Hungary in the news - via HVG
Old elites in young democracieson May 28, 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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Eva Beleznayon May 28, 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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Night of the long knives for law and orderon May 21, 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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The Fidesz congresson May 20, 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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Fidesz, Belvaros, Sarkozyon May 14, 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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Opinionon May 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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No end to dirty trickson May 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 May 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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Not as simple as it lookson May 04, 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 May 04, 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 May 04, 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 May 04, 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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Not worth the paperon Apr 27, 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 Apr 27, 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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New environmental ministeron Apr 27, 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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The 2012 European Championshipson Apr 18, 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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Is there a way back?on Apr 17, 2007 via HVG EU membership and the Schengen Agreement are all very well - but often it would take just a few hundred metres of tarmac or a couple of kilometres of railway track to bring together towns that fell on different sides of Hungary's post-Trianon borders.See details
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The law professor Arpad Erdeion Apr 17, 2007 via HVG It makes little difference to the work of a Constitutional Court judge which political party nominates him or her, according to Arpad Erdei, the 68-year-old former deputy president of the CC. Though he was nominated by the Right, he believes that it has been two centuries since there was a serious criminal lawyer who was not a liberal on matters legal.See details
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Hungarian space touriston Apr 16, 2007 via HVG Charles Simonyi set off for the International Space Station at precisely 8.31pm yesterday. The Hungarian-born American businessman will spend 12 days in space, doing 200 circles of the globe as he travels 8m km.See details
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The Szigeti Affair and Impartialityon Apr 10, 2007 via HVG The question is not whether Peter Szigeti, chairman of the National Elections Committee, should resign. He's not really the problem. The problem is with the bureaucrats who appointed him. The mistake was made when he was appointed. He shouldn't have been chosen.See details
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