A total of 27 out of Hungary’s 206 Tesco stores were closed on Saturday by 7pm due to a work stoppage of employees, on the second day of a nationwide strike called by unions, the company told MTI.
Unions called for the strike after their demands of a 25 percent wage hike and a 15 percent staff increase remained unmet earlier this week. They also demand a minimum monthly wage of 200,000 forints (EUR 651) and that Tesco should apply a cap on the number of people employed by contractors. The strike was called from 10am until midnight on Saturday.
The company said that on Friday 10 percent of its stores had to be closed because of the strike. On Saturday, it employed students to replace staff on strike, it added.
The unions told a press conference on Saturday evening that they would hold talks with the management on Monday.
Employees of the Hungarian unit of UK retailer Tesco held a demonstration in front of a Tesco store in Budapest on Saturday demanding a 15,000 forint (EUR 49) wage rise for the retail chain’s staff.
József Saling, chairman of retail union KASZ said that around 300 people participated in the demonstration.
Retailer workers union KDFSZ, who organised the demonstration, is demanding that Tesco honour its pledge to remain among the top three best-paying retail supermarket chains in Hungary by raising the wages of its trained retail workers earning minimum wage. It is also demanding that no one in the company should be paid less than the increased minimum wage.
The demonstrators handed over a petition with their demands to a Tesco representative at the end of the demonstration.
Saling said that currently 12,500 of the 16,500 Tesco workers in Hungary earn a minimum wage, which he said was unacceptable, arguing that “they work to make a respectable living and not the minimum wage.” He also said Tesco plans to give a 2.3 percent wage increase to the remaining 4,000 employees.
Saling said that if the retailer does not ensure the unions “fair” wage talks, they will continue demonstrating and call a strike if all else fails.
On Friday, Tesco issued a statement saying that it had raised the wages of 13,700 workers this year by an average of 12.4 percent. The retailer said it had spent 7.4 billion forints on raising the wages of its employees over the last two years. Taking into account the full staff of over 12,000, including stockers, cashiers, shop assistants and price controllers, wages have increased by 14.8 percent this year, Tesco said.
The Budapest Pride march marking the end of Hungary’s week long festival of the gay (LGBTQ) community was held on Saturday afternoon, with participants gathering near Parliament and later moving across central Budapest without any significant incidents reported.
Theatre director Árpád Schilling told participants in front of Parliament that the LGBTQ community wants to achieve equality, but to do so, its members would have to accept and declare their self-identity “against our own political leaders”. However, he said this would not be easy, as “the vast majority” of Hungary’s MPs are “homophobic”.
Ágnes Gyémánt, founder of Hungary’s LGBTQ rights group PFLAG, said parents of LGBTQ people also have to “come out” to help members of the community by setting an example and sharing their experiences. She said solidarity towards the LGBTQ community in Hungary could be strengthened by including the topic of gay rights in public education.
Earlier today, organisers said they would change their route of the march in order to avoid any security fences put up by police. Daniel Hollander, a Pride march organiser, said authorities had approved the altered route.
Representatives of several opposition parties also joined in the march. Thirty-six embassies in Budapest expressed support for the event, as did the opposition Socialist Party, LMP, the Democratic Coalition, the Dialogue party and the Hungarian Liberal Party. Meanwhile, Jobbik has said that if it comes into power in 2018, it would not allow “openly anti-family demonstrations” to be held in Hungary.
Budapest Pride, photo: MTI
MTI’s correspondent spotted some counter-demonstrators along the original route with signs that read “Shame”, “Jesus says to convert because the wages of sin is death” and “Marriage in Hungary is an alliance between a man and a woman, accept it!”
Police said they had dispersed a counter demonstration at the Chain Bridge and prevented disruptions to the event along other sections of the march route. They cordoned off some sections of the route and blocked certain side streets.
Budapest Pride spokesperson said that because of the limited amount of fences this year’s Pride was significantly “freer” than in years past.
The march ended just before 6pm at Várkert Bazár, at the foot of the Buda Castle.
The organisers of this Saturday’s Budapest Pride said that the LGBTQ march should bypass containment fences and this could prove a safe alternative as long as police cooperate, spokesperson Cintia Karlik said.
Feedback from participants on a plan to use an alternative route in order to have a fence-free march has been positive, the spokesperson told the press on Friday. Organisers have been asking police for several years to find a better solution for securing the event than to build containment fences, she added.
