Russia

Government knows how they could reduce Hungary’s dependency on Russian gas

Natural gas plays a crucial role in Hungary’s energy supply, but one way to reduce this dependency is by increasing electricity imports, which the government is working on, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Slovenia’s Cirkovce on Friday.

One of the most oft-repeated words in the European debates on energy is “diversification”, which to Hungary means procuring as many types of energy sources from as many resources and via as many routes as possible, a foreign ministry statement cited Péter Szijjártó as saying. Hungary has therefore launched two critical projects aimed at guaranteeing the country’s long-term electricity security, Szijjártó said.

He welcomed the successful completion of one such project with the linking of Hungary and Slovenia’s electrical grids. The second one entails the supply of green electricity to Hungary from Azerbaijan via Georgia and Romania, the minister said, adding that the agreement on the transmissions will be signed in Bucharest in two weeks’ time. “This will not only boost the security of our energy supply but also allow us to consider environmental protection aspects and maintain Hungary’s lead position when it comes to responsible, eco-friendly energy consumption,” Szijjártó said.

Read alsoPM Orbán changed his favourite personal accessory – can you spot it on the photo?

Hungary’s import and consumption of electricity will now become more secure and balanced, he added. Szijjártó noted that Slovenia was the only one of Hungary’s seven neighbours with which it had yet to link its gas supply network. “I have to say that this hasn’t been and isn’t up to us,” Szijjarto said. “We’ve initiated this several times.”

Slovenia’s past governments “did not support these plans that much” but it appears that the country is now more “politically receptive” to them, Szijjártó said. He added that there “isn’t really a point in building these pipelines under a capacity of about 2 billion cubic metres”.

Read alsoElectricity consumption was record high in Hungary

December 3, 2022

Austria contested the EU’s approval of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant upgrade

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Wednesday dismissed a suit by Austria contesting the European Commission’s approval of government investment aid for the upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant.

Austria had argued that Hungary’s direct award of the project to a Russian contactor in the framework of an agreement involving a 10 billion euro credit from Russia violated European Union rules on public procurement. The EC had cleared the aid citing a provision in the Treaties that allows aid for certain economic activities, as long as it “does not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest”.

“Assuming that a tender procedure may have had an influence on the amount of the aid, which Austria has not proven, such a factor would not by itself have had any effect on the advantage which that aid constituted for its recipient,” the CJEU said in a statement.

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

The CJEU also rejected allegations of “disproportionate distortions of competition and unequal treatment”, resulting in the exclusion of producers of renewable energy from the deregulated internal electricity market, noting that member states are free to decide the composition of their own energy mix, while the EC cannot require state financing to be allocated to alternative energy sources.

The EC cleared the aid for the construction of two blocks at the Paks plant, Hungary’s sole commercial source of nuclear energy, in the spring of 2017.

fuel_rods_reactor_paks_nuclear_power_plant

Read alsoRussian Rosatom: Paks II project advancing at prescribed pace

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó welcomed the decision, saying the dismissal was a “great victory for Hungary… declaring the Paks upgrade to be fully in line with EU regulations.” Speaking on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Bucharest, Szijjártó said the decision was a boost to Hungarian energy security.

Hungary is taking care to comply with all environmental and professional requirements, and prioritises security in the project, he said. The CJEU decision said that the investment’s permits and funding were fully in line with EU regulations, he said. “We’ve fended off another attack,” he said.

He called on “institutions, banks and countries … wanting to block the construction by unlawful means” to consider the decision and refrain from obstructing a project key to Hungary’s energy security and to maintaining its achievements in curbing household energy costs.

Read alsoFinal decision: the EU unlocks billions of euros for Hungary! – UPDATED

November 30, 2022

Every effort must be made to avoid a direct armed conflict between NATO and Russia, says Hungarian FM in Bucharest

Every effort must be made to avoid a direct armed conflict between NATO and Russia because an escalation of hostilities could affect territories in the immediate neighbourhood, the Hungarian foreign minister said in Bucharest where he attended a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, on Tuesday.

The focus must be on peace taking also into consideration that winter is coming, the foreign ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying.

Szijjártó praised Poland for its calm stance in connection with the missile attack hitting Polish territory earlier this month. “It is to thank to the highly responsible behaviour of the leaders of Poland that we here today are not discussing developments of a third world war,” he said.

