Austria

AstraZeneca showed no evidence of increased risk of blood disorders – company says

Covid Coronavirus Koronavírus Vakcina Vaccine Oltás AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca Plc said on Sunday a review of safety data of people vaccinated with its COVID-19 vaccine has shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.

AstraZeneca’s review, which covered more than 17 million people vaccinated in the United Kingdom and European Union, comes after health authorities in some countries suspended the use of its vaccine over clotting issues.

“A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and UK with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country,” the company said.

Authorities in Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands have suspended the use of the vaccine over clotting issues, while Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots last week while investigating a death from coagulation disorders.

“It is most regrettable that countries have stopped vaccination on such ‘precautionary’ grounds: it risks doing real harm to the goal of vaccinating enough people to slow the spread of the virus, and to end the pandemic,” Peter English, a retired British government consultant in communicable disease control, told Reuters.

European Medicines Agency has said there is no indication that the events were caused by the vaccination, a view that was echoed by the World Health Organisation on Friday.

The drugmaker said, 15 events of deep vein thrombosis and 22 events of pulmonary embolism have been reported so far, which is similar across other licensed COVID-19 vaccines.

The company said additional testing has and is being conducted by the company and the European health authorities and none of the re-tests have shown cause for concern. The monthly safety report will be made public on the EMA website in the following week, AstraZeneca said.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in collaboration with Oxford University, has been authorised for use in the European Union and many countries but not yet by U.S. regulators.

The company is preparing to file for U.S. emergency use authorisation and is expecting data from its U.S. Phase III trial to be available in the coming weeks.

Ireland and others join Austria in temporarily suspending AstraZeneca vaccines

astrazeneca vaccine

Ireland temporarily suspended AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday following new information received from the Norwegian Medicines Agency regarding blood clotting in some recipients there, the country’s health ministry said.

Three health workers in Norway who had recently received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine were being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets, its health authorities said on Saturday.

Health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended the use of the vaccine over the issues, while Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots last week while investigating a death from coagulation disorders.

Ireland’s National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended the temporary deferral of the administration of the vaccine “out of an abundance of caution”, pending the receipt of more information from European regulators in the coming days.

“The decision to temporarily suspend use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine was based on new information from Norway that emerged late last night. This is a precautionary step,” Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said on Twitter.

AstraZeneca vaccinations make up 20% of the 590,000 shots administered among Ireland’s 4.9 million population, mainly to healthcare workers after its use was not initially recommended for those over 70 and the firm supplied far fewer vaccines to the European Union than agreed.

NIAC said that if it could be ascertained that the events were coincidental and not caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine, it would reassess the situation.

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said she had sought clarification from the British region’s health minister about the temporary suspension of the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine elsewhere.

Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is much further ahead in its programme and has inoculated more than 40% of the adult population, relying heavily on AstraZeneca’s vaccine.

New Visegrad Photography exhibition to open in Vienna

new visegrad photography

A travelling exhibition showcasing images by young photo artists from the four Visegrad Group countries and Serbia will open in Vienna on March 18, the organisers said on Wednesday.

The show dubbed New Visegrad Photography will feature titles by 24 artists from nine universities in the Collegium Hungaricum cultural centre, they said in a statement.

The exhibition is to reflect what it means to be central European to a generation of young artists growing up in a world under new global influence, Hungarian photographer Gábor Arion Kudász, the event’s curator, said.

Several of the photos were published by international art platforms including LensCulture, Contemporary Lynx and Fotograf Magazine, and the Polish edition of Vogue.

The exhibition in Vienna will be opened and later shown in an online event but will also await visitors at the venue.

It is scheduled to travel on to Berlin, Brussels, Prague, Rome and Warsaw before arriving in Hungary’s Debrecen in the summer when Hungary takes over the V4’s rotating presidency.

The exhibition’s main sponsor is the International Visegrad Fund.

Heros' Square Hősök Tere Kollázs
Read alsoTime travel around Budapest; how it looked in the past century vs now – PHOTOS

COVID-19 vaccine batch Austria has halted use of went to 17 countries

Covid Coronavirus Koronavírus Vakcina Vaccine Oltás AstraZeneca

Austria was one of 17 European countries to receive doses from a batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine that Austrian authorities have stopped using while investigating a death and an illness following their use, a senior health official said on Tuesday.

