Hungary border control

Official: Hungary reopens all border crossings with one of its neighbours

border control

István Pásztor, one of the leaders of the Hungarians living in Serbia (Vajdaság), announced the decision on social media that all the border crossings will reopen between Hungary and Serbia from next Wednesday.

According to borsonline.hu, the reopened border crossings will operate as they did before the outbreak of the third wave of the pandemic from June 23.

István Pásztor added that the new decision

concerns the Horgos-Röszke (public crossing), the Rábé-Kübekháza, and the Haraszti-Bácsszentgyörgy border crossings.

Horgos-Röszke (railway) and Kelebia-Tompa were open even during the pandemic, while Bajmok-Bácsalmás, Királyhalom-Ásotthalom, and Gyála-Tiszasziget opened on June 15.

That is because the third wave of the epidemic is declining both in Hungary and in Serbia. The total number of people who got the infection by this Friday in Serbia increased by 135 and

stands at 715,442.

Over the past 24 hours, five people died because of the coronavirus.

As we reported before, in Hungary, two elderly patients with co-morbidities died over the past 24 hours, while 106 new infections were registered. So far, 5,389,058 people have received the first jab, while 4,360,313 have been fully vaccinated. The number of active infections has declined to 42,851, while hospitals are treating 289 Covid patients, 43 of whom need respiratory assistance.

There are 4,044 people in official quarantine, 

while 6,033,519 tests have been officially carried out.

Since the first outbreak, 807,428 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 29,950. 734,627 people have made a full recovery.

BREAKING! Hungary to reopen Schengen borders from June 24

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Hungary will reopen its Schengen borders from June 24, unless the coronavirus pandemic takes a turn for the worse, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Bratislava on Wednesday.

Szijjártó told a press conference at the Hungarian Embassy in Bratislava that according to the plans, all 36 border crossings with Slovakia would open next week.

Also, people living in counties and regions neighbouring Hungary would be able to receive vaccines from Hungary, he said.

Szijjártó held the press conference together with the leaders of three ethnic Hungarian parties.

‘Strong member states can make EU winner in new world order’

It needs strong member states to ensure for the European Union to emerge as a winner in a new era in global politics and world economy, Hungary’s foreign minister said at a panel discussion held on the sidelines of an international security policy conference in Bratislava on Wednesday.

Péter Szijjártó addressed the forum of foreign ministers representing the Visegrad Group (V4) countries Hungary forms with the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia at Globsec.

“International power relations have changed significantly in recent times, and we are witnessing the emergence of a new world order which begins with fierce competition and it will determine the future,” Szijjártó said.

The foreign minister highlighted the importance of further strengthening member states in order for the EU to strengthen itself as a community and emerge among the winners in world politics and world economy.

“We have never subscribed to the concept of a European United States; we have instead always supported a strong European Union formed by strong member states,” said Szijjártó.

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Read alsoAnother border opens for inoculated citizens!

Another border opens for inoculated citizens!

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Ukrainian and Hungarian citizens inoculated against Covid-19 can travel freely to each other’s countries from Friday without the requirement of a test or quarantine, regardless of the type of vaccine they have received, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday.

Szijjártó told public media that the two countries have agreed to recognise each other’s immunity certificates.

The minister said the government has been in talks with countries for weeks in allowing vaccinated citizens to travel freely and, with a few exceptions, these agreements had been slower to come about than desired.

He noted that Hungary far outpaced most countries in Europe in terms of the vaccination rate, and so it was unsurprising that countries with a lower inoculation rate could only “move slower”.

One important aim, he said, was to sign agreements with neighbouring countries as soon as possible in order “to enable families, friends and communities torn from each other to come together again.”

Further consultations are under way which will enable new agreements in the coming weeks, he added.

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Read alsoAnother border opens for inoculated citizens!

Serbian border: bribery charges against 49 senior customs officials

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The Szeged regional prosecutor’s office has brought charges of graft against 49 senior customs officials who regularly sought cash bribes from foreign nationals at Hungary’s Röszke border crossing with Serbia, a senior prosecution official said on Wednesday.

According to the indictment, the customs officials commonly took bribes worth between 5 and 100 euros from foreign travellers, bus and truck drivers between October 2017 and May 2018, Imre Keresztes, the head of the central investigating prosecutor’s office said.

