election

Socialists take alleged Fidesz fraud in 2010 billboard campaign to chief prosecutor

Daily News Hungary

The opposition Socialist Party has turned to the chief prosecutor concerning their suspicion that the ruling Fidesz party cheated in their billboard campaign ahead of the 2010 general election.

Socialist press chief István Nyakó told a press conference on Monday that Fidesz placed several thousand billboard advertisements “illegally” in 2010. He insisted that Fidesz had paid a mere 90 million forints (EUR 292m) to businessman Lajos Simicska for the advertising space at the time, while it should have cost between 700-800 million forints at market rates.

At another press conference last Wednesday, demanded to know which Fidesz official had approved the party’s 2010 billboard campaign. In response, Fidesz said that the Socialists “must be in a state of great despair” if they are still preoccupied with scrutinising the outcome of the 2010 elections.

Fidesz said in reaction that if the Socialists did indeed insist on turning to the chief prosecutor, they should reveal what they know about the alleged budgetary fraud case surrounding left-wing opposition politician Csaba Czeglédy instead of focusing on the 2010 campaign.

“What sort of services did Czeglédy provide for the Socialists that they are defending him so?” Fidesz’s parliamentary group asked in a statement.

Czeglédy was local government representative of Szombathely, in south-west Hungary, representing Éljen Szombathely-Socialists-DK-Együtt. He also worked as a lawyer for DK and the Socialists.

The Hungarian authorities recently seized a 1kg bar of gold bullion estimated to be worth 10 million forints (EUR 32,000) from an Austrian bank as part of an investigation into Czeglédy, who was taken into custody in June suspected of large-scale budgetary fraud.

Czeglédy is one of ten suspects in the case charged with committing tax evasion as part of a criminal organisation through a series of companies, causing damages to the state of up to 3 billion forints between 2013-2016.

Socialists: Fidesz cheated with 2010 billboard campaign

Daily News Hungary

According to the opposition Socialists, the Fidesz party paid well below the market rate for outdoor advertising during the 2010 general election campaign.

The current ruling party bought space on 4,700 billboards nationwide and spent 98 million forints (EUR 318,000) when the real cost should have been 1 billion forints calculated at current rates, Socialist press chief István Nyakó told a press conference on Wednesday. Moreover, the ruling party claimed in official documentation that it had paid just 36 million forints, Nyakó said.

Fidesz paid media magnate Lajos Simicska a much lower price than Jobbik paid for billboards in its recent anti-government campaign, he added.

Simicska at the time had a key role in the Fidesz party and now supports Jobbik. Fidesz has accused Jobbik of colluding with Simicska and buying ad space at a reduced price. Jobbik denies the charge.

Nyakó insisted that Fidesz had placed many billboard ads “illegally” and had thereby manipulated the election outcome. The Socialists, he said, demand to know which Fidesz official approved the party’s 2010 billboard campaign and who bargained with Simicska.

Jobbik calls on Fidesz to release costs of its earlier billboard campaigns

The opposition Jobbik party has called on the ruling Fidesz party to release information about the costs of its 2010 election campaign and related outdoor advertising.

The opposition party’s spokesman, Péter Jakab, told a news conference on Friday that press reports suggested Fidesz had received billboard space from Lajos Simicska’s company for half the cost of Jobbik’s recent outdoor advertisements.

Simicska, a founder of the ruling party who had large sway over its finances, fell out with his childhood friend Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Fidesz accuses him of putting his wealth and business interests at the service of the opposition party.

The Jobbik spokesman said that in 2010 Fidesz bought outdoor advertising space on 1,300 billboards without any accompanying paperwork. This raises the possibility that the party dodged paying VAT, he added.

He said the ruling party would be able to clear itself of these allegations if, like Jobbik, it accounted for all the details of its previous poster campaigns. The Jobbik spokesman insisted that his party had bought advertising space for its current campaign at market rates.

Jobbik in a statement said it would initiate an impeachment procedure against President János Áder, saying that his decision to sign the law on billboard advertising was unworthy of the head of state. The party also noted that it was seeking a review of the law by the Constitutional Court.