A 49-year-old nurse in Zwettl, a town northwest of Vienna, died as a result of severe coagulation disorders after receiving the vaccine. Another nurse from Zwettl who is 35 and received a dose from the same batch, ABV 5300, developed a pulmonary embolism and is recovering.

“We informed all European colleagues in the European network as this batch, which amounted to roughly a million doses in total, was sent to 17 European countries,” Christa Wirthumer-Hoche, the head of Austrian public health agency AGES’ medicines market supervisory body, told a news conference.

The European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), which monitors the safety of medicines, discussed the case on Monday, said Wirthumer-Hoche, who also heads EMA’s management board.

She did not identify the countries or say what steps, if any, they had taken. AstraZeneca has said it is in contact with Austrian authorities and will fully support the investigation.

The Anglo-Swedish company has said all batches are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls and that there have been “no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine”.

An autopsy of the nurse is being carried out and Wirthumer-Hoche said she expected the results next week.

European Union regulators at the end of January approved the product, saying it was effective and safe to use, while the World Health Organization in mid-February listed it for emergency use.

Adverse reactions seen in trials were short-lived for the most part and blood clotting problems were not reported.

A safety assessment by Germany’s vaccine regulator of more than 360,000 people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine last month concluded that adverse reactions were in line with the safety profile described in clinical trials.

candles-condolence
Read alsoThrid wave in Hungary: death toll has increased over 16,000

Epidemic situation in Hungary ‘extremely grave’, says chief medical officer – UPDATE

coronavirus in Hungary 2020 hospital

The past few days have seen an “unprecedented upsurge” of the coronavirus epidemic in Hungary, making the situation “extremely grave”, the chief medical officer told an online briefing on Tuesday.

Cecília Müller noted that the number of active infections have grown by “five to ten thousand people in the past couple of days”.

The number of people in hospital and on ventilators in the past 24 hours, 8,270 and 833 respectively, both broke the records of Dec. 7 for highest number of people on ventilators (674) and Dec. 8 for the highest number of hospitalised patients (8,045), she said.

The health-care system is hit hard by the high patient numbers, with new wards being opened for Covid patients every day, she added.

Meanwhile, trace amounts of coronavirus in the waste water have grown in every Hungarian city, she said, forecasting a further increase in case numbers.

Müller called on everyone to observe hygiene guidelines carefully and to accept the vaccine when offered.

She said one recent change to the national vaccination strategy has been a shift in focus to administer as many first doses as possible.

Müller said that another 100,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine and 120,510 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab will be delivered to vaccination points on Tuesday, adding that GPs will also be getting 105,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine this week.

Those whose vaccination appointments were delayed from last weekend will be getting their AstraZeneca shots between Thursday and Sunday, Müller said.

Hungary will also begin vaccinating law enforcement officers and soldiers involved in the epidemic response efforts, she said.

Addressing the same press briefing, a deputy leader of Hungary’s operative board responsible for handling the coronavirus epidemic said that

Austria has reclassified Hungary as a high-risk country, amending its rules on entry and transit for people coming from Hungary.

Austria will also bar entry to those looking to pass through to Germany who do not meet that country’s entry requirements, Lieutenant Colonel Róbert Kiss said.

Concerning Hungary’s tightened restrictions, Kiss said the authorities on Monday took action in 504 cases due to people neglecting to wear masks or wearing them incorrectly.

vaccine-hungary-coronavirus
Read alsoHungary has the 8th worst mortality rate related to the COVID-19

Austria investigates; person died shortly after AstraZeneca jab – vaccine batch suspended

Covid Coronavirus Koronavírus Vakcina Vaccine Oltás AstraZeneca

Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots, a health agency said on Sunday.

“The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) has received two reports in a temporal connection with a vaccination from the same batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the district clinic of Zwettl” in Lower Austria province, it said.

One 49-year-old woman died as a result of severe coagulation disorders, while a 35-year-old woman developed a pulmonary embolism and is recovering, it said. A pulmonary embolism is an acute lung disease caused by a dislodged blood clot.

“Currently, there is no evidence of a causal relationship with the vaccination,” BASG said.

Swiss newspaper Niederoesterreichische Nachrichten as well as broadcaster ORF and the APA news agency reported that the women were both nurses who worked at the Zwettl clinic.

BASG said blood clotting was not among the known side effects of the vaccine. It was pursuing its investigation to completely rule out any possible link.

“As a precautionary measure, the remaining stocks of the affected vaccine batch are no longer being issued or used to vaccinate,” it added.