The minister warned of the possibility of escalation of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine as long as the conflict continues. Hungary, as a neighbour of Ukraine, is fully aware of the possible consequences, Szijjártó said, asserting that this is why the country has a vested interest in peace. He said it was clear that an escalation of the war would in the first place impact territories in the most immediate neighbourhood and not those countries that are thousands kilometres away. Szijjártó welcomed the NATO Secretary General’s statement that the North Atlantic alliance is not party to the conflict, and expressed hope that this situation would remain unchanged.

Read alsoHere is when the Hungarian Parliament can vote on Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession

Szijjártó said that “a terrible and tragic humanitarian catastrophe unseen before” could unfold as winter sets in on the continent.

“Peace is the only answer to every problem. This is why we have a vested interest in restoring peace in Ukraine as soon as possible,” the minister said.

He noted that Hungary has undertaken a humanitarian campaign of unprecedented scale, taking in over one million war refugees and welcoming children from Ukraine at some 1,300 kindergartens and schools in Hungary.

Szijjártó pressed for avoiding any factors that could lead to an escalation of the war and warned against cutting off channels of communication. He also acknowledged Turkey’s activity as a mediator.

Szijjártó: Past joint NATO decisions should remain in effect

What is at stake for Hungarians at the Bucharest summit of NATO foreign ministers is that the joint decisions that have been approved in connection with the war in Ukraine remain in effect, Szijjártó said on Tuesday.

The most important of those decisions is that NATO is not a part of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and that everything must be done to prevent a direct conflict between the alliance and Russia, Szijjártó told public current affairs channel M1 from Bucharest.

Szijjártó said the NATO secretary general had made it clear in his opening address to the summit that NATO is not a part of the conflict. He added that based on the responses, NATO foreign ministers were in agreement that everything needed to be done to prevent an escalation of the war.

Read alsoAmerican elite paratroopers beat foreign tourists, Hungarian security staff in Budapest club

November 29, 2022

The presence of Russian spies in Hungary is at the maximum

The European activities of the Russian secret agents were the main topics of a Hungarian podcast. According to national security expert, Ferenc Katrein and journalist, András Dezső, Russia’s main purpose is to destabilise the EU and weaken the alliance among the NATO members. However, the Hungarian government seems to turn a blind eye to its secret, ongoing operations.

“Hungary, unfortunately, is not a difficult ground for Russian spies,” said András Dezső, Hungarian journalist (HVG) in a podcast operated by a Hungarian site, Nyugati Pályán. The journalist, who published a book on the work of Hungarian secret intelligence services (in Hungarian: Fedősztori) agreed with Katrein that the presence of Russian secret agents is at the maximum in Hungary. However, as the experts highlighted later, their number started rising earlier than the outbreak of the war.

In their opinion, Russia aims to interfere with European countries’ politics by disseminating misinformation, sabotaging actions and conducting assassinations, like murdering Russian oligarchs on the pretense of an accident. In connection with the latter, Katrein mentioned the shocking Skripal-case when Russian agents poisoned a former agent and his daughter in 2016, in Great Britain.

According to Dezső, Russia wants to destabilase the EU and weaken the alliance between the NATO members. To achieve this, the former Soviet country often sends agents to conduct undercover operations and join – mostly new – political parties. This information will certainly influence Hungary’s politics towards Russia in the future. It is a Russian interest that the EU should not be unified, Dezső reckoned. At this point of the conversation, he also brought IP the case of KGBéla, the Hungarian opposition politician, who was revealed to be a spy of the Russian Federation.

Read also: Russian spy among the guest lecturers of a Budapest elite college?

Nonetheless, the Hungarian government turns a blind eye to Russian operations. The experts reasoned that with the example of the relocation of the International Investment Bank (IIB, which has been funded by the Russians and was also dubbed spy bank) to Budapest, which enabled the agents of the Federation to use the bank for their undercover operations. In addition, the government nurtures a good relationship with the Orthodox Church, (which is also rumoured to maintain connections with secret agencies). On top of that, Hungary vetoed the EU sanctions, which aimed to ban the Russian Orthodox bishop, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, from the EU. The right-hand man of Patriarch Kirill has since moved to Hungary, Dezső added.

Moreover, as Dezső pointed out, the government has still not expelled any diplomats from the county. Besides, no action was taken when it was revealed that Russian hackers had attacked the Foreign Ministry’s informatic system in 2021.

