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CORONAVIRUS: Here's the latest

A regularly updated feed of the latest information about coronavirus in Hungary.

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Everything wrong with Věra Jourová

2020 has been quite the year for Věra Jourová, the European Commissioner for Values and Transparency.

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PM Orbán: Hungary’s vaccination capacity is far beyond the number of doses arriving from the EU

Prime Minister Orbán said that Hungary has so far inoculated 105,728 people, and the number of newly confirmed infected is on the decline, with a rising number of those who have recovered from the coronavirus.

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Is Brussels failing the COVID vaccine challenge?

So, what’s really happening? Has the EU reserved enough vaccines? Did they arrive late to the party? Why does the supply seem so unreliable? These are just a few of the tough questions for Brussels.

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WaPo, the failed opposition leader and a story of blatant hypocrisy

“Independent” MP Bernadett Szél, former leader of LMP (the failed green-liberal party in Hungary) and 2018 opposition prime minister candidate, can’t sleep at night worried about “populists,” forgets about her own violent demonstrations.

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PM Orbán: Restrictions to stay in force until February

Only a few vaccines have been received so far to vaccinate just 80,000 people, and the virus situation in Europe remains serious, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said, explaining why the current epidemiological measures had been extended until February 1.

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PM Orbán on Kossuth Rádió: We have stopped the second wave of the coronavirus, now the task is to prevent a third one from starting

In his first 2021 radio interview, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán detailed the government’s vaccination plan and its prognosis of the coronavirus pandemic and also talked about how the Hungarian economy will shift gears in the coming decade.

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Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's response to Manfred Weber

Samizdat No.5.

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Ursula von der Leyen

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News in Brief

PM Orbán: Hungary continues to oppose the migrant quota

Sep 25, 2020

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said Hungary continues to oppose the migrant quota, even if the European Commission's new migration and refugee package uses a different term for it.

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State Secretary: EU should cooperate and ease pressure of illegal migration outside the community

Sep 24, 2020

The state secretary said Europe’s borders must be controlled; hotspots should be created outside those borders where applications for asylum could be processed.

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President Áder highlights river waste issue with Ursula von der Leyen

Jul 13, 2020

President Áder said that despite previous promises by Romania and Ukraine, the flooded rivers flowing into eastern Hungary continue to bring large amounts of waste.

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Várhelyi: What an honor to become part of team Ursula von der Leyen

Nov 19, 2019

“The government welcomes that the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee has supported Várhelyi’s appointment as European commissioner,” the Government Information Center said in a statement.

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Blog

Hungary’s EU Commissioner nominee Olivér Várhelyi gets green light from EP Foreign Affairs Committee

Nov 18, 2019 - Zoltán Kovács

Olivér Várhelyi will take up the Enlargement and Neighborhood portfolio in the Commission of Ursula von der Leyen, which is expected to take office December 1.

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Blog

Introducing Olivér Várhelyi, Hungary’s nominee for European Commissioner

Oct 02, 2019 - Zoltán Kovács

In a press conference on Monday evening, Prime Minister Orbán officially nominated seasoned diplomat Olivér Várhelyi, Hungary’s ambassador to the EU, as the country’s next European Commissioner. Here are a few things you should know.

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UVDL to ask Hungary and Romania to name new commissioner designates

Oct 01, 2019

President-elect of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will ask Hungary and Romania to name new commissioner designates following an official letter from David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, about the decision of the EP legal committee.

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Blog Prime Minister

PM Orbán on the new European Commission: The V4 countries have won vital portfolios

Sep 13, 2019 - Zoltán Kovács

Two of the vice-presidents on the new European Commission will come from Slovakia and the Czech Republic, while the Polish commissioner will oversee Agriculture. “The whole region, with the V4 at the helm, is seeing an on-going increase in appreciation,” Prime Minister Orbán said in a radio interview this morning, before talking about enlargement, the European way of life, foreign policy goals and family policy.

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László Trócsányi holds "constructive" talks with Ursula von der Leyen

Aug 30, 2019

Ursula Von der Leyen has started conducting interviews with commission candidates even though Italy has yet to propose a nominee due to its ongoing political crisis.

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PM Orbán meets with Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels

Aug 02, 2019

PM Orbán said they had agreed at the meeting that migrants should not be released into the EU while they are awaiting a decision on asylum. Rather, a humane solution should be found that ensures the safety of citizens. Also, they agreed that migrants who come to the EU illegally should be sent home.

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Fidesz MEP asks Ursula von der Leyen to help protect Hungarian minorities in Transcarpathia region

Jul 25, 2019

In a letter to European Union officials, Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor has asked for the EU to take action in protecting the Hungarian community in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region.

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Von der Leyen: EU should be more accepting of Central and Eastern Europe

Jul 19, 2019

“Many in the Central and Eastern European countries feel that they are not being completely accepted. If we continue with the sharp debates we have today in order to correct particular shortcomings, we risk alienating entire nations and countries," said Ursula von der Leyen.

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Chief Security Advisor: Hungary and the new EC President hold similar views on many issues

Jul 18, 2019

György Bakondi said one such issue is that von der Leyen is on the position that the EU should reinforce its external borders, while another common point is that she also believes that help must be delivered to where it is needed instead of importing the problems.

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Blog

Unlike Weber, von der Leyen accepted our support and rose to victory

Jul 17, 2019 - Zoltán Kovács

In a dramatic vote in the European Parliamentary yesterday evening, Ursula von der Leyen was elected President of the European Commission by a margin of just nine votes. While the political right stood behind her and the left opposed her nomination, it’s clear that those thirteen Fidesz-KDNP votes were vital to her election.

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Hungarian EPP MEPs vote in von der Leyen as European Commission President

Jul 17, 2019

Fidesz MEP Balázs Hídvéghi said that while casting their vote, Hungarian MEPs of the European People’s Party gave her advance confidence but also have firm expectations.

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PM Orbán: Mistakes in Brussels need to be remedied

Jul 12, 2019

“Westerners and central Europe agreed on German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen,” PM Orbán said. The V4 had ranked her third on its list, and there would now be a chance that the commission presidency would make Europe strong while respecting national interests, he added.

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PM Orbán: Migration will continue to define future political debates

Jul 12, 2019 - Zoltán Kovács

Migration remains the main question for debate in European politics, said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in his regular, Friday morning radio interview. He also spoke of the Visegrád Group’s increasing influence in Europe and called out the Hungarian opposition for its behavior in the European Parliament.

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Cabinet Chief: EC needs a leader who respects countries in Central Europe

Jul 08, 2019

PM Orbán asked Ursula von der Leyen whether, as the candidate for the position of EC president, she was prepared to give the appropriate degree of respect to Hungary and Central European nations - von der Leyen promised she would.

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V4 scores sweeping victory with UVL nomination to head European Commission

Jul 03, 2019

“Neither Manfred Weber, nor Frans Timmermans cared for the interests of eastern Europe. Fortunately, we succeeded in stopping them,” said Viktor Orbán regarding the results of yesterday’s European Commission summit.

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