some experts say that countries that have fixed gas prices for both households and enterprises instead of cutting prices are better off.

Between January and May, imports ranged between 245 million and 424 million m³. The peak was in June with 751 million m³, followed by imports of 522-576 million m³ between August and November.

In the following months, in September, October and November, the monthly bill exceeded one billion euros. The government paid the most in October when the amount was EUR 1.3 billion.

“The government does not deliberately pour money into financing Russia’s war in Ukraine,”

– energy experts interviewed by 24.hu told the news portal.

PM Viktor Orbán does not want to change household tariffs

Many businesses also bought gas at the August peak, as analysts predicted further price rises. But across Europe, demand spiked during this period. The panic filling of gas storages has given rise to concerns that there will not be enough gas in Europe.

Gas industry experts define the market price as the price on the Dutch stock exchange, the benchmark in Europe. This is also the price to which the Russian Hungarian gas contract prices are linked. If prices fall, then with some delay Russian imports should also be cheaper.

Whatever the price on the stock exchange, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán does not want to change the household tariffs. At his end-of-year press conference, he made it clear that he would not change either the reduced tariff of HUF 102 (EUR 0.26) or the HUF 767 (EUR 1.93) tariff.

Either paying these gas prices or shutting down businesses

In 2021, the price per m3 was HUF 74 (EUR 0.19), in 2022 it was HUF 205.6 (EUR 0.53) and in October 2022 it was over HUF 1,300 (EUR 3.33). As we have already written about, the spas in the capital have it worst, with an eighteen-fold increase in gas prices.

Many entrepreneurs cannot afford the thirteen-fold increase in gas prices. The unilateral contract modification does not result in the cancellation of the contract with MVM Next. The company has offered to allow contractors to cancel their contracts if they are dissatisfied with the price. Since suppliers charge at roughly the same level, entrepreneurs either pay or shut down their businesses.

According to Eurostat data, the average purchase price in the first 11 of 2022 was HUF 572 (EUR 1.46) per m3. This amount is very far from both the reduced household prices and the multipled market prices offered to entrepreneurs.

Changes in May: from bad to worse?

Gas is not sold at a price of HUF 102 (EUR 0.26) per m3 charged to households. Therefore, each m3 of household gas has a deficit of HUF 470 (EUR 1.20).

The KSH estimates household gas consumption at 3.9 billion m³. If all of this were used at a reduced price, the reduction would generate a loss of HUF 1,833 billion (EUR 4,687,384,038). If the gas consumption of enterprises is similarly calculated at the market price of HUF 1,300 (EUR 3.33), the gas supplier would gain HUF 728 (EUR 1.86) per m³ compared to last year’s average purchase price.

The question is how the next storage period will develop, i.e. how expensive it will be to buy gas from May. Another question is how households and enterprises will feel about market changes.

“At the moment, the government’s energy policy does not reflect the market price and thus artificially drives up inflation,”

– said an investor of an energy company. The loss of the rationing is being cross-financed through energy tariffs charged to businesses. Meanwhile, the money is being collected back from the public, paying for the extra profit tax on expensive products that the government has created to finance the rent control fund.

The US ambassador in Budapest slams Hungarian government for helping Russian oligarchs

USA ambassador Russia sanctions

David Pressman criticized the Hungarian government for protecting the Russian oligarchs from the extension of some EU sanctions.

He asked in a tweet “How does protecting Russian oligarchs from sanctions serve Hungary and Hungarians?”

Hungarian and international press wrote earlier this week that the government would like to remove nine Russian individuals from an EU sanctions list concerning 1,300 individuals and 170 entities. Rferl.org wrote that Hungary attempted to cross, among others, Viktor Rashnikov, Pyotr Aven, and Alisher Usmanov from the list. The sanctions include visa-ban and asset freeze.

“The sanctions list must receive unanimous approval to be rolled over as the new renewal deadline approaches on March 15”, the website said. “Hungary is also looking to remove Usmanov’s sister, Gulbahor Ismailova; Aven’s business partner, Mikhail Fridman; Belarusian-Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin; his son Nikita Mazepin; and Russian oligarchs Grygory Berezkin and Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor”, they added.

The EU believes Mr Usmanov, Mr Kantor and Mr Mazepin have close ties with President Putin. The same goes for Mr Aven, who regularly meets with the Russian leader. Meanwhile, Mr Rashnikov is the owner of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) company, one of Russia’s largest taxpayers.

Putin and Orbán
Read alsoHungary helps Putin’s ministers in the EU?

Minister: Hungarian patriots stood their ground in Russia in WWII

Commemoration Hungarian patriots in Russia WWII

Hungarian patriots stood firm and fought valiantly at the 1943 Don breakthrough, the defence minister said at a commemoration organised on the 80th anniversary of the tragedy of the 2nd Hungarian Army in Budapest’s Szentharomsag Square on Thursday.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said it was “not our business” to determine what the Hungarian soldiers were doing abroad at that time. He said the best war was one that was not fought at all, and for this a deterrent force was needed to force any potential enemy into pursuing negotiations. The government has set the goal of setting up such a high-tech army, he added.

Hungarians raising funds for Hungarian volunteers fighting for Ukraine

Transcarpathian Soldiers Donation

More and more people in Hungary are teaming up on Social Media to help hundreds of soldiers of Hungarian origin who are defending Ukraine. Several Hungarian Facebook groups are organising fundraising events to deliver donation packages for the Transcarpathian volunteers fighting on the front line.