Dániel Hollander, another spokesperson for Budapest Pride, said it was a positive development last year that there were no anti-Pride troublemakers. This year the organisers will draw on 250 escorts and 50 legal observers to aid security and the latter will use cameras to record any irregularities, he added.
Karlik said a survey done last year showed that 60 percent of Hungarians thought that LGBTQ people should have equal rights. This shows a much more accepting attitude by members of the public than political public discourse would suggest, she added. More and more Hungarians have personal contacts with LGBTQ people and this also helps their social acceptance, Karlik said, citing a recent survey which showed 26 percent of Hungarians saying they knew LGBTQ people as against 12 percent some years ago.
Ruling Fidesz is “preparing for violent provocations”, the opposition Socialist Party said in a statement on Thursday, and added “this is why they keep saying that something will happen in the autumn”.
Hungary’s opposition and US billionaire George Soros’s organisations could form a coalition to “topple democratic institutions” in the country ahead of next year’s elections, House Speaker László Kövér said at an ethnic Hungarian summer university forum in southern Slovakia’s Martovce (Martos) on Wednesday. Kövér said that the “coalition” could aim to elicit tension through “open attacks” such as riots in public places.
“They will try to create an atmoshpere in which the civil war psychosis becomes prevalent ” in order to “divert attention from the opposition’s own inaptitude, with the dirty work to be done by activists of the Soros organisations,” Kövér insisted.
According to the Socialists, current developments are evocative of the period before the 1998 election when “there were mysterious bomb attacks, which ceased when Fidesz won”.
In their statement, the Socialists also called on the police not to succumb to “political pressure from Fidesz” and not to “assist political criminals with their provocative actions”.
Saturday’s Budapest Pride march will be secured by fencing off its entire route, the police said in a statement on Thursday.
The march organiser Rainbow Mission Foundation said earlier in the day that the LGBTQ community in Hungary were against the use of fences. “This procedure is unjustified and disproportionate,” it said in a statement.
The organisers have indicated that over 200 volunteers and 50 observers with cameras will monitor the march to ensure security. They said police only expected a small group of troublemakers.
The “hermetically sealed” march would impede traffic, and they pledged to find a way of bypassing the fences by seeking an alternative route. Plans will only be disclosed before participants gather in front of Parliament on Saturday afternoon, the organisers added.
Fences may be dismantled “as a last resort” but police would be expected to continue securing the event, they said.
As we wrote before, an appeals court on Wednesday handed a three-year prison sentence to a man for verbally and physically assaulting participants in the Budapest Pride march four years ago.
UPDATE
Government office chief János Lázár said at his weekly press briefing that the demand that police not use fences could not be fulfilled because police must adhere to clear legal regulations.
Traffic restrictions will be implemented and several roads will be closed in central Budapest on Saturday afternoon, the Budapest transport centre (BKK) said.
The M1 metro line will operate but trains will not stop between Heroes’ Square and the Opera stop from 3pm until 6pm, and between Heroes’ Square and Octogon from 6pm until 7.30pm. The Kossuth Lajos Square stop on the M2 metro line will be closed from 2pm until 5.30pm.
Tram 2 and the “nostalgia trams” on the same route will operate only between Kozvagohid and Kossuth Lajos Square from 2pm until 6pm. The tram 4-6 service will not stop at Octogon between 4.30pm and 5:50pm, BKK said. Several trolley and bus services will also be restricted, it added.
Local government leaders of Háromszék (Three Chairs) proposed to the Romanian government the shooting down of those bears that represent a danger to the population, reports origo.hu.
The concerned politicians wrote a letter to Mihai Tudose, prime minister of Romania, and Gratiela Gavrilescu, the environment minister, stating that the situation is becoming uncontrollable, as not only the bears poach on rural agriculture, but they are becoming dangerous to men as well. There are twice as many bears in Kovászna county that the region could handle, and in the past year there were almost 200 cases where bears damaged properties, and six people were hospitalised due to attacks by bears. Just a month ago, a bear wandered down to the streets of Tusnádfürdő, some tourists took photos of the bear walking around with a dog, and rummaging in a dumpster.
On Monday, in Sepsiszentgyörgy, the mayors of the Háromszék grouping, the presidents of the commonage and the farmers agreed to participate with people enough to fill three buses, in the demonstrations in Bucharest on the 5th of July, motioned by Csaba Borboly, the president of Hargita county’s general assembly, in front of the environment ministry. Their demonstration was successful: from August on, 175 dangerous bears can be shot.
Sándor Tamás, president of the Kovászna County Council, said that their aim is not to kill off tens of bears in Romania, but to get rid of those 10 or 12 bears in Kovászna county that damage agriculture and even hurt people.