“János Áder is not the president of the Republic of Hungary but Viktor Orbán’s president, capable of violating the constitution and restricting the freedom of speech in order to protect the corruption of the Orbán regime,” the statement said. “By signing the billboard law, Hungary has strayed from the rule of law at the highest level.”

Photo: MTI

Israel envoy warns Hungary politicians: ‘don’t play Jewish card’ in 2018 election

Daily News Hungary

Szekszárd, May 21 (MTI) – Israel’s ambassador to Hungary warned at an event on Sunday that Hungarian politicians should avoid “playing the Jewish card” in their campaigns for the 2018 general election.

After a conference of Hungarian-Israeli Friendship Societies and Circles in southern Hungary, Joseph Amrani told journalists that he agreed with Andras Heisler, head of the Hungarian Association of Jewish Communities, that no political force should hijack the issue.

It is in the interest of the entire political community that no one should rely on fear and hatred against minorities to shape public opinion, he said, adding that hopefully neither the Jewish community, Israel nor anti-Semitism would appear on the political agenda.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/tag/election-2018/” type=”big” color=”purple” newwindow=”yes”] Read more news about ELECTION 2018[/button]

Áder takes presidential oath of office – UPDATE

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

Photo: MTI

Here is the Jobbik’s new media campaign: They steal, We take it back

Jobbik press release – “The next phase of Jobbik’s outdoor media campaign reveals that the party is going to give back the Hungarian people all the monies stolen by Fidesz,” Jobbik’s spokesman Péter Jakab said in his Budapest press conference on Sunday. As he put it, Fidesz was ready to take the last bits of money from people’s pockets while Jobbik was going to do what no government did in the past 27 years: “we will give back to the people what belongs to the people.”

“This is our message to the Orbán mafia: while you are ready to steal even the last bit of money from Hungarian people’s pockets, the future Jobbik government will take back the money and return it to the Hungarian people,” Mr Jakab announced. Explaining the purpose of Jobbik’s first campaign, he said it revealed who the raiders of the people were so that they could make an informed decision as to how they wanted to spend their wages or pensions from 2018: on themselves and their families or rather on Árpád Habony, Antal Rogán, Viktor Orbán or perhaps Lőrinc Mészáros, who gained 100 bn HUF last year, thus making 274 million HUF a day.

“The stolen money is to be given back,” Mr Jakab warned, citing the example of Romania, where a sum worth 133 bn HUF was retrieved from politicians via court resolutions. “After Jobbik gets into government in 2018, we will retrieve the illegally obtained monies by confiscation while the already legalized corrupt gains will be retrieved by way of special taxes,” he added. In response to a question from a journalist, the spokesman said the outdoor media campaign is financed from the party’s savings and from a line of credit. The State Audit Office of Hungary will receive all the necessary information on the costs but the unit price is a business secret of the contracting service providers.

“The Dear Leader is terrified of any opposing opinion,” Mr Jakab responded to another question, referring to Viktor Orbán’s plan to pass a legislation that would limit outdoor media campaigns run by opposition parties. In the spokesman’s words, it is clear that Jobbik’s billboards “had a major impact” on Mr Orbán, so “he is using any means to remove opposing voices, not only from the media but the public areas as well.”

 

Hungarian government office chief: No ‘election budget’ in 2018

Budapest, April 18 (MTI) – The drafters of Hungary’s central budget for 2018 have not been influenced by the general election scheduled for next spring, government office chief János Lázár told daily Világgazdaság on Tuesday.

The budget, to be submitted to parliament as early as April 26, focuses on the areas of employment, support for families and defence. The general election notwithstanding, the budget is going to be strict, with a view to reducing the government debt to 72 percent of GDP, he said.

All ministries are going to have at least the same amount of funds as in 2017, Lázár said, and the country will also use its own resources for infrastructural development. In preparation for the next EU budgetary period starting in 2021 when Hungary’s EU subsidies are expected to change, the government earmarks 20 percent of the 2018 budget for development, he said.