Bribes were collected by the customs official on duty and stored before being distributed twice a month, generally by the head and deputy head of the department, Keresztes said in a statement.

The case involves altogether 4,356 instances, he said, noting that one of the suspects accepted cash on 66 occasions in a single day.

Forty-eight of the suspects have been dismissed from their jobs and all 49 suspects are on probation.

If convicted, they each face up to 15 years in prison.

European Commission recommends these if vaccinated citizens want to travel

airport

The European Commission proposed on Monday that vaccinated people should be exempt from testing or quarantines when travelling from one EU country to another, and urged a gradual easing of travel measures as COVID-19 inoculations accelerate.

The EU reached a deal earlier this month on COVID-19 certificates that will show, via a QR code, whether a person is vaccinated, immune based on recovery from infection or has had a recent negative test. The scheme should be ready by July 1.

The European Union executive, which is seeking to end a current patchwork of travel measures across the bloc, said on Monday that testing or quarantines should not apply to people who have been fully vaccinated 14 days prior to travel.

About half of EU adults have received a first vaccine dose.

People who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection should be exempt from restrictions for 180 days. The Commission also proposed that more reliable, but more expensive PCR tests should be valid for 72 hours and rapid antigen tests for 48 hours.

Children, who are not yet in line for vaccinations, should not have to undergo a quarantine if travelling with parents who are exempt. Those aged six and older can be subject to tests.

The Commission has also included an “emergency brake” to re-impose measures for travellers from areas where there is a surge of infections or many cases of a particular virus variant.

Travel from “dark red” areas, with more than 150 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over 14 days, would be “strongly discouraged”, while for green areas, with fewer than 25 cases, no restrictions would apply, the Commission proposal said.

Only Malta is currently green.

The proposal, which will is being put to EU member states, is similar to that already agreed for travel from outside the bloc for vaccinated travellers and those coming from “safe” countries, although tests can still apply.

Spanish party leader in Budapest: his govt refuses to protect the borders against the migrants

Hungary Spain Abascal
The supporters of European federalism, including the head of the Spanish government, refuse to protect the borders of Europe, Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s VOX party, told public news channel M1 on Friday.
 
The opposition right-wing politician visiting Hungary said that Pedro Sanchez, the left-wing Spanish prime minister, believes 250,000 new migrants are needed annually for his country’s pension system to be maintained.

Abascal said that at the same time,
Spain has the highest unemployment rate in Europe.
Commenting on his meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday, he said VOX had admiration and respect for ruling Fidesz and Orban for the courage taken to protect Hungary’s borders despite “international media attacks”.
Abascal said that Hungary serves as a model not only in terms of migration but also in family policy.
“It is also in Spain’s interest that have more Spanish children born because they will later have families and there will be no need to take in migrants to keep the economy going”, the VOX leader said.

Would you travel abroad from Hungary? Important information!

Hungarian workforce - Passport Travel Luggage

Hungary has been concluding agreements with more and more countries to accept each other’s immunity certificate. However, this may not be so easy. Hungarians who want to travel may have problems not only because of the Eastern vaccines, but the lack of a vaccination certificate in English can also cause trouble.

As we reported earlier, it is possible to get to more and more countries with the Hungarian immunity certificate. However, portfolio.hu reports that despite the agreements, it is not so easy to get to another country. In addition, Hungary does not have an agreement with most of the European countries.

Almost all countries accept only immunity certificates in English.

However, those vaccinated in Hungary did not receive such a document. The Hungarian immunity certificate contains some data in English, but this card has been criticised by many.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Enikő Szabó stated that travellers must fill in an English-language form, which is available at most vaccination points and will soon be available for download at the koronavirus.gov.hu website.

This form will already include the type of vaccine, the date of administration, and the vaccine’s serial number. However, Hungarian GPs and vaccination centres have not yet seen any certificates in English, writes népszava.hu.

This is also a problem because this English language certificate must have a medical signature and seal.

It is difficult to see clearly all the information.

Many times, official communication from the government does not match what is experienced in practice. For example, despite Hungary’s agreement with Croatia, a Hungarian immunity certificate may not be enough for test- and quarantine-free entry.

When travelling to Greece, you will need a document showing the name of the person vaccinated, the type of vaccine, the time of vaccination, and the number of doses.