AstraZeneca had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.

The APA news agency quoted AstraZeneca as saying the company was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support the investigation.

It noted the vaccine had been approved by the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organisation based on a global clinical program involving 23,000 participants.

“All of these evaluations concluded that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective,” APA quoted the company saying.

European Union regulators on Jan. 30 approved the product, saying it was effective and safe to use. Adverse reactions seen in trials were short-lived for the most part, and blood clotting issues were not reported.

Austria and Denmark plan vaccines with Israel to bolster slow EU supply

NETANJAHU, Benjámin

Austria and Denmark, chafing at the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines within the European Union, have joined forces with Israel to produce second-generation vaccines against mutations of the coronavirus.

The move by the two EU member states comes amid rising anger over delays in ordering, approving and distributing vaccines that have left the 27-member bloc trailing far behind Israel’s world-beating vaccination campaign.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said it was right that the EU procures vaccines for its member states but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had been too slow to approve them and lambasted pharmaceutical companies’ supply bottlenecks.

“We must therefore prepare for further mutations and should no longer be dependent only on the EU for the production of second-generation vaccines,”

the conservative chancellor said in a statement on Tuesday.

Danish Prime Minister Danish Mette Frederiksen was also critical of the EU’s vaccine programme.

“I don’t think it can stand alone, because we need to increase capacity. That is why we are now fortunate to start a partnership with Israel,”

she told reporters on Monday.

When asked whether Denmark and Austria wanted to take unilateral action in obtaining vaccines, Frederiksen said: “You can call it that.”

The European Commission said member states were free to strike separate deals should they wish to. “It’s not that the strategy unravelled or it goes against the strategy, not at all,”

spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said.

An EMA spokeswoman did not have an immediate comment.

FIRST MOVERS?

Kurz and Frederiksen are due to travel to Israel this week to see Israel’s rapid vaccine roll-out up close.

Israel, which was quick to sign contracts for and to approve vaccines from U.S. drug makers Pfizer and Moderna, has given 94 doses per 100 people and the EU just seven, according to monitoring by Our World in Data.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the campaign a showcase of his bid for re-election on March 23, has spoken of “an international corporation for manufacturing vaccines”.

None of the three countries has significant vaccine making capacity, however, raising questions over how realistic their ambitions are to gain greater self-sufficiency.

A growing number of EU countries have placed side orders for vaccines from Russia and China, even though the EMA has yet to rule on whether they are both safe and effective.

Slovakia said on Monday it had ordered 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and expects half to arrive this month to help it end a surge in infections. Details HERE.

The neighbouring Czech Republic – tackling the worst COVID-19 outbreak of any EU country – is also considering ordering Russia’s Sputnik V.

Hungary, meanwhile, has taken delivery of a vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announcing on Sunday that he had received the shot.

The three vaccines so far cleared for use in the EU, made by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, rely on production in countries including Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Kurz said Austria and Denmark would work with Israel on vaccine production against mutations of the coronavirus and jointly research treatment options in an alliance called the First Movers Group.

The initiative, which seeks greater protection against future pandemics in addition to joint EU vaccine supply, follows Germany’s decision last month to set up a task force to address supply bottlenecks and boost local manufacturing.

Kurz invited pharmaceutical companies with a local presence including Pfizer, Valneva, Novartis, Polymun and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday to discuss the new initiative.

Pfizer, which declined comment for this story, has said it will make 2 billion doses this year – 70% of them in the EU – and has conducted extensive research into their effectiveness against coronavirus variants.

A spokesman for Boehringer Ingelheim said its focus was not on human vaccines “but if we receive requests we will of course look into them.”

March brings new and resumed flights to Budapest Airport!

lufthansa

To the delight of passengers, Austrian Airlines will resume flights from Vienna to Budapest from March, similarly to Lufthansa’s Munich-Budapest flights, and from April, it will also expand the number of flights on the Frankfurt-Budapest route.

Airportal writes that Austrian Airlines is planning 11 flights a week for the summer schedule between Vienna and Budapest. The main function of these, as before the epidemic, will be the transferring to the airline’s other flights.

Lufthansa plans to restart its route between Munich and Budapest from March 25.

For the time being, Lufthansa will fly between the two cities once a day.

According to the available data, Lufthansa plans to return to Debrecen somewhat later, around the last days of May.

Moreover, the airline will increase the number of flights between Frankfurt and Budapest from April.