Speaking of the main points of the budget, Lázár said that defence funds would go towards maintaining and further developing the police force, keeping illegal migration at bay and a comprehensive development plan for the military between 2020 and 2026. The latter includes the revival of the defence industry, he said. Thanks to the larger and better-equipped police force and other efforts, Lázár said, Hungary has already become a much safer country, and the government is committed to continuing on this path.

In the area of employment, Lázár said that centrally managed wage hikes would not increase the black and gray markets. They would, however, improve living standards and therefore stop Hungarians from seeking employment abroad, he said.

The upgrade of the Paks nuclear plant will create 10,000 jobs and bring about a 1 percent GDP growth, Lázár said. It will not imply dependence on Russia, as fuel will remain procurable from a number of sources, he said. On the long run, Paks will cover half of the country’s energy needs. The other half will come from “green” sources, he said.

Photo: MTI

Hungarian parliament approves new reading of law on administrative procedures

Daily News Hungary

Budapest, February 21 (MTI) – Parliament has approved, with minor changes, the law on administrative procedures that the top court earlier ruled unconstitutional.

President János Áder referred the law to the Constitutional Court in January with concerns about the introduction into the judicial system of a new layer, a so-called administrative court that would act as an appeals court.

This type of legislation, the Constitutional Court ruled, required a two-thirds majority, which the government does not have.

The resubmitted law now refers to the already functioning metropolitan court as the higher court rather than legislating for a new court.

Further, the administrative activities of the National Election Committee are no longer listed under the jurisdiction of the administrative or labour courts, and any references to challenges to its decisions are missing from the new law.

Lawmakers passed the law with 127 in favour, 31 against and 22 abstentions.

Jobbik proposes limiting premiership to eight years

Budapest (MTI) – The opposition Jobbik party would prohibit anyone from being elected prime minister for more than eight years in Hungary, its leader said on Saturday.

Explaining the proposal, Gábor Vona told a press conference that there is a danger for the premier to become “burnt-out” and to “tenaciously cling to power” after two terms in office.

“This is what we are witnessing today,” he said.

Once in power, Jobbik would immediately introduce the two-term limit. The measure, he said, would boost sound competition instead of the current “bootlicking race”, promote self-restraint as a political standard, and develop a more democratic, more inspiring public life, he said.

Vona criticised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for “considering Hungary his personal property”.

 

Photo: MTI

Hungarian MEP elected an European Parliament vice president

Brussels, January 18 (MTI) – Ildikó Gáll Pelcz, an MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, was elected as one of the European Parliament’s vice presidents in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

To be elected an EP vice president, a candidate requires to garner more than half of the votes cast.

At the plenary, 680 MEPs cast their votes, 62 of which were invalid.

According to Antonio Tajani, the EP’s newly elected president, Pelcz was elected to the post with exactly 310 votes cast in her favour.

MEPs were to elect altogether 14 vice presidents. Pelcz was one of ten candidates to clear the threshold in the first round.

 

Photo: fidesz.hu

Hungarian MEPs congratulate newly elected EP president – UPDATE

Brussels, January 18 (MTI) – The MEPs of Hungary’s allied ruling Fidesz and Christian Democratic parties congratulated Antonio Tajani on his election as the new president of the European Parliament on Tuesday evening in Strasbourg.

“The EP will have a president who is a friend of Hungary,” the Fidesz-KDNP group told MTI in a statement late on Tuesday.

With the election of the conservative Italian politician, it is expected that greater focus will be given to Christian values also represented by Fidesz, the group said.

The European Parliament’s composition, however, has not changed, the Fidesz MEPs said, adding that “political attacks mounted by the left are expected to continue against Hungary”.

The Fidesz-KDNP group will continue to strenuously uphold Hungary’s interests in Brussels.

MEP Tibor Szanyi of Hungary’s opposition Socialist Party said in a statement that “Fidesz and the liberals want to direct the European Parliament as part of a grand coalition … From Hungary’s point of view, all this means is that Fidesz will team up with anyone to attain and keep hold of power: in Hungary with the far right, in Europe with the liberals.”

“The vote reflected a strong political will of the European Parliament to isolate anti-EU, populist extremists,” he added.