Those wishing to travel can hope that other countries, like Hungary, will accept immunity certificates issued in their own language. In Hungary, the accepted certificate samples for each country and vaccine type are uploaded on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hopefully, there will also be a downloadable English version of the Hungarian immunity certificate.

Read alsoThousands of Hungarians vaccinated once only to get the immunity certificate?!

Romania lifts entry restrictions for travellers from Hungary

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Entrants from Hungary are no longer required to stay in isolation in Romania or present negative Covid tests when travelling there, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday.

Romania’s decision to list Hungary as a safe country is yet another achievement of Hungary’s vaccination drive, the minister said on Facebook. Given the upcoming pilgrimage in Sumuleu Ciuc (Csíksomlyó), in northern Romania,

“the timing of the decision could not be better,”

he said.

As we reported yesterday,  Hungary concluded agreements on unimpeded travel with Georgia and Mongolia, to allow Hungarians holding immunity certificates to travel into those countries without having to isolate or show negative covid test results, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday. Similarly, Georgian and Mongolian immunity certificates will be accepted in Hungary, he said in a video on Facebook.

The agreements will come into force over the weekend, he said. Szijjártó said bilateral talks with other countries were ongoing on the sidelines of a Brussels meeting of European Union foreign ministers on “accepting each other’s certificates and make unimpeded travel possible.”

Currently eight more countries accept the Hungarian immunity card:

  • Bahrein
  • Romania
  • the Czech Republic
  • Slovenia 
  • Serbia
  • Turkey
  • North Macedonia
  • Montenegro

Furthermore, as we wrote before,

the vaccination documentation will be provided not only in Hungarian but also in English from May 19 on.

In case you already received your jabs, you need to ask for it from your family doctor or the vaccination centre, since it needs to be authenticated by the vaccinating doctor.

Will the Hungarian immunity app be accepted at the borders?

bus metro application

A mobile application that serves as a Covid-19 immunity certificate was launched in Hungary on Friday.

The EESZT app, available for Android and iOS, is operating in test mode at present. To use the app, registration on the www.eeszt.gov.hu website is necessary. Hungary earlier started issuing plastic Covid-19 immunity certificate cards to citizens who have been inoculated against the coronavirus.

Regarding what the app will be good for, there are more questions than answers yet. As telex.hu reported, the system was not working on Friday morning for hours. Interestingly, the government announced it in February and said that it would contain the type of vaccine people received, which the plastic card does not. However, the app does not show that, either, only

the name, TAJ (health insurance) number, the date of inoculation, and a statement of whether the person is protected against the virus or not.

Furthermore, it does not have the person’s ID or passport number, either.

Moreover, the app can be used only by those who were inoculated, so, for example, those who got the infection before and have a plastic card will not be able to use the application. According to the operative body,

the app substitutes the card.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of people who have not got their plastic card yet even though they had already received their jabs weeks before. For them, the app might become very handy.

Regarding whether the authorities will accept it on the borders, there is no information yet. However, it might become problematic that the app does not know English.

As we reported before, under the government’s plan, Hungarian citizens living abroad will also be entitled to receive a Hungarian immunity certificate. Hungarian citizens inoculated against Covid-19 in any member state of the European Union, NATO or the OECD, and in Russia or China can apply to obtain a Hungarian immunity certificate after submitting a certificate of their inoculation to Hungarian authorities, he said.

Thanks to using both Western and Eastern vaccines,

Hungary’s vaccination plan is one or two months ahead of other European countries,

the prime minister’s chief of staff told a regular press briefing on Thursday. “Although restrictions regarding immunity certificates will remain in place until August, we may have a relatively normal summer,” Gergely Gulyás said.

Eight countries accept the Hungarian immunity certificate

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Fully 73 patients, generally elderly with co-morbidities, died over the past 24 hours, while 1,039 new infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Saturday.

So far 4,554,679 people have received a first jab, while 2,656,671 have been fully vaccinated.

The number of active infections has declined to 149,707, while hospitals are treating 2,453 Covid patients, 308 of whom need respiratory assistance.

There are almost 20 thousand people in official quarantine, while more than 5.6 million tests have been officially carried out.

Since the first outbreak, 797,429 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 29,114. Fully 618,608 people have made a recovery.