You can listen to the original podcast in Hungarian:

Read alsoWhat happened? Hungary says Russia is a terrorist state

Author: Bence Keresztes

November 28, 2022

Hungarian FM: What we want is not another package, we want peace

Foreign minister Hungary Péter Szijjártó

“We are neighbours of Ukraine, we are a direct neighbour, so the impacts of the war on us are immediate and severe … what we want is not another package, we want peace,” Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said in an interview with France24 on Saturday.

Szijjártó said in the interview, conducted in English in the political programme Talking Europe and posted on his Facebook page, that “we have allowed one million refugees already from Ukraine to enter the territory of Hungary, our inflation is skyrocketing … last year we had to pay 7 billion euros for our imported energy, this year we have to pay 19 billion”.

Read also: Hungary to offer scholarship programme to nearly 50 countries

“We support and stand up for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine”, he said. In response to a question concerning whether Hungary would veto a ninth package of sanctions, he said “there is no proposal on the table yet.”

To watch the interview in full, please visit THIS site.

Read alsoHere are the best higher education institutions in Hungary in 2022

November 27, 2022

Hungarian President travelled to Ukraine, will meet Zelenskiy in Kyiv

President Katalin Novák already departed for her official visit to Kyiv after she accepted the invitation of President Zelenskiy. Based on the information of index.hu, a Hungarian news outlet, the President flies to Poland first. Then she continues her journey to Ukraine by train. The Presidential Office neither denied nor confirmed the information.

According to index.hu, this is the most high-profile visit by a Hungarian official to Ukraine. The Hungarian government decided to support Ukraine by paying Hungary’s share in the EU’s EUR 18 billion financial bailout. That means Budapest will have to transfer EUR 187 million.

Novák was among the signatories of a joint statement of 11 European heads of state condemning the Russian attack against Ukraine on 10 October. They highlighted in the document that the Russian nuclear threats were unacceptable. Furthermore, they demanded that the Kremlin stop attacks against civilian targets. The heads of state also declared that those responsible for war crimes should answer for their deeds in court.

Earlier this week, Novák met with the chairman of the KMKSZ, the leading party of the Hungarians living in Ukraine. Later, she welcomed Transcarpathian Hungarian kids in the Presidential Sándor Palace.

Read alsoPHOTOS: Hungarian President met with leader of Hungarians living in Ukraine

In June, PM Viktor Orbán and President Zelenskiy talked on the phone. They touched on subjects like the EU accession of Ukraine, offering support for the refugees and Hungary-Ukraine cooperation. After the phone conversation, the Ukrainian President invited PM Orbán to Kyiv, but the visit has not taken place yet.

Ukraine famine-genocide to be commemorated with candle-lighting

Candles will be lit and the Danube-facing side of Parliament will be plunged into darkness on Saturday to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1932-1933 famine-genocide in Ukraine (Holodomor), Parliament’s press office has said. The Ukrainian victims of communist terror will be commemorated with candles placed on the steps of Parliament and in Budapest’s Petofi Square, the office told MTI on Friday.

The commemoration which will also mark the 19th anniversary of the adoption of a solidarity resolution condemning Stalinist crimes and declaring that the 1932-33 famine was a genocide was initiated by Liliana Grexa, spokesperson of the ethnic Ukrainian minority in parliament. The statement noted that Hungary’s parliament was among the first to recognise the Holodomor as a genocide when it adopted its solidarity resolution on November 26, 2003. Members of the Ukrainian minority will also be commemorating the genocide at the Holodomor memorials in Szeged, in the south, and Nyiregyhaza, in the east.

Read alsoRussian tourists expelled from a Hungarian hotel because of their nationality?

November 25, 2022

Minister: Hungary prepared to handle Ukrainian pipeline disruptions

The Hungarian government is prepared to handle disruptions of crude deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline due to Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, adding that the disruptions would not impact the security of the country’s oil supply.

The disruptions are caused by damage done to the Ukrainian systems powering the pipeline, Péter Szijjártó said after meeting key energy sector representatives, according to a foreign ministry statement. He added that repairs one the pipeline are constantly being carried out. Szijjártó said the sanctions imposed by the European Union because of the war were “only aggravating the situation”, arguing that “these obviously unsuccessful measures” had led to an energy crisis and were “hurting Europe more than those they have been imposed on”.

Concerning Thursday’s scheduled meeting of EU energy affairs ministers, Szijjarto, referring to proposed price caps on oil and gas imports, said it appeared that “Brussels has put forward more inadequate proposals that will cause problems for Europe”. He said this plan was a “dangerous and bad idea”, arguing that it would cause further problems on the European energy market. The minister said he will make Hungary’s position on the matter clear at the meeting.