Brussels Airlines, part of the Lufthansa Group, plans to resume flights to Budapest from Brussels from March 28 with four flights a week, while Swiss returns with three flights a week from Zurich.

Airlines are constantly updating their summer schedules, but the date of restart and the number of scheduled weekly flights may change at any time, depending on the epidemic, demand, and travel restrictions in each country, or even last-minute cancellations.

budapest airport arrival
Read also23 destinations accessible from Budapest Airport in February!

Eight Hungarian companies to get EUR 36m support for investments abroad

koka_szijjártó

Eight companies will receive 13 billion forints (EUR 36m) in state support to carry out investments worth 25 billion forints abroad, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Wednesday.

The government has launched its foreign markets economic growth scheme with the aim to help Hungarian companies set up production, research and service capacities abroad, Szijjártó told an event where the certificates were presented. The government has allocated 70 billion forints for the scheme, 157 companies have applied for funding and a total of 28 recipients have been announced so far, he added.

These companies will receive 42 billion forints for investments worth 80 billion forints, to be carried out mostly in the Western Balkans, he said.

In addition to the Western Balkans, investments will also be carried out in Austria and Singapore, he added.

Interesting coincidence?

One of the ‘winner’ companies was the MPP Magyarország Informatikai Szolgáltató Zrt. The company’s CEO is János Kóka who served the Socialist-Liberal Gyurcsány Government as Minister of Economy and Transport (2004-2007). 

János Kóka (born 5 July 1972) is a Hungarian businessman, private investor, IT entrepreneur and manager of various enterprises, who served as Minister of Economy and Transport between 2004 and 2007.
Budapest, Hungary. February 17, 2021. State secretary Levente Magyar and former Socialist-Liberal Minister János Kóka. Photo: MTI

As we wrote on Tuesday, a EUR 287m electronic road toll system to be built in Indonesia by Hungarian company Roatex will be Hungary’s biggest technology export so far, details HERE.

pipeline
Read alsoHungary to complete pipeline for Azeri gas by October

Hungary to ask Austria to help commuters

KURZ, Sebastian

Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Monday that Hungary will ask Austria to make border crossing more flexible and possibly faster for Hungarian commuters, after a meeting with lawmakers representing the electoral districts in the western border region.

As one of the European countries fighting to combat the current wave of the coronavirus epidemic, Austria last week tightened its border controls, which has put a significant burden on Hungarian workers commuting to the neighbouring country on almost a daily basis, Szijjártó said.

Under the new rules introduced on February 10, anyone wishing to enter Austria must register in advance. They must also present a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours, or be tested within 24 hours of their arrival in the country.

The registration rule also applies to cross-border commuters who must also present a negative Covid-19 test no older than one week.

Szijjártó said that having reviewed the effects of the new border controls at Monday’s meeting, they had seen that the measures had caused “serious disruptions” on the first week of their implementation. It must be acknowledged, he said, that Austria had made great effort to minimise the disruptions, but commuters still face more difficulties than before border controls had been tightened.

He said one major problem was the long waiting time at border crossing points.

“We will therefore ask our Austrian colleagues to open up more lanes for vehicle traffic where possible during the morning and the evening hours and increase administrative staff to speed up entry on that side of the border,” Szijjártó said.

He called testing another major issue, noting that Hungarian contract workers have been in many instances required by their Austrian employer to travel to its testing spot far away from the border.

“This is why we are also going to ask Austria to allow the testing of Hungarian commuters at a spot near the border,” Szijjártó said, adding that he would hold consultations with the Austrian interior minister on the matter.

Sissi Romy Schneider movie
Read alsoWhen will Sissi’s new series debut on Netflix?!

New entry rules to apply to Austria from Feb. 10

Austrian flag

Austria is introducing new entry rules from Feb. 10, a deputy leader of Hungary’s operative board responsible for handling the coronavirus epidemic said on Monday.

Under the new rules, anyone wishing to enter Austria must register online in advance, Lieutenant Colonel Róbert Kiss told an online press conference. Those who have entered the country must go into home quarantine for ten days and have the option of getting a free PCR or antigen test for Covid-19 from the fifth day of quarantine, he said.

Those exempted from the new rules include cross-border commuters, seasonal farming and forestry workers, international passenger and cargo transit, and people travelling to Austria for emergency medical treatment, Kiss said.

