Seven people were killed after a train crashed into a car at a railway crossing in southern Hungary on Monday, the Bács-Kiskun County police headquarters told police.hu.
Railway traffic information service Mavinform said there was no crossing gate at the dirt road crossing between Kiskunhalas and Kunfehértó.
The car’s driver and six passengers were all killed in the accident. The driver of the train was taken to hospital with light injuries, police said.
Traffic on the road where the accident happened has been restricted to one lane while police investigate the scene.
The upgrade project of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, now under way, will be a “benchmark” as this is “the first Chinese-Hungarian development project implemented under the European Union’s rules in cooperation with Chinese partners in Hungary”, the minister of technology and industry said in Kiskőrös, in southern Hungary, during an on-site visit on Friday.
László Palkovics said the project, worth a total 2 billion dollars and scheduled to be complete by 2025, will facilitate fast shipping of Chinese goods to Europe via Greek ports.
The minister said the renewed railway line would be part of the Silk Road linking Asia with Europe, adding that it would be a substitute for another section, through Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan, which could not currently be used. He noted that he had signed an agreement with his Serbian, Bulgarian and Turkish counterparts that the middle section of the same route, via the Bosphorus, would be linked to the Budapest-Belgrade line. He said it was in Hungary’s interest that Asian goods should reach Europe via Hungary.
Zoltán Pafferi, head of national transport group MAV-Volan, noted that the Budapest-Subotica (Szabadka) railway line had been opened in 1882. The whole project, between Budapest and Belgrade, involves renewal of 341 kilometres of lines, 91 railway crossings, 13 pedestrian subways, 26 lifts, 29,000 square metres of platforms and parking facilities for nearly 800 cars. The project will also ensure 59 kilometres of fences protecting residential areas from noise and vibrations, while the whole line will be equipped with the most modern controls and security systems, he added.
Pafferi also cited the European Union’s goal to redirect 50 percent of medium-distance passenger and cargo traffic to railways and ships, thus reducing transport emissions by 60 percent by 2050.
Dávid Vitézy, Minister of State for Transport at the Ministry of Technology and Industry, announced on his social networking site that MÁV is interested in hydrogen-powered trains. In the future, they could replace diesel-powered trains.
The first experimental hydrogen fuel cell trains have already appeared in Europe. Two market leaders, Alstorm and Siemens, have already presented their vehicles, but several other manufacturers have already received orders. MÁV-Start’s call for tender and market survey are open to the public, autonavigator.hu reports.
“Hydrogen fuel cell trains could be one of the solutions for emission-free passenger transport on non-electrified, mainly regional rail lines. The replacement of diesel trains is particularly urgent in Hungary, but conventional diesel trains are essentially being phased out by vehicle manufacturers due to climate concerns, and the rail industry sees a future for battery and hydrogen cell technology on non-electrified lines. The advantage of hydrogen cell vehicles over battery vehicles is that they have a much longer range, one charge is enough for up to 1000 kilometres, i.e. several days, and the tanks can be filled quickly, in a time similar to that of diesel,” Vitézy wrote in his Facebook post.
However, Vitézy stresses that this is still a market survey. There is no talk of a purchase yet. MÁV-Start is considering a framework contract for 18 vehicles. The maximum speed could be 140-160 km/h. The vehicles would have 120 or 180 or 200 seats. The technology would be financed from the revenues of the European Union’s quota trading system under the Hungarian government’s Green Economy Financing Scheme.
Czech State Railways recently published a new advertisement promoting its Budapest services. At the end of the ad, it slams the anti-LGBTQ+ campaign of the Orbán government.
Czech State Railways is promoting its services to the Hungarian capital in a half-minute advertisement. A family of three is travelling on the train. The girl wants to introduce her partner “Peta” to her parents. The father first addresses a large man who asks in Hungarian what is happening. The girl, however, points to a woman and says: “Dad, this is Peta”. The father is a little surprised and then happily hugs his daughter’s partner.
Even in the summer season, there are plenty of problems with the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV). Passengers regularly complain that even though they have bought an Intercity ticket, they have to board old high-speed coaches without air conditioning on board. There are also many cases where the train runs with fewer carriages than planned. As a consequence, the seats for which the ticket would be valid do not exist. Delays and crowding on trains are also common.