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

“We’ll be fighting tomorrow in Brussels and then over the course of the legislative procedure in the coming weeks to ensure that Hungary gets exemptions from the implementation of both the cap on gas prices and the cap on oil prices,” Szijjártó said. Hungary buying its oil from Russia is “not some sort of political statement”, he said, adding that this was the only way currently to guarantee the security of the country’s oil supply. This was why, Szijjártó noted, Hungary had fought for the exemption of pipeline deliveries of Russian oil from the EU’s embargo.

Szijjártó said that this time he will fight for the exemption of pipeline crude deliveries and long-term gas supply agreements from the price caps.

“If we can achieve these . then Hungary’s energy security will remain intact,” the minister said.

Read alsoHungary has not received Russian oil deliveries for 3 days!

November 23, 2022

Hungary has not received Russian oil deliveries for 3 days!

Furthermore, Hungary will not receive Russian oil for at least one more week. MOL has not answered the questions of index.hu in the issue.

Index.hu reported about an oil delivery stoppage in Ukraine concerning Hungarian deliveries at 3 pm today. But at 5 pm they wrote, based on industrial sources, that the Ukrainian segment of the pipeline works again.

According to the news outlet, the pipeline’s operation was halted today due to technical difficulties instead of military attacks. Igor Demin, a spokesman of the Russian news agency TASS, said Ukrainian partners reported on a suspension of deliveries on the Novgorod–Volinsky–Brogyij segment of the Druzhba pipeline in the afternoon.

He added that Hungary has not been receiving oil for three days and will not receive it for at least a week. Meanwhile, Czechia and Slovakia get the contracted amount. From industrial sources index learned that oil delivery stoppages to Hungary have become frequent towards Hungary recently due to technical reasons because of the faults of the pumps.

Read alsoMinister Palkovics resigns over energy policy, Orbán set up an independent energy ministry

The news outlet sent some questions to Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL but has not received an official answer yet.

Today the Ukrainian critical infrastructure suffered serious attacks again. As a result, there will be electricity blackouts in many parts of Ukraine in the next 24 hours.

Orbán: Energy security, lowering ‘sanctions surcharge’ priority

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his cabinet discussed Hungary’s energy security and the establishment of the independent energy ministry at their meeting on Wednesday, the PM’s press chief said. Orban said in a post on Facebook that the sanctions imposed by Brussels had caused energy prices in Hungary to skyrocket. Therefore, an independent energy ministry is being established effective December 1, he noted.

The most important considerations now are securing Hungary’s energy supply and bringing down the “sanctions surcharge” on energy, the prime minister added.

Read alsoHungary’s gas reserves may not be enough for the coming winter

November 23, 2022

Russian Rosatom: Paks II project advancing at prescribed pace

The upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant is moving forward at the pace requested by the customer, Alexander Merten, the deputy head of ASE, the Rosatom unit that is the general contractor for the 12 billion euro project, told Hungarian journalists at the ATOMEXPO nuclear energy trade fair in Sochi on Tuesday.

Merten said project company Paks II is in charge of deciding the tempo of the investment and acquiring the necessary permits, although Rosatom is assisting with the permit applications. Although Rosatom is not affected by European Union sanctions, the impact of the vulnerability of the supplier network and the recession can be felt in the implementation of the investment, he added.

The plan is to put two new blocks online in 2030, but much depends on Paks II as well as on Hungarian authorities and decision-makers, Merten said.

Read alsoHungarian government: Germany is blocking Paks power plant development

November 23, 2022

Russian tourists expelled from a Hungarian hotel because of their nationality?

A Russian tourist told the Russian TourDom news website that he and his wife had to leave a hotel in Miskolc urgently after they occupied their room just because they had Russian passports.

According to Szeretlek Magyarország, the Russian man talking to TourDom highlighted they checked in at around 6 PM on 20 November. Afterwards, they occupied their room in the Premier Hotel Miskolc and took a shower. When they were preparing for sleep, the director called them via phone and told them they had to leave the hotel.

“In reality, they simply dragged us out from our beds and saw us out”, he said. He also added that the young man, showing up in their room, talked in fluent Russian. He was courteous and asked for their forgiveness.

However, he was determined they need to leave the compound urgently. Thus, they packed and left the building.