As told a few days ago, Hungarian foreign minister has had phone talks with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg to discuss the country’s tightened border controls aimed at preventing the import of new coronavirus variants. Details HERE.

Also we wrote a few days ago, travellers from Hungary can enter Serbia without showing a negative coronavirus test or undergoing mandatory quarantine as of Thursday, the Serbian government said.

Meanwhile, freight carriers are having to wait around two hours at Hungary’s Röszke and Tompa crossing stations on the Serbian border, he said. As regards Hungary, Kiss noted that police have started proceedings against 35,554 people for breaching the overnight curfew since its introduction in late November.

Hungary to begin vaccinating under-60s with chronic illnesses

Hungary this week will continue inoculating people in the oldest age group against Covid-19 and will begin the vaccination of people under the age of 60 with chronic illnesses, a government official said on Monday.

So far, 35,299 senior citizens have received their Covid shots at hospitals or at home from their general practitioners, István György, a state secretary of the prime minister’s office, told an online press conference of the operative board coordinating Hungary’s response to the pandemic.

This week, GPs will be using new deliveries of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to inoculate the elderly, while those opting to get vaccinated at hospitals will be receiving the Russian Sputnik V jab, he said.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky Vince
Read alsoCovered-up car crash of Hungarian ex-ambassador to Austria unveiled

Tightened border controls with Austria on the rise

border police control

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has had phone talks with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg to discuss the country’s tightened border controls aimed at preventing the import of new coronavirus variants.

Szijjártó said in a Facebook post that the new border control measures set to enter into force on Feb. 10 would be disadvantageous for Hungarian commuters working in Austria.

The minister said he and Schallenberg had agreed during their call on Thursday to assess the effects of the new rules next week, adding that he would ask his Austrian counterpart to “take these into consideration when it comes to the future of the regulations”.

Szijjártó said there were several matters to be cleared up regarding the handling of coronavirus tests, adding that waiting times also posed problems.

Under Austria’s new border rules, all entrants are required to present negative coronavirus tests no older than three days or be tested within 24 hours of their arrival in the country.

Commuters are required to register themselves once a week and present a test no older than one week.

border police control
Read alsoTightened border controls with Austria on the rise

Covered-up car crash of Hungarian ex-ambassador to Austria unveiled

Szalay-Bobrovniczky Vince

Former Hungarian ambassador to Vienna, Vince Szalay-Bobrovniczky, caused a car crash in Vienna with his children in the car, but the case was quietly smoothed over in Austria, even though he could have faced a prison sentence.

In a detailed article, Telex uncovered the accident of the Hungarian ambassador to Vienna that happened eight years ago and found out about the way Vince Szalay-Bobrovniczky, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Austrian authorities handled the matter.

According to 24, on the evening of April 26, 2013, Szalay-Bobrovniczky was driving home from a private event with his family in an embassy service Mercedes when a Volkswagen taxi stopped in front of him on a straight, one-way street at 5 Vorlaufstraße.

The ambassador crashed into the taxi with the service Mercedes and pushed the Volkswagen taxi into a Mercedes A-Class just about to leave the parking space nearby.

Police officers arriving at the scene measured the preliminary alcohol level of Szalay-Bobrovniczky, and the breathalyser gauged a 0.84 mg/l air alcohol level. According to a police report obtained by Telex, the ambassador “showed clear signs of alcoholic influence; the smell of alcoholic beverages could be clearly felt on his breath”.

Six people were in the embassy’s five-person service Mercedes: apart from the ambassador, his wife and four children were also in the vehicle. The police even reported that no safety devices were installed for the seating of the children. Szalay-Bobrovniczky and his family disembarked from the vehicle without injury, but in the other two cars,

two people had been slightly injured: the passenger of the taxi and the driver of the Mercedes A-class. One of them was even transported to the hospital but was soon released.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky told Telex that he had waived his diplomatic immunity and submitted himself to police action. The politician currently working in the Prime Minister’s Office answered the following to 24’s question about his drunkenness:

Szalay-Bobrovniczky Vince interjú Interview
Szalay-Bobrovniczky Vince Source: facebook.com/vince.szalaybobrovniczky

“I was positive that I only consumed alcohol to the extent permitted by Austrian law; presumably the measurement was higher because I was taking medication for which I had a medical attestation.”

The news of the accident in Vienna did not reach the Austrian press, and Szalay-Bobrovniczky kept silent about the exact circumstances of the car crash even from the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs despite the fact that as an ambassador, it would have been his duty to report everything in detail to his superiors. In his official note, the ambassador described the incident as a simple traffic accident.