Problems during peak season
In the summertime, more people travel on Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) trains than at other times of the year. The most popular destination is undoubtedly Lake Balaton. MÁV-Start has to send more trains and wagons to Lake Balaton due to the increased traffic around the lake. As a result, there are fewer wagons in the rest of the country. As a result, there are fewer wagons available for service. In particular, there is a shortage of conventional InterCity wagons. MÁV is trying to compensate for this problem by putting new wagons into service under the InterCity+ programme.
However, the number of IC and IC+ wagons is not sufficient to absorb the traffic, 444.hu reports. The number of repairs and main inspections needed to extend the life of the cars is constantly being reduced due to a lack of funds. These wagons are long due to being repaired. According to Áron Szalay, a founding member of the Transporting Mass Association, these wagons were supposed to be repaired years ago.
Even for minor malfunctions, cars can be parked for years. The Russian-Ukrainian war also takes a toll on the railway services. The shortage of spare parts has hit MÁV-Start hard, Szalay said. The number of wagons out of service can also be seen on the Who Knows public data request page. MÁV has 54 IC wagons of the Bpmz type, out of which 10 are waiting for the main inspection. Several of them have been out of service since 2016. This means that almost one in five wagons is not in service.
The European Union’s so-called White Paper sets ambitious targets: by 2030, a third of road freight transport over 300 kilometres should be replaced by rail, and this figure should be 50 percent by 2050. Currently, 7 percent of passengers and 11 percent of goods travel by train in Europe.
Outdated, ageing vehicles are not the only problem in Hungary. Apart from congestion, meeting the scheduled journey time can also be tricky. On average, the trains owned by MÁV are 43 years old. This is also reflected in the speed. MÁV has 79 Intercity+ trains in its own factory. They can potentially reach 160-200 kilometres per hour but it is rarely the case, writes magyarnemzet.hu.
After a thirty-year hiatus, freight transport along the Szeged-Röszke railway line has resumed, with the first cargo train passing through Serbia on Monday evening before proceeding to the port of Piraeus and on to China, Dávid Vitézy, the Ministry of Technology and Industry state secretary for transport, told a press conference at the site.
The project received 40 billion forints (EUR 100m) of government support.
The completion of the renovation has paved the way for the full reconstruction of the Hungarian section of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line which, he said, catered to growing demand for a competitive and environmentally friendly mode of transport connecting Europe to China and, more broadly, to Asia via Turkey via Balkan routes.
The development of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line will provide a solution for both land transport needs, via Turkey, and combined water and rail transport needs. Thus, the most important rail transport routes from Asia will pass through Hungary, opening up huge potential for economic development, he said.
The renewed Röszke line, together with the investment on the Serbian side, will reconnect Szeged and Subotica on a modern railway line. The development will continue on the Hungarian side, the renovation of the section – including the overhead line – should be completed by next autumn, and passenger transport can start then, Dávid Vitézy said.
Zoltán Pafféri, President and CEO of MÁV Zrt., reminded that the 20 wagons of Rail Cargo Hungaria Zrt. are the first trains to pass through the Szeged-Röszke line in seven years. The line, built in 1863, ceased to operate regular services in 2015.
The European Union has set a target of increasing the share of rail and waterborne transport in short- and medium-distance freight and passenger transport by 50 percent by 2050, thus reducing emissions by 60 percent.
The demand for freight transport between Budapest and Belgrade has already increased compared to previous years, and this demand can really develop once the project is completed,” said the CEO.
Zoltán Pafféri said it was symbolic that the first train on the renovated Röszke line is heading for China, proving that European businesses have a return.
MÁV Zrt. will be able to guarantee the border crossing for up to ten trains a day between 18:00 and 08:00 from 1 August, he said.
At the same time, the President and CEO asked drivers on the Szeged-Röszke line not to drive out of routine and to approach level crossings with special care. As part of the project, 13 level crossings on the line will be modernised, with light or light and semi-blocking, and the crossing roads will also be renovated.
Hungary is aiding the transport of Ukrainian grain by expediting legal procedures and the transfer of goods on the border, a state secretary of the interior ministry told a press conference in Eperjeske, in eastern Hungary, on Friday.