The issuing of a decree concerning the quota on shooting big games was underway in Romania, but it was suspended by the environment ministry, after the professionals (some of them were hunters) tasked with the preparation of the studies on which the quotas are based were charged with misuse of position.
Since Romania became an EU member, 5,000 big games were shot in the country, thanks to the ever-growing quotas. Thousands of foreign hunters come to Romania, who would pay 10,000 euros to be allowed to shoot a larger carnivore.
The Szekler farmers are suffering because of the feud between hunters and environmentalists. The farmers argue that the environmentalists are underestimating what these bears are capable of, and the quota should be increased instead of repealed. As of now, the situation is so bad, the residents are afraid to let their children out after nightfall.
Some 300 people gathered in central Budapest to protest against government policies on Sunday evening.
Márta Pardavi, co-leader of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, said that “people of morals must take responsibility for society” and added that her organisation would boycott the recent law requiring registration of groups receiving foreign assistance. She said the Committee was ready to prove in court that the government’s “system of national cooperation” was illegitimate.
Political Scientist Gábor Vágó said that civil society should “recapture public life” before next year’s election, and “reorganise society along actual goals rather than along ideologies”. He insisted that civil candidates should be fielded in all 106 individual constituencies.
Around 200 ambulance workers and supporters held a demonstration in front of the National Ambulance Headquarters in Budapest demanding higher wages and better working conditions on Wednesday.
At the demonstration dubbed “Enough!” and organised by unions for ambulance workers, Zsolt Kusper, head of the Hungarian Ambulance Workers’ Federation (MOMSZ), said that they will carry on demonstrating until they achieve a net wage hike to the level of current gross wages, and until a career model [similar to teachers’] has been introduced for ambulance workers.
Kusper called government claims that ambulance workers’ wages averaged at monthly 239,000 forints (EUR 776.5) “false”, and said that net wages in the sector are around 119,000 forints.
Ambulance workers protest for higher wages in Budapest, photo: MTIAmbulance workers protest for higher wages in Budapest, photo: MTI
UPDATE
Currently around 7,800 people work in the sector, Kusper noted. The employees “need to get the social appreciation they deserve”, he said. An increasing number of workers are leaving the sector for the primary market or to work abroad, he warned.
Andrea Varga of the Autonomous Regional Union said that talks between the government and unions amounted only to “fake talks”, as opposed to serious cooperation, while Tamás Fiderman of MOMSZ protested that the operating authority only accepted a single union as a negotiating partner.
Politicians from the opposition Dialogue, Jobbik and LMP parties were present at the demonstration.
At a press briefing held simultaneously with the demonstration, the state secretary for health care, Zoltán Ónodi-Szűcs, said that the government was committed to improving health care in Hungary, but “some are bent on ruining what the sector and unions have worked for over the past year and a half”.
He said sectoral wages had already risen by 26.5 percent in 2016, adding that they would rise again by 12 percent in November this year and by 8 percent in 2018. In addition, ambulance workers will receive an extra 10 percent wage hike next January, he said.
The National Ambulance Service’s 2010 budget, 22.5 billion forints, was raised to 40 billion by 2017, Ónodi-Szűcs noted. A total of 30 new ambulance stations have been built recently and a further 97 have been renovated, he said.
The health-care sector itself received 500 billion forints in development funding recently and is to receive 200 billion more regular funding in both 2017 and 2018 than in previous years, he said.
“We cannot sit back and relax, there is a lot more to do. But we cannot be expected to set the mistakes of past decisions right in a single step”, Ónodi-Szűcs said.
Opposition parties expressed support for the demonstrators later on Wednesday.
Imre László of leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) called for a full revamp of the ambulance service’s vehicle fleet and an immediate wage rise. With wages between 90,000 and 110,000 forints, ambulance workers often have to hold down two or even three jobs to be able to make a living, he said.
Co-leader of green LMP, Ákos Hadházy, said that the party will submit an amendment proposal to the 2018 budget bill allocating 21 billion forints to wage hikes. This would constitute a 60 percent rise as opposed to the 10 percent ruling Fidesz offers, he said.
The Dialogue Party proposes to amend the 2018 budget and allocate 10 billion forints to the wage hikes. The funds should come from the allocations for the Paks 2 nuclear plant upgrade investment, Tímea Szabó, co-leader of the party said.
Budapest, May 21 (MTI) – Anti-government civil groups held a protest under the motto “We won’t let go of our future; we’re here to stay!” in central Budapest on Sunday afternoon.