The Socialist expressed hope after the vote that “by considering European values in the first place, the EPP would also draw conclusions and finally exclude Fidesz from its ranks”.

 

The green opposition LMP said on Wednesday that by supporting Tajani, Fidesz had aided a politician who promotes austerity measures and neo-liberal economic policies. Instead of representing the people, Tajani has always promoted the interests of economic lobbies, MEP Tamas Meszerics and LMP presidium member Péter Ungár said in a joint statement.

Socialist deputy leader István Ujhelyi insisted that Fidesz had made an “anti-Orbán pact” in the EP when the European People’s Party, which includes representatives of Fidesz, struck a deal with the Liberals group. Tajani’s placement reflects a “background deal” involving obligations that are contrary to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s “anti-European policies and efforts”. Fidesz has either given up on its “senseless freedom fight” or it has turned its back on the government, Ujhelyi added.

Photo: MTI/EPA/Patrick Seeger

Socialists ready to back Botka as opposition’s PM candidate

Budapest, December 23 (MTI) – The Socialist Party’s steering board is ready to support Szeged Mayor László Botka as the “democratic opposition’s” candidate for prime minister in 2018, the party said in a statement on Friday.

Socialist Party leader Gyula Molnár has asked Botka to discuss the party’s plans and programme for the 2018 election at the party’s next board meeting, with the aim of unseating the Fidesz government, the statement said.

The party said it was preparing a left-wing programme that would “offer a future to the four million people living in poverty and nearly five million living day to day”, to counter the “hopelessness offered by the Fidesz government”.

They noted that earlier this week Botka said he would be willing to stand as Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s challenger, and this announcement had given further momentum to the party’s election programme.

The Socialists said that in talks held with other opposition parties over the past six months on a possible joint election campaign, the party had consistently represented Botka’s stance that the opposition should unite around a new left-wing platform and nominate a joint candidate in each constituency in 2018.

UPDATE

Commenting on the Socialist Party’s statement, Fidesz parliamentary group leader Lajos Kósa said the left’s “ongoing casting” of a candidate for prime minister was a sign of “complete helplessness”. Speaking to public Kossuth Radio, Kósa said Botka’s nomination was “not even certain on the left”, arguing that the Szeged mayor “could not even keep his position” on the Socialist Party’s national board, which he said had weakened Botka’s position even locally. He said a complete “coming together” of opposition parties would spell “disaster” for Hungary, arguing that the Socialists, Jobbik, LMP and the “left-liberal micro parties” could not even find common ground on the most fundamental issues.

The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) said the Socialists’ backing of a potential Botka candidacy went against their earlier proposal to hold a preselection process to determine the opposition’s joint candidate for prime minister. DK added, however, that it was still open to running a joint election campaign with the “democratic opposition parties” and said it awaits the Socialist Party’s final proposal on the selection of opposition candidates for 2018.

Jobbik, LMP discuss Hungary’s election system

Daily News Hungary

Budapest, September 21 (MTI) – Representatives of Jobbik and the green opposition LMP met on Wednesday to discuss potential amendments to Hungary’s election system.

The talks centred on the enforcement of the principle of proportionality, the laws pertaining to postal voting and the campaign finance law.

LMP co-leader Ákos Hadházy told reporters after the meeting that having a separate set of rules for Hungarians voting abroad and guaranteeing naturalised citizens a 10-year right to vote in elections counted as election fraud.

Hadházy said an election was only democratic if all of its participants had agreed to its rules. But this can only work if everyone in the opposition takes the matter seriously, he said. Hadházy , at the same time, rejected the suggestion that by saying this, LMP was offering a coalition alliance to other parties.

He criticised the rule that bars Hungarians working abroad from voting by mail, as naturalised ethnic Hungarians are allowed to. He also said the current election system did not adhere to the principle of proportionality, arguing that there was a large gap between parties’ vote shares and the number of seats they obtain in parliament.

Hadházy also criticised the campaign finance law under which he said government subsidies that were handed out to “shell parties” in 2014 could not be refunded.