Customs and plant health procedures have been speeded up and red tape cut on Ukrainian grain transports, mainly wheat, sweetcorn and sunflower seeds, so the procedures can be completed in 1-1.5 hours, Bence Rétvári said.
Officials and the employees of national railway company MAV are working around the clock to satisfy demand for the transfer of goods into new cargo holds, Retvari said. Transfer capacity has grown five-and-a-half-fold at Záhony Port and the surrounding cargo stations recently, he said. Hungary is doing everything in its power to help in ensuring that Ukrainian grain, stranded in the country due to the war, can reach its destinations worldwide and ease the unfolding food crisis, he said. This also allows this year’s crops to be warehoused safely in Ukraine, he said.
The government is working to make Hungary central Europe’s freight transport and logistics hub, László Palkovics, the minister of technology and industry, said on Friday.
This requires Hungary to handle as big a share of the freight turnover between Europe and Asia as possible, Palkovics told a Railroad Day event organised by Rail Cargo Hungaria. The government devotes special attention to railway development, the minister said, adding that ongoing projects like the development of the Budapest-Belgrade rail line would contribute to making the 21st century “the century of rail transport” in Hungary.
Preparations for the construction of the new V0 freight rail line bypassing Budapest are also ongoing, he said, adding that the cabinet will discuss plans for the new line’s route on July 25.
Palkovics noted that he and his Turkish, Serbian and Bulgarian counterparts set up a transport coordination council this week, which he said would help make Hungary a key player in the region.
Hungary has also embarked on a container terminal development scheme that will see the construction of new intermodal container terminals in various parts of the country, Palkovics said. He also underlined the importance of the renewal of Hungary’s cargo train stock using domestic capacities.
Technology and industry ministry state secretary Dávid Vitézy said the government’s goals would double the performance of the rail transport sector. The rail strategy being devised by the ministry
will help create the capacities that will ensure that these ambitions for growth are realised,
he said. The ministry is working to address the 13 percent drop seen in the share of freight transported by rail in the first quarter of this year, Vitézy said. The ministry is confident that rail cargo transport is an environmentally friendlier and more sustainable mode of shipment and that the railway will play an increasingly bigger role in intercontinental cargo flows, he said.
László Palkovics, Hungary’s minister of technology and industry, on Tuesday said he had discussed the potential of rail freight transport as an alternative to sea shipping at the inaugural meeting of a Bulgarian-Hungarian-Serbian-Turkish transport working group in Istanbul.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has shown that modes of shipment that had earlier seemed realistic “will be less of an option now” and Ukraine will have to be bypassed, Palkovics told MTI by phone on the sidelines of the meeting.
Palkovics said that at his last meeting with his Turkish counterpart six months ago, they had discussed a number of different topics, including coordination in connection with the Budapest-Belgrade rail line.
He noted that Turkey has set up a consortium to determine how the Turkish and Bulgaria-Serbia-Hungary rail line could best be used.
The European Union currently moves 20 percent of commodities by rail, and the aim is to increase this share to at least 50 percent by 2050, the minister said.
Palkovics said the working group’s meeting had centred on the infrastructure to be developed by the four countries, noting the importance of maintenance.
The working group’s participants agreed to start building the required trains, Palkovics said, adding that Hungary had already started doing its part.
The four countries also agreed to explore possible passenger transport developments, the minister said.
Whereas the shipment of goods from Europe to China takes 45 days by sea, rail shipment would take only 12 days, Palkovics said. Tuesday’s meeting created the possibility for considering alternative modes of shipping, he added.
The working group will next meet in October, he said.
Although the main sights of Budapest can be reached by foot, public transport in the city is excellent, too. Read our article to get some useful tips on how to reach Budapest’s famous sights!
Buda Castle: bus
Probably the most popular attraction of Budapest, the Buda Castle can be found in 1st district. The Budapest bus number 16 runs between Széll Kálmán Square and Deák Ferenc Square through the Buda Castle District. Depending on the person’s location, one can get on the bus on Széll Kálmán Square or Deák Ferenc Square. In addition, travelling between the two squares is also easy, as they are on the same metro line. Metro line M2 (red) operates between Déli Railway Station and Örs Vezér Square. Although there are several stops within the Castle District, it is recommended to get off at Szentháromság Square. Just a few steps away, the majestic Matthias Church emerges.