Read about the region with the most deadly car accidents in Europe.

He only reported that he had an accident with the service car, and one person in each of the other two vehicles was slightly injured, but they did not file a complaint. He did not mention in his report that he was under the influence of alcohol and that he transported more passengers than he should have, and without any required safety devices. Furthermore, he simply requested the damage done to the cars to be settled in full as part of the casco insurance. The fact that the Austrian Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an ex officio investigation on behalf of the injured was also omitted.

If he did not have diplomatic immunity, refusing to blow the breathalyser alone could have led to the revocation of his license for at least half a year, and they could have fined him for €1,600 to €5,900 and even charge him with causing bodily harm by negligent behaviour under the influence of alcohol, which is punishable by up to 6-months imprisonment per the Austrian Penal Code.

Two months after the accident, the Austrian Public Prosecutor’s Office closed the case. The investigation was closed by referring to the appropriate point of the Vienna Diplomatic Convention. Szalay-Bobroviczky was informally summoned to the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they agreed on the conditions to end the investigation.

Cargo Ship Container Konténerhajó Teherhajó Kikötő
Read alsoHungary will have a seaport again after 100 years

Featured image: facebook.com/vince.szalaybobrovniczky

Orbán cabinet to contribute EUR 3.4m to Austrian Falco expansion

FALCO Hungary

The government is offering a grant of 1.2 billion forints (EUR 3.4m) to Austrian wood products company Falco, which will increase its production capacity in Hungary through a development project worth 8.2 billion forints, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Monday, adding that the project would help retain 300 jobs.

Attending a press conference at which Falco announced its plans, Péter Szijjártó said that the Hungarian government had managed to save huge numbers of jobs despite global problems, through its economic strategy providing incentives to investment.

Austria is the third largest investor in Hungary, the minister noted, adding that over 2,000 Austrian companies employed 75,000 people in the country.

According to data published by the United Nations, investments were down by 42 percent worldwide but Hungary benefitted from an increase of 140 percent, Szijjarto said.

Sissi Romy Schneider movie
Read alsoWhen will Sissi’s new series debut on Netflix?!

Sisi’s lost treasures found at the Buda Castle excavations – PHOTO GALLERY

Sisi, Queen of Hungary, history

Archaeologists working at a site at the Buda Castle have stumbled upon some interesting artefacts, including solid iron cannonballs, silver denarii, toy chips engraved with bears and swans, and an interesting piece of carved stone directly connected to the beloved historical figure, Sisi.

Gábor Kőrösi, the communication and marketing director of the Várkapitányság Nonprofit Zrt., told InfoRádió that the renovation of the historical gardens and parks of the Buda Castle District will continue this year, and the next phase of the renovation of the castle walls has begun. The first steps include a structural integrity check and archaeological excavations. During these excavations, experts found a number of

valuable ancient Roman, Medieval, early modern, and turn-of-the-century artefacts in the vicinity of the Southern Great Rondell. However, the most interesting find was a female lion statue that once adorned Sisi’s leisure house.

The leisure house was built by Alajos Hauszmann around the turn of the 20th century at the request of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Unfortunately, it was demolished after the Second World War, and the Medieval Sigismund Tower, which can be seen today, was rebuilt in its place.

The original article on Facebook can be found here. And if you would like to read more about Sisi and why she was such a beloved historical figure for Hungarians, we have many articles about her.

Within the framework of the Hungarian National Hauszmann Program, the dangerous, dilapidated, structurally loosened castle wall sections of the Buda Castle District are constantly being renovated and renewed.

The goal is for people living in the district or people visiting the historical city area to be able to recharge in a safe and orderly environment and to be able to walk around the Buda Castle safely.

The excavations were fruitful as, in addition to the relief depicting a female lion that was once up on the walls of Sisi’s leisure house, several other important artefacts were found. Ancient Roman coins, a silver denarius minted during the reign of King Ferdinand I, cannonballs made of solid iron, a ring decorated with a polished gemstone from the 17th century, pieces of a popular set of toy chips depicting an angel from the 19th century, and a 1918 railway seal made in Kassa (Košice today) were also found.

“Archaeological excavations of such a scale were never conducted at the Buda Castle before: archaeologists work at nearly a hundred locations at the same time,” said the Head of the Archaeological Office of the Várkapitányság Nonprofit Zrt.