Read alsoWhat happened? Hungary says Russia is a terrorist state

According to the Russian tourist, the director told them the hotel’s owner was Ukrainian but was in the war zone at the time of the incident. However, he gave orders that they could not receive people with Russian passports. Finally, the frustrated Russians reported the issue to Booking.com.

The Russian Consulate General of Debrecen contacted the mayor’s office of Miskolc. Furthermore, they asked for an explanation from the hotel in an official request.

“The diplomats of the Consulate General try to establish a connection with the people concerned to clarify the circumstances of the incident and, if needed, provide help for them”, the body said in a Telegram message this Monday.

Read alsoThe son of the head of Russian intelligence has his address in Budapest

Here is the hotel’s unchanged reaction published on Facebook and we have to say, apart from the grammas and linguistic errors, it is a very different story than what the Russian website said:

“Concerning the occured, We should mention to you that no one hasn’t been evicted by force! We have asked the guests to move into the next to our hotel, to avoid potentially conflict situations between our other guests. The guest from Russia agreed to move and as well told us that he totally understands everything and that he doesn’t support the war against Ukraine. The couple told us that they even provided help for the Ukrainians. We also provided them with necessary support, that they get appropriate accommodation in the nearest to us hotel. All comments and grades which are written now on different social platforms, about cleaning and services — are deep slander! We would not justify ourselves in the face of lies!”

Read alsoAn awfully high number of hotels will close in Hungary in 2023

November 22, 2022

Hungary-Russia gas contract may be revealed

The opposition Democratic Coalition is submitting a request for data in the public interest and will sue to obtain details concerning the price of natural gas under the contract Hungary signed with Russia, party deputy head László Varju said on Tuesday.

The government has raised the price of gas sevenfold, an “unprecedented hike in utility prices” this year, he said. Meanwhile, “Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin are the only ones who know the price at which Hungary buys gas from Russia,” he said.

Ruling Fidesz in response said in a statement that sanctions enforced also by the left were to blame for the energy crisis and price increases.

“If [Ferenc] Gyurcsany and his government were now in power there were no utility price cuts and gas supplies. Gyurcsany’s government would have long time ago introduced all sorts of energy sanctions destroying the economy and Hungarian families,” the party said.

MOL Hungary pipeline oil refinery bulgaria ukraine

Read alsoCrude oil found on the outskirts of a Hungarian town

November 22, 2022

What happened? Hungary says Russia is a terrorist state

Yesterday’s NATO Parliamentary Assembly session accepted a resolution stating that an international military tribunal should be created to investigate the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Hungary took part in the session.

The Assembly recognised Russia as a ‘terrorist state’ in the document, according to lawmaker Yehor Cherniev, head of Ukraine’s permanent delegation to the NATO PA. All the 30 member states backed the resolution, including Hungary and Turkey. The organisation will send the document to all member state parliaments and governments. Furthermore, all members agreed that the arms deliveries should be accelerated to Ukraine, mfor.hu wrote.

Read alsoIs the nuclear shelter market booming in Hungary?

November 22, 2022

Fidesz official: scrap sanctions on Russian energy

Tamás Menczer State Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Energy-related sanctions against Russia should be scrapped “and new sanctions shouldn’t even be mentioned”, a state secretary of the foreign ministry said on Monday.

“It is outrageous, but Josep Borrell lied,” Tamás Menczer said in a video on Facebook.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said recently that the EU sanctions against Russia were not aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, Menczer said. At the same time, the European External Action Service which he heads “has clearly written that the sanctions policy’s goal was to stop the war,” he said.

“This would be absurd were the situation not so grave,” Menczer said. Gas and oil revenues made up 35 percent of Russia’s GDP in January-September last year, Menczer said. That ratio jumped to 43 percent in the same period in 2022, he said. “Russia is raking in record revenues, while we in Europe are paying a sanctions surcharge on energy and suffering from sanctions-related inflation,” he said.

Read alsoHungarian government: Germany is blocking Paks power plant development

November 21, 2022

Hungary does not get Russian oil: expert said how long we can survive

The Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL and Hungary’s government expressed yesterday that Hungary’s oil supply remained uninterrupted despite the stoppage of the Druzhba pipeline after missiles hit its electricity supplier. However, an expert said Hungary had a limited amount of oil reserves. And it is yet a big question mark how long it would take to repair and reestablish operation on the pipeline.