So far, most infections have been registered in Budapest and Pest County, followed by the counties of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Győr-Moson-Sopron and Hajdú-Bihar.

Coronavirus map Hungary
https://koronavirus.gov.hu/terkepek/fertozottek

The application for the immunity certificate can now be downloaded

The application “substituting” the plastic card proving protection against coronavirus infection is now available for download. The app is available here (after logging in).

The completion of the application was announced by government spokesman Alexandra Szentkirályi on Thursday’s government information. She said the app will also be available on mobile phones with Android and iOS and will include the name of the vaccinee, the date of the vaccinations, and the type of vaccination – which is not on the plastic card-based security certificates.

However, when installing the application, only one QR code is displayed, below our name, number of shots, date of vaccination and the state of protection, the type of vaccination is not.

Read more about the app HERE.

Currently, there are eight countries accepting the Hungarian immunity certificate:

  • Bahrein
  • Romania
  • the Czech Republic
  • Slovenia 
  • Serbia
  • Turkey
  • North Macedonia
  • Montenegro

Where to travel with the Hungarian immunity certificate?

vaccination immunity certificate_hungary

More and more countries have announced that those possessing the holy plastic card will be able to cross their borders without restrictions. Still, there is no unilateral decision among European Union member states, let alone among the majority of the world’s countries on what measures will actually be implemented.

Even though a Hungarian decree issued at the end of April stated that those who have been vaccinated will be able to travel freely, in reality, this is hardly the case. Especially if we talk about foreign countries.

The European Parliament made a decision last week:

only those who were vaccinated with a jab approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be entitled to certain easements when it comes to international travel.

The Chinese Sinophram and the Russian Sputnik V, the vaccines that are majorly used in Hungary, did not make the list. Nevertheless, the EMA has been investigating the Chinese jab, so the declaration of PM Viktor Orbán saying that this serum will be approved soon and used for travel this summer might come true in the near future.

When it comes to the immunity certificate and how to travel to Hungary’s neighbouring countries, here is a very detailed article containing all the information you need to know.

How to travel to Hungary’s neighbouring countries this summer

On the other hand, some important novelties came to life since then. Apart from Serbia, Slovenia, and Montenegro,

Bahrein also signed a bilateral agreement with Hungary, accepting one another’s immunity certificates.

This bilateral agreement will be key, and probably the only way for a while, to fight the issue of which vaccines accepted by the EU will be also accepted by individual countries.

There is another major issue with the plastic card, regarding travelling abroad. The reception date of the second jab is not included on the immunity certificate, not even when the QR code is scanned. This can cause quite a problem at the borders, since

Greece, for instance, does accept all vaccines used in Hungary, BUT only 2 weeks after receiving the second jab.


Hvg.hu asked the consular centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade regarding this inconvenience. Even they said that the police in another country will not understand the Hungarian plastic card, the policeman either accepts it or not. For this reason,

they advise everyone to also take the documentation received together with the second vaccine when travelling abroad since this paper does contain the actual date of inoculation.

Truth be told, it is also in Hungarian, but as the consular centre said, it will “probably” be accepted.

On a more positive note, Hungary is currently conducting negotiations with Israel and Greece to set up the aforementioned bilateral agreement.
As of today, Israel is taking the situation and all measures very seriously. Entering the country right now is only possible in certain situations and under strict circumstances. The approval of the Migration Office of Israel and a PCR test taken 72 hours prior to the travel are both needed. Right now, the Hungarian immunity certificate or a document proving that you suffered through covid do not absolve you from taking the tests. The 14-day-long quarantine can only be shortened with a test taken in Israel.

Those inoculated with both doses of a vaccine accepted by the EU can travel to Poland without restrictions.

The plastic card needs to contain the type of vaccine and the dates of both inoculations. Moreover, it needs to contain the stamp of the doctor who inoculated you, and most importantly, the documentation needs to be written either in English or in Polish. None of these conditions is met by the Hungarian immunity certificate or the document proving the vaccination.

We should forget about Germany for now, as no travel for touristic purposes is allowed, and you would need to register your trip in advance anyway.  

Italy, as of today, does not give any easement to those with an immunity certificate. Nevertheless, this might very easily change on May 15 since the country desperately needs tourism.