Jobbik deputy group leader Dóra Dúró called the talks constructive and agreed with Hadházy that the election system distorts the allocation of parliamentary seats. Parliament should reflect the true will of the voters, she said.

Dúró said Jobbik would propose to the other parliamentary parties tying the suffrage to those who have completed their general education and obtained the relevant qualifications. She said this would not be an entirely new concept in Hungarian law, arguing that pursuing a driver’s licence also requires the completion of general school.

She also proposed expanding the list of crimes that bar the right to vote. Jobbik mainly wants to include violent recidivist offenders on this list, she said.

Dúró said she had suggested to Jobbik’s national board that the party should initiate lowering the voting age to 16 with a view to better encouraging young people to be active in public life.

Ruling Fidesz later said that the meeting between LMP and Jobbik had demonstrated that the two parties “do not take into consideration democratic norms”. Their calls for amendments to the election system are aimed simply at thwarting the Oct. 2 referendum, Fidesz said in a statement. The party said it was “unacceptable in a democracy” to amend the election law right before a referendum.

Orbán needs the presence of a moderately strong Socialist party to win next election

Daily News Hungary

Index.hu writes about the current relationship between the two major parties of Hungary, elaborating why Fidesz is not working on destroying MSZP: they realized that, in order to win in the 2018 elections, they need the presence of a moderately strong opposition in every precinct.

Over the past few months a narrative regarding a secret relationship and possible deal-making has been in the talks, including that Fidesz undercovers might work in MSZP. The theory was partially mentioned in public by politicians and political scientists, including Tibor Szanyi of MSZP, who talked to Magyar Narancs about colleagues collaborating with NER whose interests belong to the current status quo.

Index has talked to politicians of both parties about the reality of such a narrative, whether Fidesz members do actually have authority inside MSZP or not. They found out that usually there are so-called neutrality contracts between politicians by which neither of them criticize the other in public, or they agree on mutual information sharing, but sometimes they cooperate out of business purposes or help each other’s people to get a job.

Yet, despite such personal cooperations, it is highlighted that Fidesz is not controlling MSZP from the inside. This point is supported by the quota-campaign during which chaos occurred in the communication of the Socialists, caused by mistakes and not by deliberate self-sacrifice for the sake of Fidesz. Also, it seems that the favourable tendency for Fidesz would be to fight against someone and encourage voters to vote for them instead of another party.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/majority-left-wing-voters-boycotting-quota-referendum/” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] Meanwhile, majority of left-wing voters are against boycotting the quota referendum[/button]

A member of Fidesz told Index that many people in the party started to realize that they need the Socialist Party in order to become able to win the elections in 2018, so they rather let MSZP get stronger and confront them only on a few fronts. Fidesz needs to avoid letting their non-supporters vote for the same party of opposition because in over half of the 106 precincts the opposition altogether (left-wing and Jobbik) has more supporters than Fidesz.

According to the calculations of Heti Válasz, discussed by Index, Jobbik would get 15 mandates, while MSZP and the rest would win 31 mandates, which are altogether 46 out of 106 and could endanger the absolute majority of Fidesz. Therefore, the interest of Fidesz is certainly to maintain the central power by applying the ‘Divide et impera’ strategy. Thus, the party does not have to be supported by more than 50% in each precincts, it is just enough if its opponents stay weaker and divided.

However, neither of the opposition members should get too weak, because in that case the supporters of that party and haters of Fidesz could join their forces and vote for the candidate of the strongest opposition party out of tactics. In order to avoid that, Fidesz would try to strengthen the Socialists by, for example, reacting to their public statements, which might give more significance to the opposition’s candidate.

One way to ensure that is to take over the control of as many county newspapers as possible, which is why the rumours of Mediaworks – publisher of Népszabadság and 13 county papers – becoming owned by a government-friendly person were significant. The results of the mid-term elections also warned Fidesz so they knew that they have to stop the emerging of one unified opposition if they want to win. Hence, out of their own needs, Fidesz tries to keep MSZP breathing and functioning until 2018.