Protesters organised by the Nem maradunk csendben (We won’t keep silent) and the Oktatasi Szabadsagot (Free education) Facebook groups gathered in front of the Technical University on the Buda side of the city and walked across to the Pest side, marching on to the square in front of Parliament.
Henriett Dinok, head of the Romaversitas Foundation, told participants at the university that “it is not Brussels that should be stopped but our parasitic oligarchs”.
Katalin Lukácsi, a former MP of the co-ruling Christian Democrats, noted she had recently quit parliament citing the way in which the government handled refugees, and in protest against the “extermination” of leftist-leaning daily Népszabadság, as well as Hungary’s recent law “aimed against” the Central European University in Budapest.
Photo: Balázs Mohai/MTI
UPDATE
In reaction to the protest, ruling Fidesz said in a statement that “the network of [US billionaire George] Soros is using all available means to put Hungary’s immigration policy under pressure”. The statement said that recent protests in Hungary had been staged by “organisations financed by Soros”.
“It is obvious that pressure on Hungary is mounting, but the ruling party and the government will not change its immigration policy,” Fidesz said in its statement.
Photo: MTI
Recent demonstrations in Hungary have been organised by “agents” of US billionaire George Soros, the group leader of ruling Fidesz told public news television M1 on Monday morning.
“Organisations and activists financed by Soros stage these protests,” Kósa insisted.
“Soros has long maintained that Europe should receive several million migrants each year and should take out loans amounting to 100 billion euros; from him, naturally, because that is good business,” Kósa argued. Soros is against all governments working to stop migration, he said, and suggested it was why he keeps “attacking” the Hungarian government.
Kósa also insisted that “Hungary is a democratic country with a freedom of speech and assembly, and anyone can stage a demonstration… even if they do so for an unreasonable cause”.
Budapest (MTI) – The police have put an end to an ongoing protest against a major construction project in Budapest’s City Park.
The police confirmed to MTI on Friday that they had had the protesters’ tents removed, and “restored order” at the project site. Three people disturbing construction work have been prosecuted for rowdy behaviour, while two others have been reported for misdemeanour, the police said on its website.
Environmentalists have been protesting against the Liget Project, a scheme of building a new museum complex, which they see as a harmful transformation of the popular public park next to Heroes’ Square.
Budapest, May 8 (MTI) – János Áder took his presidential oath of office in Hungary’s parliament on Monday.
Parliament decided on March 13 to re-elect him for another five-year term.
Photo: MTI
In his inauguration address, Áder noted the “dramatic deterioration of public discourse” in Hungary, and advocated the example of Hungary’s historic Compromise with its one-time Habsburg rulers. He argued that “if we continue like this, we will ruin all we built since 1990… everything will be questioned, all agreements will be neglected and all borders crossed.” The example of the 1867 Compromise, however, could “provide momentum to act”; leading politicians of those times may have differed, but they were equally motivated by “the common good” and they always used a respectful tone in their communication, Áder said.
Áder warned that next year’s parliamentary election was drawing near, and said that “most voters will surely not wish to sit on top of an erupting volcano for the next year”. He suggested confirming that “we are all citizens of Europe, we all belong to the Hungarian nation, and we all want a decent, honest, and peaceful life”.
Concerning Hungary being a member of the EU, Áder again cited the example of 1867, when Ferenc Deák, one of the proponents of the Compromise, voiced support for Austria but said that Hungary’s constitutional rights should not be curbed any more than it was just necessary to ensure the stability of the Austrian Empire. The same could apply now, with the empire substituted by the European Union, Áder said.
Áder urged that “the dignity of national holidays should be restored” and called on participants “not to compete in disrupting the events of other parties”. He also urged “the same solidarity” for those persecuted because of their religious beliefs or ethnicity as for others persecuted “because of their roots”.
Áder warned that the privacy of the families of politicians must be respected, with special regard to their children. “Their lives are a private matter” and political discourse should not touch upon their “sexual orientation, religious beliefs or political leanings”, he insisted.
Jobbik urges government parties to ‘listen’ to Áder’s oath-taking remarks
The government parties should “listen” to re-elected President János Áder’s remarks about the sanctity of the family and children, made during his oath-taking speech on Monday, opposition Jobbik said.
They should also take note of his call to nip in the bud “smear campaigns that use secret services methods” or private investigators, Jobbik spokesman István Apáti told a press conference.