The most exciting, breaking news is probably from Croatia, which we also reported yesterday.

Those who have a Hungarian immunity certificate will be able to travel to Croatia, free of restrictions.

The rule does not only apply to Hungarian citizens but to anyone who was inoculated in Hungary and thus has a plastic card issued by the country. The agreement is said to enter into force already this week.

How to travel to Croatia 

Flexibility will definitely be the most important adjective describing this summer, as new restrictions, easements, and decisions are announced every single week.

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Read alsoRules on Hungarian immunity certificate have changed!

Authorities caught more than 30,000 migrants, almost 300 human smugglers in 2021

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Pressure on the Greece-North Macedonia border from illegal migration is growing and will soon be felt at Hungary’s southern border, the Prime Minister’s domestic security adviser said on Wednesday.

György Bakondi told public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió that the

Hungarian authorities have caught 31,300 people at the border so far this year,

and 284 human smugglers have been prosecuted. These numbers, he added, are far in excess of those in the same period last year.

Stricter regulations connected with the coronavirus epidemic have made people smuggling a harder prospect, with a concomitant effect on costs, so many migrants priced out of the professional smuggling market are turning up at the Hungarian border unaided and without any kind of support, he said, noting that most are therefore caught at the fence.

Meanwhile, interviewed on public television channel M1, Bakondi referred to a new European Commission draft measure aimed to

strengthen the legal and practical framework for voluntary return from Europe and transit countries,

saying it was problematic that a high number of migrants lacked documents, their identities were unclear and countries of origin did not want to readmit them.

You can travel to these countries if you got the Chinese or Russian jab

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We received several comments from our readers that they got vaccinated abroad but do not have an immunity card yet, so they cannot enjoy today’s Hungarian grand reopening. For them, the European “green card” will probably be the solution. But how will those be able to travel who received an Eastern jab (Chinses, Russian), which is not yet approved by the EMA?

According to atv.hu, the Hungarian foreign ministry is currently in talks with many countries about the mutual acceptance of the Eastern vaccines. These states include Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Israel, and some Persian Gulf countries.

PM Viktor Orbán assured everybody on Friday in the Kossuth Rádió interview that even those who receive the Chinese or the Russian vaccine would be able to travel abroad in the summer. That is important because the European Parliament decided on Thursday that

only those would automatically receive an immunity card who received a jab approved by the European Medicine Agency (EMA).

PM Orbán declared that first, they started negotiations regarding the Eastern vaccines with the neighbouring countries to accept each other’s “green card”.

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced on Thursday that Hungary signed agreements with Serbia and Montenegro, while today, he said that the list expanded with Bahrein and Slovenia. Therefore, those who have a Hungarian immunity card, regardless of whether they got Pfizer, Sputnik, or Sinopharm,

can travel to these four countries without any restrictions.

He said that talks are still underway with Croatia, Slovakia, Greece, Israel, and states in the Persian Gulf, which started to use the Chinses vaccines earlier than Hungary. Thus, he hopes that he will be able to announce further agreements next week.

Furthermore, on Thursday, a new decree was published in the Hungarian Gazette (Magyar Kölöny) saying that all Hungarian citizens with an immunity card can return to Hungary without being put into quarantine.

Italy, Spain, and France plan to allow everybody holding an immunity certificate to enter the country.

In the case of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Croatia, it does not matter which vaccine you got

if you are fully vaccinated and you can prove that there is no obstacle to enter.

However, in Poland, only those escape the quarantine who were vaccinated with a jab approved by the EMA. Interestingly, to Mexico, Zanzibar, and the Dominican Republic, everybody is free to travel.

Crossing the Hungarian border is restriction-free with immunity certificate!

border koronavirus.gov.hu hungary

The new government decree regulating the free movement to and from Hungary of those who are already protected against the coronavirus entered into effect.

The decree was announced on Thursday evening, and since 11 pm, it has already been in effect. According to the decision,

those Hungarian citizens and those foreigners who have a Hungarian residence permit and possess an immunity certificate will not be subjected to travel restrictions when crossing the border.

It means that those people who are protected from the coronavirus will be able to cross the Hungarian border freely not only in the case they have business to do either in Hungary or abroad but also if they travel for personal reasons.

