Hungary in the news - via HVG
The 2012 European Championshipson Jun 07, 2007 via HVG The winning bid to host the 2012 UEFA cup will be announced in Cardiff on Wednesday. In the running are joint bids from Hungary and Croatia, another from Poland and Ukraine, and one from Italy. The decision will determine not just the location, but our future as well. An event on this scale has implications that go far beyond sport.See details
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New environmental ministeron Jun 07, 2007 via HVG There's no way of knowing what political advantage Gabor Fodor expects to gain from serving as environment minister. But we can guess what it means for Janos Koka: by bringing his rival into the tent, he is trying to neutralise his critics within the party. The Free Democrat leader does not want Fodor to steal an in any case rebellious party from beneath him.See details
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Not worth the paperon Jun 07, 2007 via HVG The Socialist-Free Democrat government has never been keen on the "national identity document" first issued by the Orban government to ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries. There was talk of abolishing it, but the prime minister's office has now announced plans to limit the ID document's duration. Kinga Goncz explained the change of heart, saying: "There was never a problem with the Hungarian identity document. It had only positive effects."See details
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Looking for venture capitalon Jun 07, 2007 via HVG The success of the community social networking portal iWiW has inspired others to follow. Across Hungary ever more internet companies are seeking to take advantage of Web 2.0. But venture capitalists have little time for these projects, despite the popularity among bloggers.See details
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Not as simple as it lookson Jun 07, 2007 via HVG Buy two, get one three ? the appointment of new health and environment ministers means a new parliamentary commissioner may also follow in the wake of the reshuffle. The prime minister is nonetheless reluctant to contemplate a radical reshaping of the cabinet.See details
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Civil oversighton Jun 07, 2007 via HVG According to Tibor Jarmy, spokesman for Budapest Police, Laszlo Zoltan Szabo was arrested for resisting "authorised police operations." Csaba Farkas, who teaches at the Police Officers' College, police were behaving appropriately. But the constitutional lawyer Istvan Szikinger believes the justifications offered are flawed.See details
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Janos Lazaron Jun 07, 2007 via HVG "My ancestors were Greek orthodox sheepfarmers who arrived in the region of Hodmezovasarhely and Mindszent in the 18th century," says Janos Lazar, the mayor of Hodmezovasarhely and one of the most outspoken critics of the coalition's healthcare reforms.See details
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Gy?rgyi Kocsison Jun 07, 2007 via HVG I was profoundly indifferent to the 2012 European Football Championships until Tamas Gyarfas, head of the committee in charge of Hungary's hosting bid, asked how far it was acceptable to go with bribery, said, "until it gets noticed." And then he handed Michel Platini, president of UEFA, a 24 carat golden football.See details
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No end to dirty trickson Jun 07, 2007 via HVG In a civilised country, national security organisations are not at the centre of the media spotlight. Especially not where normal criminal acts are concerned. But in Hungary, the National Security Office is at the centre of attention because of its investigation into potentially criminal VAT and customs fraud at the Egymasert Egy-masert Alapitvany (For one another, One differently Foundation).See details
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Pal Csakyon Jun 07, 2007 via HVG My father was a tough, wilful man, strongly anticommunist. In 1975, when I took my school leaving exams, I was told I wouldn't find a place in a Slovak university, so I studied chemistry at Pardubice in the Czech part of the country, says the 51-year-old newly elected leader of the largest ethnic-Hungarian political party in Slovakia.See details
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Opinionon Jun 07, 2007 via HVG What a terrible injustice that only 8m of 10m Hungarians have voting rights. The under 18s are barred from political self-expression! How much more effectively the rights of children and large families could be protected if children could send their representatives to parliament, not just the adults! That many have not yet come of age, that some have not yet learned to speak need not be an obstacle. Parents could exercise their children's voting rights ? ideally, the father could vote on behalf of his sons, the mother on behalf of her daughters.See details
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Fidesz, Belvaros, Sarkozyon Jun 07, 2007 via HVG "Jesuit, pitbull, arrogant," - just a few of the terms of abuse that have been heaped on Antal Rogan in the past. But no longer. Following last year's parliamentary elections, he claims to have left the big political stage. Since becoming mayor of Budapest's fifth district he has been talking about the pensioners of his borough. He wants Fidesz to renew itself, he's doing deals with city mayor Gabor Demsky, and he continues to polish his image. His role model - unsurprisingly - is Sarkozy.See details
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The Fidesz congresson Jun 07, 2007 via HVG The EU needs to take a common position on strategic questions - and the Hungarian government has its part to play in this, according to Wilfried Martens, the president of the European People's Party, giving the opening speech to Fidesz's 22nd party congress. The party's nominees for vice-president gave their hustings speeches, and delegates unanimously welcomed Jozsef Petretei's departure.See details
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Night of the long knives for law and orderon Jun 07, 2007 via HVG Justice and police minister Jozsef Petretei is on the way out. Apart from him, Laszlo Bene, Peter Gergenyi and Jozsef Dobozi all fell victim to Ferenc Gyurcsany's drastic reshuffle. The prime minister said the police was in need of fundamental reform. Allegations of police brutality had been the last straw, the prime minister said.See details
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Eva Beleznayon Jun 07, 2007 via HVG Eva Beleznay, 44, has finally been confirmed in her post as chief architect of Budapest. Beleznay's family has not followed a straight path to success. A noble ancestor once gambled away the vast Beleznay fortune, leaving her grandfather to eke out a living as a master carpenter while raising his son to become a university professor of physics.See details
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The price of lyingon Jun 07, 2007 via HVG The lies and unspoken truths we were treated to during the election campaign have done more damage than even I imagined when last March I asked the parties to tell the truth, because otherwise they would be unable to govern. The price that has been paid is not just the general disgust with the political elites, and it is not just about the loss of confidence in the reform process. It is about a loss of the belief that there is a point to democratic politics. Anything must be better than a market economy and representative democracy!See details
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Old elites in young democracieson Jun 07, 2007 via HVG The title of the historian Hans-Joachim Veen's speech to the 20th Century Institute said it all. As the professor of comparative government at the University of Trier said, in many places a new generation of the old elites came to power, while elsewhere the secret services provided the successors.See details
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Politics and the security serviceson Jun 07, 2007 via HVG Security experts believe the National Security Office (NBH) could end up sharing the police forces' fate.See details
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Politics and the security serviceson May 30, 2007 via HVG Security experts believe the National Security Office (NBH) could end up sharing the police forces' fate.See details
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Eszter Babarczyon May 28, 2007 via HVG The lies and unspoken truths we were treated to during the election campaign have done more damage than even I imagined when last March I asked the parties to tell the truth, because otherwise they would be unable to govern. The price that has been paid is not just the general disgust with the political elites, and it is not just about the loss of confidence in the reform process. It is about a loss of the belief that there is a point to democratic politics. Anything must be better than a market economy and representative democracy!See details
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