The previous years were also quite successful in terms of finding important artefacts. During these preliminary excavations preparing the developments of the Buda Castle, they have found several significant relics related to the reign of Zsigmond (Emperor Sigismund), Mátyás I (Matthias Corvinus), Ferdinánd I, and Ferenc József I (Franz Joseph), unearthed over the years.

Read alsoSisi, Queen of Hungary and Empress of Austria – PHOTOS

When will Sissi’s new series debut on Netflix?!

Sissi Romy Schneider movie

Besides the name of the actress who embodies the iconic character of Sissi, it has also been revealed when the new series will debut on Netflix.

As we reported earlier, after the successful trilogy starring Romy Schneider, Hungary’s beloved queen, Sissi, returns to the screen. Certainly, filmmakers have embarked on a big venture, and the result could be much more divisive than ever before, as the story of Sissi has already been made into a trilogy that has become a cult production. We are all familiar with the films Sissi (1955); Sissi, the Young Empress (1956) and Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress (1957), directed by Ernst Marischka. For these generations, the perfect Sissi was characterised by Romy Schneider.

Hopefully, the new productions will achieve similar success. The plural is not accidental as there will be two series that capture the story of Sissi, namely Elizabeth Wittelsbach, Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary and the Czech Republic. As the Hungarian news portal nlc reports, one will be written by Amy Jenkins, author of The Crown, who will transform Allison Pataki’s books on Sissi into series. Here we will follow the young girl’s transformation into a Queen who awakens to her own power in a male-dominated world.

Besides, another six-part series can be expected, produced in the Austro-German co-production, which runs under the title The Empress, which will also debut on Netflix.

Devrim Lingnau will play Sissi’s iconic character. The 23-year-old Turkish-German actress began her career in 2014 and has already starred in both series and films. Recently, we could see her in the German productions Auerhaus and the British productions Carmilla. Devrim’s film partner will be the 26-year-old Philip Froissant, who will play Franz Joseph on the screen.

Katharina Eyssen commented on the upcoming production: “The Empress gave us the opportunity to tell Empress Elizabeth’s moving story to contemporary audiences, according to the modern image of women. Devrim is not only an extremely talented, versatile actress, but for me, she embodies just this woman: intelligent, passionate, rebellious. Philip Froissant, for his part, will show Franz Joseph as we have not yet seen: an ambivalent and impressive ruler whose conflicts are more topical than ever.”

According to Netflix, shooting will begin this spring and the series will be available on the streaming provider’s site in the spring of 2022.

Gay sex party in Brussels: This is how the international press reacted to the Szájer scandal

After the orgy scandal in Brussels, the former Hungarian MEP, József Szájer, got into the crossfire of the international press. This is how they write about the case all around the world.

As it has been confirmed, last Friday, the former Hungarian MEP took part in a sex party in Brussels in violation of epidemiological restrictions, from which he tried to escape from the police through the gutter – unsuccessfully, as the Belgian police arrested him and found drugs in his bag. Since then, several international news outlets reacted to the hot news, reported azonnali.hu.

The Belgian HLN writes about the details of the sex party

On Wednesday morning, one day after the outbreak of the Szájer scandal, Belgian news portal HLN published an interview with the 29-year-old doctoral student who organised the orgy referred to as a “house party” by the resigned Hungarian MEP. David Manzheley said that the police in Brussels acted rudely, insulting the participants after they slammed the door on them at half past ten. In his words, they just had a drink “like in a cafe while the guests had sex with each other”.

szájer józsef
Read alsoThe organiser of the Brussels orgy: the Hungarian MEP attended the sex party without being invited!
British papers highlighted that Szájer was a politician in an anti-LGBTQ party

The BBC also reported on the case, highlighting that the Szájer scandal described in the media as a “gay orgy” is particularly embarrassing for the Fidesz party, who campaigned for traditional family values and recently submitted a bill banning adoption for gays. Vice, which rarely reports on Hungary, also wrote about the case, emphasising in the title that Szájer was a politician of an anti-LGBTQ party. The Daily Mail, The Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Washington Post wrote about the case in a similar tone. 

The German press was quiet

No opinion articles have been published about the case in Germany. The right-wing Bild, which had previously published exclusive interviews with Viktor Orbán, brought the detailed news entitled “Orbán’s partner was detained during a gay sex party“, mentioning that Szájer is in the same EP group as the German CDU and the Bavarian CSU. “A Hungarian nationalist is casting his EP mandate”, the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung in Munich writes in the title of the article, based on the material of the German dpa news agency.