Copy editor: bm

DK: Orbán could use referendum to call early elections

Budapest (MTI) – The prime minister could use a valid quota referendum to call early elections early next year, and ensure a prolonged two-thirds majority for his Fidesz party, Ferenc Gyurcsány, head of the leftist Democratic Coalition (DK), told a Budapest forum on Friday.

Gyurcsány argued that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “knows that he would not win once again an absolute majority with his current policies” in 2018, and would want to “escape forward” by way of an early vote.

Gyurcsány insisted that Orbán could now be defeated “by his own rules” and called on voters to stay at home on October 2 to thwart the referendum. He argued that 4.1 million voters should turn up at the ballots for the referendum to be valid, while an estimated 3.5 million are willing to participate.

“To convince the missing 600,000 voters, Orbán resorts to intimidation,” Gyurcsány said, and referred to right-wing allegations that municipalities led by left-wing parties would readily accommodate migrants.

Photo: MTI

State secretary urges ethnic Hungarian participation in quota vote

 

Budapest (MTI) – János Árpád Potápi, the state secretary for ethnic Hungarian communities abroad, has urged ethnic Hungarians to participate in Hungary’s Oct. 2 referendum on migrant quotas.

The main message of the referendum is the same for all Hungarians around the world: the “forced settlement” of migrants threatens the future of Hungary and the entire nation, Potápi told a press conference on Tuesday.

He said that Hungarians living in Serbia’s Vojvodina and Slovenia’s Lendava (Lendva) regions had also felt some of the migration pressure that Hungary has experienced over the past year.

He recommended that ethnic Hungarians wishing to take part in the referendum should register online.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/parliament-session-election-law-amendment-abandoned/” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] Related article: PARLIAMENT SESSION ON ELECTION LAW AMENDMENT ABANDONED – UPDATE[/button]

Potápi noted that voters who have no permanent address can register until September.

The state secretary revealed that so far 266,453 people have registered to vote in the referendum from abroad. A total of 116,335 voters have registered in Romania, 30,207 in Serbia and 12,579 in neighbouring countries that do not allow dual citizenship.

So far, 7,454 people have registered in countries with Hungarian diaspora communities, with 2,209 registrations coming from Germany, 936 from the US, 718 from Canada, 606 from Switzerland and 476 from Australia.

Jobbik congratulates AfD party their success at the regional elections

Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary is glad to have received the news of Alternative für Deutschland having exceeded the psychological threshold of 20 per cent and reached the second place in the state elections of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The AfD’s latest and previous achievements mean the success of a party as well as an approach to political affairs. After the results in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Wuerttemberg, it is once again confirmed that citizens would prefer to see the discredited 20th-century elites replaced by new forces that seek answers for the real problems.

It is a telltale sign that the party of Angela Merkel, who exposed Europe to a migrant influx, suffered a historic defeat from AfD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a state considered as the Chancellor’s “own region”. Although AfD finished second, the party may be regarded as the winner of these elections on account of its increasing popularity.

Let us express our hope that AfD’s latest success is just another station in the road leading to a federal election victory for a party that offers a real alternative for Germany. We firmly believe that the old parties, which have lost their character in the false disputes of the 20th century and left a crisis-ridden continent behind, will be replaced by the forces truly promoting the European interest in more and more countries, including Hungary.

Márton Gyöngyösi, Jobbik MP

LMP urges consultations on election rules

Daily News Hungary

 

Budapest, August 25 (MTI) – The opposition LMP party has called for talks with other opposition parties to discuss changing the election rules with a view to allowing Hungarians staying abroad to vote by mail.

Ákos Hadházy, LMP’s co-leader, told a press conference on Thursday that his party would also discuss ways to eliminate discrepancies in the election system as well as opportunities for election fraud. He argued that in the current regime ethnic Hungarians with Hungarian citizenship will automatically receive election notifications for ten years upon their registration, and the names of voters passing away in the meantime could be used to commit fraud.

On another subject, Hadházy said that European Union funds were being “systematically and deliberately looted with assistance from the Hungarian government”. He insisted that foundations and companies associated with lawmakers of ruling Fidesz had won billions of forints in community funds for projects “which were obviously not serious”.