Áder was “perhaps trying to clear his guilty conscience this way” but his speech came too late and was not credible, he said. He represents the unity of his party and not of the nation, Apáti added.
Áder will have the opportunity to prove otherwise in the years to come and “if he truly serves national interests”, then Jobbik will reconsider its assessment of the president, Apáti said.
LMP: Inviting referendum on Paks ‘obligation’ for Áder
In his capacity as the re-elected president of Hungary, it will be one of Janos Ader’s most important obligations to invite a referendum on the Paks nuclear power plant upgrade project, the green opposition LMP said on Monday.
Áder said last October that the right for a public vote is one of the most fundamental constitutional rights, LMP co-leader Bernadett Szél told a press conference held jointly with the party’s other co-leader Ákos Hadházy.
Hadházy said that Áder should have raised his voice in response to recent statements by politicians inciting to violence, including one by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Együtt hold demonstration against President Áder in front of the Parliament
Budapest (MTI) – A demonstration with the slogan “We belong to Europe”, organised by the Momentum Movement, was held in the capital on Monday evening, on the 13th anniversary of Hungary’s EU accession.
Momentum Movement leader András Fekete-Győr told the crowd assembled in Heroes’ Square that his party would run in the 2018 general election. He said the party would announce its election programme on October 15.
Fekete-Győr said that over the coming year Momentum would do everything it can to “tear down the regime of fear”.
Momentum Movement leader András Fekete-Győr, photo: MTI
Organisers handed out anti-government stickers to protesters, which Fekete-Győr said they should use to “correct government propaganda billboards” on their way home, referring to the billboards advertising the government’s national consultation.
Prior to assembling in Heroes’ Square, protesters gathered in central Budapest’s Szabadság Square. Participants held up banners, including one calling for a “Corruption-free Hungary!” and another one that read “We are living in a lie”.
Addressing the crowd in Szabadság Square, Momentum spokesman Miklós Hajnal said freedom was running out in Hungary. There should be no Soviet monument on the square, he said. Hajnal said they would not yield to Russian pressure, adding that Hungary is part of Europe.
Participants marched from Szabadság Square along Andrássy Avenue to Heroes’ Square, carrying at the front a national flag, a flag of the European Union and one of the Momentum Movement party. The crowd started marching to the sounds of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, the EU’s official anthem.
In the invitation to the event, organisers said they were inviting everyone who feels that Hungarians belong to Europe rather than Moscow.
Photo: MTI
“Russia is closer than we’d think. A system of fear following the Russian model is being established in Hungary. They may have taken their tanks, but they have crept back through the gas pipelines, the fake news portals and the political elite”, organisers wrote.
The Momentum Movement was established as a civil group in the spring of 2015.
Earlier this year it gathered over 260,000 signatures with a view to securing a local referendum on whether Budapest should host the 2024 Olympics, twice the number necessary to trigger a plebiscite.
The government later decided to withdraw Budapest’s bid, citing a “lack of national unity” on the issue.
Momentum voted to become a political party in early March.
Budapest (MTI) – Some streets will be closed in central Budapest in the morning and again in the evening on Monday because of demonstrations, the capital’s police said on Saturday.
From 9.30am until 10am, the two lanes of Andrássy Avenue between Kodály Körönd and Heroes’ Square will be closed, in the direction of the square, the police said.
Between 6.45pm and 8pm, the stretch Szabadsag Square-Honvéd Street-Alkotmany Street-Bajcsy Zsilinszky Street-Podmaniczky Street-Izabella Street-Andrássy Avenue-Heroes’ Square will be closed.
In the morning, the Hungarian Workers’ Party will hold a demonstration.
A demonstration in the evening will be organised by the Momentum Movement civil group.
According to origo.hu, the great spring parade of cyclists returned with a new course. I Bike Budapest tries to follow the traditions of Critical Mass, which was held before 2013 in Budapest annually. The aim of the event is to popularize travelling by bicycle, and it also draws attention to the importance of developments related to cycling.
I Bike Budapest cyclist parade MTI Photo: Balázs Mohai
According to the hosts, approximately 10,000 people attended the cyclist parade of I Bike Budapest, despite the forecasts promising rain.
The hosts also told that cyclists also came to the streets in the countryside – in Debrecen, Szeged, Székesfehérvár and other cities – to highlight that the old and outdated cycle paths require repair in order to decrease urban traffic.
MTI Photo: Balázs Mohai
There were significant limitations of traffic on Saturday afternoon and evening because of I Bike Budapest. The attendants gathered from 3 pm in Szabadság square.