However, due to the renovation of the Chain Bridge:
Bus 16 takes a shortened route between Széll Kálmán square (Ostrom sreet) and Clark Ádám square, it does not touch the stops between Clark Ádám square and Deák Ferenc square. From the castle, the city centre can be reached via Széll Kálmán tér.
Castle bus 16. Photo: Facebook, BKK
Heroes’ Square: subway
Budapest’s iconic square is a beloved tourist attraction. In order to get there, using the metro is the easiest and quickest. Metro line 1 (yellow) runs between Vörösmarty Square and Mexikói Street and stops at Heroes’ Square. Fun fact: metro line 1 is the oldest metro in continental Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
So far, we had a look at buses and metros, but trams are even more common in Budapest. In fact, 602 trams are available for Hungarians and tourists every day. If one wants to discover the inner city, tram 2 is the perfect choice. It does not only provide a useful ride, but also offers the most scenic route, as it takes you along the Pest embankment. The 47 and 49 trams operate on Kiskörút (Small Boulevard) to Deák Ferenc Square.
Until July 17, tram 2 is replaced by buses:
Note, that trams 2 and 2M will not run between June 20 and July 17 due to renovations. Instead, replacement buses will run between Közvágóhíd and Kossuth Lajos square.
Tram 2, Budapest. Photo: Facebook, BKK
How to get to the railway stations?
Almost all railway stations can be reached by using the metro. Firstly, line 2 (red) goes from Örs Vezér Square to Déli Railway Station. Secondly, line 3 (blue) runs between Újpest-Központ and Kőbánya-Kispest Railway Station. Reaching both Kelenföld and Keleti Railway Station is possible by getting on line 4 (green), which is the newest metro line. Last but not least, Nyugati Railway Station lies on the route of the most popular tram lines 4 and 6.
Budapest Keleti Railway Station. Photo: pixabay.com
Budapest Airport
With the majority of tourists arriving by plane, public transport to and from Budapest Airport is crucial. Luckily, the 100E airport bus offers a direct link to the city centre. Running from the airport to Kálvin Square and Deák Ferenc Square, the ride takes 40 minutes. However, taking the taxi might be a good option, too. Taxis are quite affordable and comfortable. Fares/km are about 400 HUF (1 EUR).
Tickets and passes
Every information is on the website of BKK. A single ticket costs 350 HUF (0,87 EUR), while monthly passes are 9500 HUF (23,75 EUR).
On 30 June, the air got so hot on a train at Keleti Railway Station that the passengers had to break the window to escape. According to MÁV, a technical fault and the heat caused the energy supply equipment to break down.
Technical fault
MÁV wrote in their report about the issue that there was a technical fault on the train. According to the schedule, the Wiener Walzer – Imre Kálmán international train was due to depart at 8:40 PM to Zurich and Munich. However, there was no electricity in the car because of a technical error and the extreme heat. The energy supply equipment had broken down,writes Telex.hu.
A passenger broke the window
Due to the lack of air conditioning, the air got so hot in the train that passengers had no other choice but to break the windows. After that, they opened the doors with the emergency opener and escaped the dangerously hot vehicle. Because of the broken window, a police investigation was necessary. Therefore, the train could only leave at dawn.
The Budapest Police Headquarters said: “According to the available data, a train departing from the Keleti Railway Station broke down on the evening of June 30, 2022. After announcing over the loudspeaker for passengers to disembark, the train was pulled out of the station at around 10 PM, pulled aside and de-energized. However, passengers stayed in several cars, who were able to get off with the help of the emergency opening electronics. It did not work in one of the cars, so the people trapped inside were finally able to get out by breaking one of the windows.”
MÁV apologizes
A detailed investigation has begun. The police are still looking for answers. For example, an answer to how it could have happened that the broken-down car was pulled onto the storage track with passengers on board. MÁV provides full compensation, reports 444.hu. They ask affected passengers to contact MÁVDIREKT’s 24/7 phone numbers or email. In addition, MÁV apologizes to passengers for the inconvenience.