How it all started

The fundraising campaign started at the end of October thanks to a Facebook group run by Hungarian civilians that focuses on discussing law enforcement and military issues. Hvg.hu contacted Balázs Trautmann, a member of the group, who told the news site why they had started the campaign. As he said, they saw a post on 23 October showing Hungarians who fought on the Ukrainian side, celebrating the victory with a Hungarian flag. This post had such an impact on them that the community immediately started a conversation on how they could help.

Then, a group member exchanged messages with Fegyir Sándor, a soldier of Hungarian origin serving at the front. He asked Sándor what they needed. After all, they did not want to send the soldiers unnecessary things, Trautmann recalled.

As it turns out, Sándor, the volunteer soldier from Transcarpathia, is a professor at the Uzhhorod National University. Many readers may be familiar with his name, as a few months ago, he became known for giving online lessons from the trenches to his students. You can read our article about his story HERE.

Trautmann added that he was shocked to see that more than HUF 1 million (EUR 2,510) had been raised in just over a day when the fundraising campaign was first launched. And, as a result, they were able to send some extra food supplies to the front, along with the high-powered external batteries the soldiers had requested.

ukraine hungarians on front war transcarpathia
Read alsoTouching video: soldiers sent a message from the Ukrainian front with a Hungarian Christmas song

From a conversation in a Facebook group to a “mass movement”

However, there are other Facebook groups too, in which members have come up with the idea of helping the Hungarian soldiers in Ukraine. The admin of a cybersecurity Facebook group with around 2,000 members told 444.hu how they found out about the fundraising campaign in October.

According to the admin, the war in Ukraine and its cybersecurity aspects were common topics in the group. Therefore, by October, they had already reached the point in their conversations that

they should somehow help the Ukrainians who are facing winter with a destroyed electricity system,

the news site notes.

They then heard about the fundraising and quickly decided to join the event. In practice, this meant that when Sándor indicated what they needed at the military base, this group also organised a separate fundraiser, with a separate account. However, the items purchased were then delivered with the help of the main organiser group.

As the monetary donations quickly increased, it was possible to deliver a second supply to the battalion. This donation now included, among other things, polar sweaters and warm socks for the cold weather – at the request of the soldiers, of course.

In addition, two other communities have also joined in the last few days, raising millions more in the donation account. Thanks to their prompt initiative, it is only a matter of time before they can prepare a third donation package for those fighting in Ukraine.

viktor traski ukraine war
Read alsoTranscarpathian Hungarian soldier from the front spoke on Hungarian TV at midnight

Is Orbán pro-Russian because Kremlin promised him Transcarpathia?

PM Orbán and Putin Russian gas

Why has Viktor Orbán become pro-Russian? The Russian state news agency RIA has the explanation.

“There will be peace if the US wants peace”, the Russian state news agency RIA quoted Viktor Orbán as saying. According to the news agency, the Hungarian prime minister sees the point well: however, peace can only be possible in reality if its conditions are acceptable to Russia.

This is not the first time Orbán confronts the West

According to hvg.hu, analyst Dmitry Bavirin agreed with Orbán that the US is responsible for the escalation of the war in Ukraine. Because, as he said, “Washington is only adding fuel to the fire with arms shipments to the Ukrainian army”. According to Bavirin, this is not the first time that Orbán has confronted the Western interpretation of the Ukrainian crisis. The Hungarian PM has criticised all the EU’s anti-Russia proposals so far. Bavarin gave voice to the following thoughts:

“According to a survey carried out for the European Commission, Hungary is the most pro-Russian nation in the EU, except for the Greeks and Bulgarians. Hungarians, on the other hand, are not Bulgarians, Greeks or even Serbs, whose freedom was won by the Russians with their own blood, based on intellectual affinity, and historical experience suggests that Hungarians should hate Russians.”

Interesting views on the 1956 revolution

The RIA analyst’s train of thought even reached the 1956 revolution, which he claimed quickly turned into a revolt by the former Nazis, 24.hu writes. Among the reasons for the “fascist uprising”, he lists the former Hungarian leadership’s harsh repressive policies, which, moreover, were not only incompetent but also came from “national minorities”. The author clearly meant the Jews.

Bavirin’s description of Hungarians

Bavirin described Hungarians in the following way:

“The Finno-Ugric Hungarians, miraculously preserved in the middle of Europe, have always been able to distinguish themselves easily from foreigners, and they don’t like foreigners very much. Hungarians are nationalists, proprietors and egoists. They do not welcome newcomers, especially Muslims. Hungarians are characterised by both a great power complex and a divided people syndrome.

They tremble at the sight of uniforms and medals and worship anything to do with armies. Even the roughest people are a cult if they let them live the Hungarian way. They also reject any policy that goes against their specific national interests. And against dictatorships they are ready to fight desperately and hard.”

Why is Orbán such a good friend of the Russians then?

According to the analyst, Europe lacks the pride that characterises Hungarians, and this is what distinguishes this people with real traditions and history from “minor” nations such as the Baltic and the Ukrainians.

“Respect for themselves is the basis on which Russia must seek friends and partners in the longer term. And the nationalist Orbán, Maduro, Erdogan and Bashar Assad are examples of how Russia cannot afford the narrow-mindedness that once characterised the former Soviet Union.” And this is how RIA put Orbán and what the analyst sees as like-minded Putin’s trusted allies, the Venezuelan, Turkish and Syrian heads of state, in the same group.

Hungary border crossing
Read alsoCitizens of 63 countries will soon only be able to enter Hungary with a visa