The German Tagesschau.de reports that 10 years of illiberalism was not enough to learn that Viktor is written in Hungarian with “k” and not with “c”, and they highlighted Szájer’s constitution in addition to the description of the story. 

According to the Austrian Die Presse, Szájer is hypocritical and cynical

Oliver Grimm, a publicist for the conservative Die Presse in Vienna, commented on the news, calling the resigned MEP hypocritical in the title. According to Grimm, it is cynical that one of the founders of Fidesz denies in such a spectacular way the anti-liberalism, open anti-socialism, and anti-enlightenment propagated by the party.

Romanians write about gay orgy and the reaction of the Hungarian pro-government press

The Romanian newspapers point out that the MEP is a member of the Hungarian government party that has recently submitted a number of anti-LGBTQ bills. The right-wing Adevărul published a short portrait of Szájer, and the liberal G4media reviewed the Hungarian government press articles on Wednesday morning. According to them, the Szájer scandal has just been blown up because the EU wants to punish Hungary for EU money and the rule of law mechanism.

The Czech press highlights the escape through the gutter, the Slovak newspapers highlight drugs

The Slovak and Czech newspapers only report on the scandal of József Szájer and its circumstances. While the focus of Slovak newspapers is on the drug found at the party, the Czech newspapers highlight Szájer’s escape through the gutter.

The Czech news portal Mladá fronta dnes introduces its summary in tone: “Orbán’s MEP was in a hot orgy. He escaped from the police through the window.” The Czech business newspaper Hospodářské noviny reports: “The Hungarian MEP was arrested in an illegal gay orgy. He tried to escape from the police through the window.” 

szájer fidesz mp scandal
Read alsoSex party in Brussels: MEP Szájer apologies only for breaching lockdown rules?

Hungarian star among the most talented European football players!

szoboszlai star

Dominik Szoboszlai, the midfielder of the Hungarian national team and  Red Bull Salzburg, finished in eighth place in the Golden Boy Award for the best footballer under the age of 21 playing in Europe.

The Italian magazine Tuttosport published the final result on Saturday, according to which the former player of Salzburg and the current player of Borussia Dortmund, Erling Haaland, finished in the lead, writes Világgazdaság. The Norwegian footballer has scored 44 goals in forty matches last season and scored 11 times in 11 matches this season.

The second was Barcelona’s Spanish player, Anssumane Fati, and the third was Bayern Munich’s Canadian player, Alphonso Davies.

In eighth place was Dominik Szoboszlai, the Austrian champion and cup winner last season, chosen as the best player in the league. In the Hungarian national team, he scored a winning goal in the European Championship qualifier against Iceland. 

Not a single Hungarian has performed in such an upscale place in the history of the Golden Boy Award. 

Szoboszlai is currently playing in Salzburg, Austria, but may soon switch. Arsenal and Real Madrid, among others, are considering signing him.

The recognition, founded by Tuttosport in 2003, was decided by forty prestigious football experts, each of whom was able to cast their vote for five players, with footballers receiving 10, 7, 5, 3, and 1 points. A list of the top 100 young players was published in mid-June, with support for fans, and a list of twenty candidates was published in October. From Hungary, György Szöllősi, editor-in-chief of Nemzeti Sport and president of the Association of Hungarian Sports Journalists, voted. 

The Golden Boy Award has previously been won by footballers such as Wayne Rooney (2004), Lionel Messi (2005), Cesc Fabregas (2006), Sergio Agüero (2007), Mario Balotelli (2010), Mario Götze (2011), Isco (2012), Paul Pogba (2013), or Kylian Mbappé (2017).

szoboszlai golden boy
Photo: www.facebook.com/nsonline

The top 2020 Golden Boy Award top 10:

  1. Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Norway) 302 points
  2. Anssumane Fati (FC Barcelona, Spanish) 239 points
  3. Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich, Canadian) 226 points
  4. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund, English) 80 points
  5. Eduardo Camavinga (Rennes, French) 50 points
  6. Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus, Swedish) 41 points
  7. Phil Foden (Manchester City, English) 36 points
  8. Dominik Szoboszlai (Red Bull Salzburg, Hungarian) 13 points
  9. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal, English) 13 points
  10. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid, Brazilian) 9 points