“Delivery of crude via the pipeline has been halted for now, but the leaders of oil and gas company MOL have informed the government that Hungary’s oil supply is uninterrupted and will remain so in the longer term”, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Hungary’s minister of defence said yesterday evening. He talked to M1 TV channel after PM Orbán convened the country’s Defence Council.

Russia was targeting yesterday Ukraine’s electricity grids with multiple missiles. Some of them were shot down by the Ukrainian air defence, but many found their targets, causing devastating destruction in several cities, including the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainians say they shot down 73 out of the 90 fired, but one of the rockets hit the electricity supplier of the Druzhba pipeline, which delivers Russian crude to Europe.

The pipeline was cut after the strike, so Hungary will get no Russian oil via Ukraine. Moreover, the suspension affects even Slovakia and the Czech Republic. To make matters worse, one of the missiles hit Polish territory, killing two.

Read alsoCrude oil deliveries to Hungary stop due to bombing – UPDATE

Tamás Pletser, an Erste analyst of the oil and gas market, told index.hu that such an attack was part of the package. That is because Russians have been attacking Ukrainian critical infrastructure for weeks. Compressors and pumps work with electricity keeping the oil flowing in a given direction. Without them, the operation is impossible. The question is the extent of the damage, Mr Pletser highlighted.

He added that the shutdown affected three refineries:

Dunai Refinery (Százhalombatta, Hungary)
Bratislava Refinery (Slovakia)
PKN Orlen’s Refinery in the Czech Republic.

All refineries have a reserve for one month. If that runs out, the countries can open their strategic reserves. That is enough for 90 days. Problems emerge after that point. If that reserve runs out too, the Hungarian oil and gas giant, MOL, will get supply via the Adriatic pipeline.

However, that cannot provide sufficient supply for the Hungarian refinery. MOL is currently working on reducing its dependence on Russian oil by 60-70 percent. But that will take 2-4 years and 500-700 million euros.

Therefore, it is crucial for the MOL and all the other refineries to mend the damage to the pipeline as soon as possible. Ukraine’s revenue from oil transfer is significant. But there may be a point when they put their own needs in the first place, Pletser said.

Read alsoWhat now? Budapest’s electricity in trouble

November 16, 2022

Missile attack against Poland sent the Hungarian forint plummeting again

Hungarian forint state budget historic lows

The Hungarian national currency has been strengthening in the last few weeks thanks to some good news from Brussels regarding a possible EU-Hungary agreement and drastic measures implemented by the National Bank of Hungary. However, it seems the rockets that hit Poland yesterday evening did not only devastate lives or the sense of safety of the locals but also currencies.

The Hungarian forint started yesterday strong due to the weakening of the USD. The trend broke in the afternoon when news came about explosions in Poland, killing two and caused by probably a Russian missile. Experts agree that it is unlikely that Moscow would launch an attack against NATO with a single rocket. However, NATO member states highlighted the issue had to be carefully investigated, portfolio.hu wrote.

The Kremlin denied its involvement in what happened and blamed Ukraine for the missile attack.

Read alsoCrude oil deliveries to Hungary stop due to bombing – UPDATE

In any case, the Hungarian forint is very volatile to foreign or domestic reports. And one can imagine a few worse scenarios than a Russian missile hitting NATO territory and causing the deaths of NATO citizens, regardless of whether the “attack” was intentional or a mistake.

Therefore, the forint started plummeting yesterday evening. The HUF/EUR currency exchange rate increased to 414 (from 407). The process took only a few hours. Meanwhile, the Polish zloty also weakened.

After the first phase of falling, the Polish and Hungarian currencies were pulled back. But just for the short term. In the evening, both continued their lowering against the euro. At 11 pm yesterday, the rate of decrease stood at 0.3 percent in the case of the forint.

Read alsoHungarian forint: the situation is promising, serious strengthening is expected

November 16, 2022

Hungarians think Americans, Russians benefit from the war in Ukraine

Budapest Hungary people citizen street competitiveness eu

Fully 60 percent of Hungarian respondents said in a recent Nézőpont survey they thought Russia was benefitting from the war in Ukraine, while 75 percent said the United States was reaping profits from the war.

Nézőpont asked 1,000 adults between September 21 and 29 about which countries they thought to be the beneficiaries of the war in Ukraine, the pollster told MTI on Friday.

Nézőpont said it was surprising that irrespective of political affiliation, Hungarians in general were in agreement that both Russia and the US were gaining from the war.