The project to renew Budapest’s Nyugati Railway Station had been awarded European Union funding, a state secretary at the Ministry of Technology and Industry (TIM) said after a meeting of EU transport officials in Lyon on Wednesday.
Hungary’s National Transport Centre (NKK) had been awarded EUR 2.8 billion for the upgrade of the Nyugati Railway Station, Dávid Vitézy wrote on Facebook. Meanwhile, he said a project to build new train stations in southern Budapest had been rated “excellent” by the European Commission.
However, since the environmental permit of the project was revoked earlier this year, a decision on its financing had been delayed until the time a new permit would be obtained, Vitézy said.
The state secretary called the project “the most important rail link between the eastern and western part of the country”.
According to the official EU evaluation of the tender submitted for the development of the Southern Circular Railway:
The proposed project should be prioritised in terms of both importance and urgency.
The project will also benefit passengers and freight operators. There will be fewer accidents, less environmental damage and lower operating costs in the future.
The main problem is that the Municipal Court of Budapest annulled the necessary environmental permits on 17 February 2022.
Budapest has already won EU funding for an environmental impact assessment of the Danube Rail Tunnel. In addition, the National Transport Centre won this grant in a competitive tender between the 27 EU Member States. The grant amounts to EUR 2.8 million.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2026-27.
Transport officials of the Visegrád Group countries have agreed to speed up preparations for the construction of a high-speed rail network across their countries and to step up efforts to transport grain from Ukraine, the Ministry of Technology and Industry (TIM) said on Friday.
Europe’s current railway capacities are not enough to transport all the Ukrainian grain which until now had been delivered via the Black Sea to the west on schedule, state secretary Dávid Vitézy said. The V4 officials agreed at their meeting in Budapest that their countries will do their utmost to aid Ukraine as well as Africa and Asia, which rely on Ukraine’s exports, he said.
The V4 countries are exploring new areas for cooperation with a view to expanding their capacities for cross-border transport within the European Union as well as for mapping out transport opportunities via the River Danube, Vitézy said.
The TIM will assign top priority to the improvement of the international integration of Hungary’s rail network and the development of relations with areas beyond the border, the statement said.
All of the V4 states are working on
the development of the high-speed railway line linking Budapest and Warsaw via the Czech and Slovak capitals,
Vitézy said. Hungary can obtain the environmental permit for the Budapest-Győr section of the line within the next year, he said. Slovakia is currently planning the route of its section of the line while the Czech Republic and Poland are in the detailed planning stage, the state secretary added.
According to the statement, the project will shorten travel times between Budapest and its neighbouring capitals to less than two hours. The journey from Budapest to Prague would take three-and-a-half hours and the full Budapest-Warsaw trip will be five-and-a-half hours, with the trains on the line reaching speeds of up to 320kph.
Hungary and Egypt will continue transport cooperation and explore expanding military-industrial cooperation, László Palkovics, the minister of technology and industry, said after talks in Cairo on Monday.
Palkovics and Kamel al-Wazir, Egypt’s transport minister, agreed on the growing importance of railways and electrified rail infrastructure powered by solar panels, as well as the potential involvement of Hungarian businesses in related projects. Hungary may also deliver electric busses to Egypt, he added.
Hungary is participating in the delivery of 1,300 railway carriages to Egypt, and other opportunities may arise for Hungary in the north African country, Palkovics told MTI by phone.
Palkovics noted that tourism was a key source of income for Egypt, adding that both countries had an interest in Wizz Air launching new flights to Egypt, and he asked his Egyptian partner to eliminate administrative and financial obstacles to the Hungarian low-cost carrier’s expansion.
The minister also highlighted new areas for bilateral military-industrial cooperation. Hungary and Egypt will soon continue discussing those opportunities, as Egypt’s minister in charge of military production is scheduled to visit Hungary in the coming months, Palkovics said.
Besides the transport minister, Palkovics met Mohamed Ahmed Morsi, the minister in charge of military production, Mohamed Manar Anba, the civil aviation minister, and Abdelmonem Eltarras, chairman of the Arab Organization for Industrialisation.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited Hungary in 2021, and he held talks with PM Orbán.
Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff talked about a lot of important issues on today’s government info.