This is quite a huge step for those having been vaccinated or having suffered through the virus and thus having received their immunity certificate. It is a big step towards a relatively free summer as the vaccination programme in Hungary is still considered one of the fastest in Europe.

In only a couple of days, cinemas, theatres, and gyms might be able to reopen.


On the other hand, even though 4 million doses have been registered in the country, the government is not yet considering the easing of the border closure due to the lack of social immunity.
And once it does, priority will be given to those Hungarian citizens who would not only cross the border for work but to visit their relatives.

Portfolio.hu explains that the new decree issued on Thursday means that those who return to Hungary with the Hungarian immunity certificate in their pocket will not have to go into quarantine. Moreover,

those who return home from a country that has previously signed a bilateral agreement with Hungary accepting one another’s immunity certificate will also be excused from having to spend 10 days in isolation.

Currently, this bilateral agreement is in effect with Serbia and Montenegro, but Hungary is already in the process of conducting negotiations with several other countries. The decree stating this new arrangement with the two countries was also issued in Magyar Közlöny by Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó.

The decree will impact more and more foreign citizens living in Hungary as well. Going through covid and being able to prove it with a positive PCR test was the only way to receive an immunity certificate (diplomats excluded, of course). The situation is especially tricky for those foreigners who, despite living in the country, are not employed by a Hungarian company. This made it impossible for them to apply for a Hungarian social security number and receive the vaccine in Hungary. Up until this week. Starting from May 1, those foreigners who permanently live in Hungary but do not have a TAJ card (social security number) will also be able to register for the two doses. And thanks to the new decree, they will also be eligible for the immunity certificate.

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Read alsoBreaking! Foreigners living in Hungary to receive vaccines from this week

Hungary and Romania to continue talks about minority issues

Csíksomlyó Pentecost Szeklerland szekler flag

Restarting the work of the Hungarian-Romanian mixed committee on minority issues will open a new chapter in bilateral ties, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday, after meeting Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu in Gyula, southeast Hungary.

Szijjártó said the mixed committee’s relaunch provided an opportunity to discuss and solve “problems that were earlier thought insurmountable”. The committee last met in 2011, he noted. He proposed a meeting as soon as possible to discuss important issues like the future of the Catholic secondary school in Targu Mures (Marosvasarhely).

Szijjártó and Aurescu also signed an agreement to

facilitate border traffic between the countries.

Two 24-hour crossings will also open between Elek and Graniceri (Ottlaka) as well as Dombegyhaz and Varias (Kisvarjas), he said.

The third motorway linking northern Hungary and northern Romania is expected to the opened in 2024, he said. Meanwhile, the railway line leading from Békéscsaba in southern Hungary to the Romanian border will be widened to improve traffic on the Budapest-Bucharest-Constanta line, he added.

The ministers also discussed energy security issues, Szijjártó said. Climate goals are important for both countries, but

they see nuclear energy and a temporary reliance on natural gas as indispensable to achieve them,

he said. “We will not allow Brussels to sideline those two forms of energy production,” Szijjártó said. The minister said that conflicts would be easier to solve if the two countries were linked in many ways. Last year’s challenges have cast light on the importance of international cooperation and goodneighbourly relations, he said.

Regarding minority rights, Szijjártó noted that Hungary had raised the

funding of Romanian ethnic communities five-fold in the past decade,

and that of the Romanian orthodox church seven-fold. The government also funds the education of 1,176 pupils in Romanian schools in Hungary, he said.

Aurescu also welcomed the restart of the mixed committee’s work of which he was a co-chair earlier. Through this structure, the dialogue will include experts from both countries, and kindle the hope of restarting and developing the ties between the two countries, he said.

Aurescu also expressed hope to see the launch of the Hungarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce in the autumn as planned.

Trade volume between Hungary and Romania reached 9 billion euros in 2020, although investments are currently skewed towards Hungary investing in Romania,

he said.

Aurescu praised the Hungarian government’s support of quality Romanian-language education in Hungary, for ensuring the use of Romanian as a minority language, and for supporting the publishing of Romanian books and performers in Hungary.

Are public officials not obligated to wear a mask? – PHOTOS

Battonya mask

The vaccination process is going very well in Hungary. So well, apparently, that some think it is already time to ditch some restrictions.