The parade started from Szabadság square and went through minor streets on the lower embarkment, through Közraktár Street, Petőfi Bridge, Irinyi József Street and Karinthy Frigyes Street to Móricz Zsigmond Circus.
From that pont, it continued to Bartók Béla Street, Szent Gellért embarkment, Attila Street, through the Castle Tunnel and Chain Bridge to Széchenyi István Square, then through József Attila Street, Andrássy Street and Heroes’ Square they arrived at Városliget.
MTI Photo: Balázs Mohai
Hungarian Cyclists’ Club organized the parade along this course because these are the parts of the city which needs some development concerning cycle paths, and the already existing paths also require repair.
Budapest, April 24 (MTI) – Demonstrators gathered near the Russian embassy in Budapest on Monday evening and speakers said the increase in Moscow’s influence over Hungary in the past few years was reason for concern.
Writer and philosopher András Lányi said the government was gradually moving closer to dictatorships where opponents are killed off or imprisoned. He cited Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran as examples. The 21st century seems to become a dangerous period, with the distance between East and West growing, he added.
Henrietta Nikoletta Antal, an activist from the group protesting the revamp of the City Park, encouraged participants to make a move towards the western lifestyle and values.
Budapest, April 22 (MTI) – The satirical Kétfarkú Kutya (Two-tailed Dog) party staged a “March of Peace for the government and Russia… and against everything else” in central Budapest on Saturday.
Participants in the demo walked across the Inner City behind an inscription in Hungarian and Russian “We will not be a colony” written on a banner of the Russian national colours.
Gergely Kovács, head of Kétfarkú Kutya said in his address that the protest was aimed at “retaking the streets from a few dozen people” who had recently demanded that “billions of migrants should be re-settled in Hungary”. He also demanded that the rouble should be introduced as Hungary’s currency.
Photo: MTIPhoto: MTI
During the march, communist-era songs were played from loudspeakers on a van. Participants carried signs that read “Ban demonstrations!”, “Down with freedom of speech!”, “No pensions!”, and “We won’t allow Soros-financed provocateurs to disturb the March of Peace!”. Many chanted slogans such as “No more elections!”, “Out with civil groups” or “Russian tanks to Hungary!”.
At the end of the demo, the organisers issued an “official” declaration of war on Brussels.
According to organisers the event was attended by “30 million people”.
“We will not be a colony” written on a banner of the Russian national colours. Photo: MTIPhoto: MTI
Tbilisi, April 21 (MTI) – The good ties between Hungary and Georgia should be used to promote economic cooperation, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Tbilisi on Friday.
Orbán spoke after talks with Giorgi Kvirikashvili, his Georgian counterpart, and said that despite “such good political ties” the two countries “cannot boast” of spectacular trade or investment figures. “We need to improve that,” he added. He said the goal was to “give an impetus” to economic and trade ties to “turn potential into reality”.
Hungary’s Eximbank has opened a pool of 90 million dollars to provide loans aimed at promoting further ties, Orbán said, adding that the initial fund could be increased if necessary. He also said that businessmen in the Hungarian delegation were primarily interested in opportunities in the areas of water management, waste water treatment, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food processing and construction.
Hungary greatly appreciates Georgia’s “consistent foreign policy” and supports Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within the internationally recognised borders, he said. Hungary also supports that “frozen conflicts” should be settled through negotiations, Orbán added. He also noted Hungary’s support for Georgia’s endeavours in seeking a visa-free status with the European Union and for the country’s European integration. “The EU is not too enthusiastic about the idea of enlargement” but its new members “should maintain openness and support countries that want to join”, he said.
Orbán also said that the two countries had a similar position concerning cooperation with China, and added that he had extended an invitation to the Georgian government to attend as an observer the central Europe-China summit to be held in Hungary in September.
Kvirikashvili said in agreement that Hungary and Georgia have had good political relations and were aiming to expand business cooperation. He said Georgia appreciates Hungary’s support in the integration process, and added that the EU’s removing the visa requirement for Georgian citizens would provide a further incentive to building closer bilateral ties.
Concerning territories occupied by Russia, the Georgian prime minister said his country was committed to a peaceful settlement and noted that Hungary had a similar position.
Answering a question by the Associated Press on a different subject, Orbán said that there was “a lot of disinformation” surrounding the topic of Budapest’s Central European University. He insisted that the university’s operations were not in jeopardy and that the institution “will continue its operations properly”.
Later in the day, Orbán met Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili and House Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze.
Supporters of Orbán and demonstration for CEU in Tbilisi