Commenting on a ruling party proposal to hold the next local elections simultaneously with the European parliamentary elections, Gulyás said on a today government info that a single campaign is easier for everyone than two ones and higher voter turnout would also be preferable to all. Considering that both events will take place in two years’ time, there is plenty of time for everyone to prepare, he added.
Commenting on the increase in Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s salary, Gulyás said it had been him who proposed this in order to ensure that
Orbán’s salary is not less than any of his ministers’.
He also said that a government decision is expected to be published on Friday about the conditions applying for small and medium-sized businesses to benefit from utility fee caps. It will apply to small businesses and will include a consumption threshold, he added. Gulyás said talks were under way with local councils about the compensation they are to receive for losing eligibility for the utility fee caps. Depending on size and revenues, some local councils will get a state contribution to help pay their increased utility fees, he added.
In response to a question on monkeypox, he said the public health centre was in charge of assessing risks which he said were moderate.
The government has not been contacted yet by any European Union bodies about vaccine procurement against monkeypox, he added.
Commenting on planned changes in the preferential small business tax kata, he said no decision had been made but the goal is to ensure that only the “traditionally small-income” businesses should benefit from it.
Gulyás said
Hungary was participating in joint military exercises with NATO and non-Hungarian NATO soldiers
were also protecting Hungary’s eastern borders. However, no decision has been made about units of the military alliance to be stationed in Hungary, he added.
Commenting on the exchange rate of the forint against the euro, he said that since 2010, the forint had been weakening to the euro by less than 1 percent annually and the current weakening is a consequence of the war. The Hungarian currency is weakening almost the same way as other currencies in this region, he added.
In response to a question about a ruling party proposal to withdraw resources from parliamentary groups, he said the government had not discussed the motion but a vote would be held on it in parliament. The proposal aims to ensure that having seven opposition groups out of nine party groups in parliament does not cost extra 4 billion forints, he added. Support for party groups will still remain generous, with more money available after opposition lawmakers than ruling party lawmakers.
Gulyás said the Budapest-Belgrade rail development project was under way, the government would not stop it and it is expected to be completed by 2025.
The planned repurchase of the Liszt Ferenc International Airport will be kept on the agenda but “in the current war situation, it will be much more difficult to get the required funding available”.
It is “shameful” that European enlargement has stalled in the recent period, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, said on Wednesday in Podgorica. European security and economic competitiveness would improve with the integration of the Western Balkans, he added.
At a joint press conference with Montenegrin counterpart Ranko Krivokapic, Szijjártó said the EU faced serious economic and security challenges, noting the war in Ukraine and sanctions which have pushed up inflation, interest rates, and energy and commodity prices.
In the current situation,
the EU should be doing everything it can to reduce security risks and to maintain European economic competitiveness,
he said.
NATO, he said, already understood the security considerations and has approved the accession of three countries in the region. Now it was time for the EU to take the region with fast-growing economies seriously, he added.
Citing the case of Montenegro, Szijjártó noted that all thirty negotiating chapters had been opened, but not a single one had be concluded in the past five years. As a NATO member that uses the euro, and with a population of roughly 0.12 percent of the bloc’s population, admitting Montenegro “would be easy and risk-free”, he said.
Hungary has done all it can to bring Montenegro closer to the EU,
he said, noting big Hungarian corporate investments and Eximbank’s associated 35 million euro credit line.
Meanwhile, the minister said East-West transport corridors were clouded with uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine, making North-South trade routes such as the Budapest-Belgrade railway line ever more important. It would be strategically important for Hungary for the rail line from Belgrade to be extended to Bar, Montenegro’s biggest port. Hungary’s government stands ready to take part in the project, he said, adding that related negotiations were under way.
Szijjártó is scheduled to hold talks with finance minister Aleksandar Damjanovic, Deputy Prime Minister for Regional Development Ervin Ibrahimovic, and Minister of Economic Development and Tourism Goran Durovic.
Serbia’s Hungarian minority has “demonstrated that their mother country can count on them”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Subotica (Szabadka) on Tuesday, citing “record” turnout at the polls in Hungary’s recent general election.
“We promise they can also rely on us in the coming period,” the minister said. Szijjártó noted that the 60,900 votes cast in Subotica on April 3 were one and a half times as many as in the previous election in 2018.