Over three million people have received at least their first doses. Hungary is the first country that has approved the usage of 8 different vaccines in order to boost the procedure. The success is also partly due to the

very fastly progressing drive of the Hungarian people to be vaccinated.

When the country hit 2.5 million administered doses in the first week of April, the government slowly started to ease some of the restrictions. Kindergartens and the lower classes of primary schools have restarted this Monday. Concerning the news that interest most of the people, PM Viktor Orbán said that

once Hungary reaches 3.5 million administered jabs, bars and restaurants can slowly re-open their terraces.

Based on the numbers, this can very easily happen even today. 

These are all good and positive news. Nevertheless, we are not there yet. Right now, we still have some severe restrictions left to follow that were introduced on March 8. Just to mention the most important ones, we still need to respect a curfew and be home before 10pm. Keeping your distance in public places and shops is still a necessary precaution,

so is the usage of a mask not only in closed areas but also in public places such as the streets.

This might be the most important rule to follow, as not respecting it can result in a costly fine. Even football players of a Hungarian team were told they had to pay 100 euros every time they show up at training or a meeting without wearing a mask. Being caught in the street can result in an even higher price to be paid.

This is not only a critical restriction to protect yourself and everyone around you, but its violation is also the easiest to spot.

It is a universal rule that everyone has to follow, whether you are a politician, a public official or a simple citizen. In theory, at least.

Yesterday we received some pictures from one of our readers. He often passes by the Romanian border in Battonya, in the southeast part of the country. He asked us the question:

“Should not tax and customs officials be wearing a mask? Or is it just everyday citizens who are obliged to do so?”

He even added that this was not the first occasion he saw officials violating the rule; they often interact with people this way, almost every day.

Battonya mask
Facebook – Toma L.

As seen in these photos, they are not only without the mask when inside their office and alone, but also when walking outside and watching over people crossing the border.

Battonya
Facebook – Toma L.

Some of them even talk to a driver sitting in his car. Truth be told, the officer is not the only one who apparently can not breathe normally with a mask. The driver does not wear one either. They seem to be having a friendly chat; maybe the driver is also a customs officer.

Battonya
Facebook – Toma L.

We can agree or disagree whether using a surgical mask is a reasonable restriction or simply an unnecessary act to feel safer and have the impression we are protecting each other. Nevertheless,

rules are rules that need to be followed by the whole of the population

once the government decides to implement it.
Either these officers should receive some warning in the form of a fine, as this is the fairest option when civilians also have to pay the price of being caught without a mask. Or the opposite has to happen, the easing of the restriction involving everyone, not only those who have public employment. 

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Read alsoThe next phase of easing? – Great reopening in Hungary after 4 million vaccinations

Vienna plans to extend Easter lockdown until following weekend

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Vienna plans to extend an Easter coronavirus lockdown by five days until the following Sunday, Austria’s health minister said on Monday, while two nearby provinces introducing the same restrictions are still undecided on prolonging them.

The eastern provinces of Lower Austria, which surrounds Vienna, Burgenland, which borders Hungary, and the capital itself last week announced a lockdown from Thursday, April 1 to Tuesday, April 6, closing non-essential shops and replacing a nighttime curfew with all-day restrictions on movement.

The three provinces have high levels of the British variant of the coronavirus, which has been causing severe illness faster and in more of those infected. With national infections rising, eastern hospitals are nearing their intensive-care capacity.

Scientific experts, however, say a lockdown of less than a week will do little to relieve the pressure on hospitals.

“I am pleased that Mayor Michael Ludwig and the City of Vienna have decided that they want to implement an extension of the Easter quiet period until April 11,”

Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said in a statement after a video conference with the three provinces’ governors.

Vienna is the only city to also be one of Austria’s nine provinces, and the mayor is also its governor. Lockdown decisions now usually involve the national government and the influential governors.

“Because of the alarming situation, further provinces will have to follow the City of Vienna on this path,” Anschober added without saying which provinces.

Separately, people leaving the western province of Tyrol will have to show a recent negative coronavirus test result as of Wednesday because of more than 200 cases there are of a mutation of the British variant known as E484K, which is believed to weaken the body’s immune response to the virus.

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Read alsoWhat if the Austro-Hungarian Empire reunited today? – VIDEO

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

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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.

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