Read also Here is how Hungary will never support Ukraine: it is not the arms deliveries

November 12, 2022

Hungarian President in France: Hungary fights to restore peace in Ukraine

“We are fighting with all our might to restore peace” in Ukraine, the Hungarian president told the 5th Paris Peace Forum on Friday. “What we need is a strong and successful Europe,” President Katalin Novák said after talks with Gerard Larchet, president of the French Senate, in Paris on Friday.

Held ahead of the International Peace Forum, the bilateral talks focused on topical challenges, Novák said on Facebook. After their talks, Novák and Larchet issued a joint statement, Novák’s office told MTI. The meeting provided an opportunity to review topical EU related and bilateral issues, the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the impacts of the war, the office said in a statement.

Novák expressed hope that the two countries would in future deepen their relations in the spirit of pragmatism. Larchet highlighted Hungary’s “unique mission” within the European Union and the importance of relations between the two countries. Novák also held talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, whom she referred to as “an old friend, a strategic partner”, and said she was looking forward to “welcoming Serbia as a European Union member”.

Read alsoPHOTOS: Hungarian president accepted Macron’s invitation to Paris but she visited somebody else first

Hungary’s president urged restoration of peace in Ukraine, at Paris forum

“We are fighting with all our might to restore peace” in Ukraine, the Hungarian president told the 5th Paris Peace Forum on Friday.
In her address, Katalin Novák noted that Hungary had firmly condemned Russia’s attacking Ukraine since the outbreak of the war, and that position had not changed.

Evaluating the situation, Novák said a prolonged conflict led to “more destruction, suffering, and an escalation of the war”. She said a “real intention” for ceasefire was lacking, with “the parties refusing to realise that fighting will not take them closer to peace”. She regretted there was “no sufficient and firm intent to mediate between the parties” while “disinformation hinders agreement and causes serious damage”. She said deliberate provocations were delaying a solution, and “Russian President Putin is talking about territorial claims laid by European states in an effort to create confrontation between countries”.

Novák warned of an impending nuclear threat,

adding that threats of compromising energy and food supplies were “dishonest”. Novák also regretted that there was no common “strategic thinking” and added that inciting ethnic tension and attacks against ethnic minorities were “but deepening wounds and hindering understanding”.

“We must do everything in the interest of the next generations to end this conflict and restore peace,” the Hungarian president said.

katalin novák president usa roller skates school

Read alsoThe Hungarian President rolled into her former school in America on roller skates

November 12, 2022

The son of the head of Russian intelligence has his address in Budapest

The address of Andrei Naryshkin, son of Sergei Naryshkin, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS), is near Fashion Street in Budapest, the Hungarian capital.

The son of the Russian intelligence chief in Budapest

Direkt36 worked with the Ukrainian group Molfar, an open-source investigation agency. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Molfar has been working to uncover Russian war atrocities and the hidden Western assets of the Russian elite.

Molfar hired a Greek private investigation agency. Marathon Investigations discovered that members of the Naryshkin family had obtained residency permits in Hungary under the residency bond scheme, which is a matter of concern for both national security and financial reasons.

Molfar submitted an application to the Hungarian authorities with the help of a Ukrainian legal aid office called Juscutum. The request for data stated that they were “directly responsible for the decision to attack Ukraine by Russia, responsible for the deaths of thousands of Ukrainians and for countless war crimes”.

The government office accepted the Ukrainian application, but only Andrei Naryshkin’s address was registered. Naryshkin lives in a 101 square metre, two-room property owned by a Georgian-Israeli businessman.

Shabtai Michaeli is closely linked to Árpád Habony and to the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Antal Rogán.

Budapest Christmas Markets Vörösmarty Square_Budapest

Read alsoThis is why this year’s Budapest Christmas fair prices will skyrocket

Naryshkin toured Europe

The Russian intelligence chief’s son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren have been able to travel freely throughout the European Union thanks to their Hungarian papers. The residence permits were withdrawn in vain, but the Naryshkins appealed and can continue to use the documents.

Following the Russian attack on Ukraine, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to end schemes such as the Hungarian resettlement bond scheme by 2025, because they pose a security risk by allowing individuals deemed dangerous to settle and move freely within the EU.

The Hungarian programme stopped years ago. The EP has also called on the Commission to oblige Member States to review the resettlement bonds previously issued to members of the Russian leadership and their relatives.

Read alsoVermont’s first female and openly gay representative is of Hungarian origin

November 10, 2022