“Vojvodina Hungarians have helped to ensure that Hungary’s national government can carry on,”
he said. He asked Serbian Hungarians for their support, adding that this would contribute to “the friendship between Hungarians and Serbs based on a historic reconciliation, which the Hungarian community of Vojvodina benefits most”.
Concerning the election, Szijjártó welcomed that “no party alliance in the history of Hungarian democracy has ever received as many votes as we have — over 3 million votes — and we have never had as many deputies in parliament as we are going to have.” He noted that the recent election had also seen the highest number of votes from Hungarians abroad so far.
The vote was of “historic significance” because voters “had to make their choice between peace, security and being dragged into the war”,
he said, adding that voters were clearly anti-war.
Szijjártó said the government valued “every member of the Hungarian nation” voting in the election, adding that “the left would strip Hungarians across the border of that right”. The Hungarian government will go on with its economic promotion programme in Vojvodina, the minister said, adding that the scheme had so far facilitated investment projects worth a combined 167 billion forints in that province.
Answering a question, he said strategic projects under way would be continued. The Budapest-Belgrade railway will have been renewed by 2025, and the line linking Subotica and Szeged, in southern Hungary, will be opened before the end of this year, he said, adding that the Budapest-Belgrade line’s significance would increase in light of the war in Ukraine because “goods from Greek ports could reach Western Europe via that route”.
Szijjártó said Hungary had supported every single European sanctions package against Russia,
but placing sanctions on oil and gas imports would impose a disproportionately high burden on Hungary and in effect hobble the country’s ability to function.
Hungary asked appealed to the EU not to make proposals aimed at restricting gas or oil supplies from Russia in the interest of maintaining European unity, he said, adding that several other EU member states shared Hungary’s position.
Szijjártó noted his own efforts to ensure that aspirants for EU membership such as Serbia should also be exempted from the sanctions concerning Russian energy supplies, adding that those efforts had been successful. Switching over to different suppliers could take years because “you cannot find new routes and new [oil and gas] fields overnight”, he said.
Meanwhile, he hailed the outcome of Serbia’s latest election in which Vojvodina’s Hungarian VMSZ party won enough seats in to form its own parliamentary group and President Aleksandar Vucic, supported by the Hungarian community, won another term.
VMSZ leader István Pásztor said his party had aimed to contribute to the victory of Hungary’s ruling parties at the election and it had sought to retain its parliamentary position in Serbia, and, in addition, it strived to ensure that Vucic continued as Serbia’s president. “All three goals have been realised,” he said.
He said he would soon discuss with Szijjártó next steps in their cooperation “to continue joint efforts”. “We have retained the axis built in recent years. Hungary-Serbia ties can continue unbroken in the coming period, which could be a top priority for us in view of the times we live in,” Pasztor said.
Several people died and others were injured when a van drove in front of a train in Mindszent, in southern Hungary, on Tuesday morning, police said on their website.
The accident took place just before 7am at a rail crossing in the town centre when the van drove onto the rails and collided with a train from Szentes to Hódmezővásárhely. The train derailed and careened into a ditch 60 metres from the site of the impact, while five out of the van’s seven passengers died at the scene.
Police closed the road to aid inspection and rescue efforts, while an ambulance helicopter was dispatched to the site.
Firefighters were alerted to the scene, while the rescue was coordinated by the Disaster Management Operations Service.
Pál Győrfi, spokesman for the National Ambulance Service, told MTI: ten ambulances and one helicopter arrived at the scene of the accident.
He added that five men died at the scene of the accident, while rescuers transported two men to hospital with serious injuries to their heads and limbs.
Eleven passengers on board the train suffered typical bruising and were also taken to hospital for observation.
According to the spokesman, the injured were taken to the hospitals in Szeged, Szentes, Hódmezővásárhely and Kecskemét.
National railway company MÁV said
the train had been carrying 22 passengers,
two of whom suffered serious injuries, while eight were lightly hurt.
Several passengers in the van died, MáV said.
According to MÁV,
the railway lights were functioning properly and the van had driven in front of the train when the light was red.
Replacement buses will carry railway passengers between Szentes and Hódmezővásárhely until Wednesday morning.
