Hungarian Conservative

Catholic kindergartens will be able to accommodate fourteen thousand more children with the support of the Catholic Kindergarten Programme. The programme is not only implemented in Budapest and major cities, but also in smaller towns and villages, representing a significant step forward in the lives of Hungarian families.

Balázs Orbán observes that Brussels believes it is in the interest of European countries for the Russo-Ukrainian war to continue or possibly escalate. Hungary, on the other hand, is of a different opinion; this conflict has no military solution and a diplomatic resolution is needed.

Palkovics emphasized that approximately 20 per cent of Hungary’s energy mix is consumed in the transport sector, primarily relying on fossil fuels. This dependence poses a considerable challenge to transitioning towards sustainable, domestically producible energy sources that are less burdensome on the environment.

In his remarks at an economic conference held in Sopron on Saturday, Government Commissioner for the Development of Modern Settlements Alpár Gyopáros emphasized the pivotal role of villages in shaping the future of Hungary, citing their ability to provide a quality of life and a sense of community that urban environments often lack.

The minister noted a ruling by Hungary’s Supreme Court, declaring that Budapest could not be even partially exempt from its obligation to pay its taxes. Varga said if the Budapest city council failed to meet its obligations, the government ‘will follow the given legal provisions along the clear decisions taken by the judiciary’.

According to the ten-page study by the international credit rating agency, the stable outlook is supported by the region’s expected robust macroeconomic performance. In addition, the economies of the countries in the region have been relatively resilient to the European energy supply crisis.

According to the minister’s briefing, this brings the total amount of EU funds allocated to Hungary in the past days to a substantial 470 billion forints. Last Thursday witnessed a transfer of €779.5 million (equivalent to 300 billion forints) from the recovery funds.

The political director of the Prime Minister emphasized that the EU treaty is unequivocal: expanding the EU requires the consent of the member states, and Hungary’s rights cannot be restricted beyond a certain extent by any procedural rule.

Regarding the acceptance of the fifty billion euros financial package for Ukraine, he noted that it would have meant a serious and immediate detriment to Hungary. ‘We see that the European Union wants to finance a failed strategy, and it makes no sense whatsoever,’ he expressed.

The Prime Minister said the EU was in the habit of making bad decisions, and he listed the 2008 financial crisis and migration as examples, as well as the decision regarding the war in Ukraine to go ‘towards war and sanctions’ rather than in the direction of peace.

In a missive addressed to European Commissioner for Budget and Administration on Thursday, the Hungarian Minister of Finance recalled that there is a long-standing consensus that the defence of the European Union’s borders is a collective responsibility of the member states, and yet, Hungary bears almost exclusively the financial burden of the protection of its southern, Schengen border.

Despite extraordinary expenditures, the government has consistently reduced the budget deficit and the national debt year after year, the Ministry of Finance emphasized in its interim report released on the situation of the central subsystem of public finances, excluding local governments, at the end of November.



There have been misleading press reports suggesting that now Hungary lags behind Romania, based on Eurostat’s fresh data that say that in 2022, Hungary’s GDP per capita at purchasing power parity was 76.6 per cent of the EU average, while in Romania, this ratio was 76.7 per cent. The economic researchers at the Nézőpont Institute investigated whether Romania had indeed overtaken Hungary in economic terms. ‘Based on Eurostat’s data, the answer is simple: no,’ researchers assert in a statement.

Speaking at the National Tax Consultation event organized by the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV), Finance Minister Mihály Varga stated that with the change in the tax authority’s mindset, NAV has succeeded in becoming a customer-friendly office. He highlighted that NAV has fulfilled the task of renewal, evident in the significant improvement in its public perception since 2010.

According to the Hungarian government, ‘preserving the ethnic foundations is our joint responsibility’, and as long as that exists, the politics based on ethnic groups also has a future, the Hungarian prime minister said.

On the basis of the ten-point proposal developed by the Ministry of Economic Development, the Hungarian government is launching a 2.9 billion forint Automotive Supplier Development Programme to enhance the role of Hungarian businesses as suppliers of multinationals in Hungary.

In his regular Friday morning interview with public Kossuth radio, Viktor Orbán addressed issues such as migration, the economy and Ukraine’s EU accession.

As a result of a series of government initiatives, both households and institutional players have significantly increased their holdings of government bonds. In an unprecedented manner, households now hold a larger amount of government bonds than bank deposits.

Based on the latest data, nearly 4.8 million people are employed in Hungary, and the unemployment rate stands at 3.8 per cent, well below the EU average. The data reflects that the Hungarian labour market remains tight, and employment is in good condition, State Secretary Sándor Czomba stated.

The prime minister stressed that the Hungarian government needs to be sharp because multinational companies behave like speculators. Food retail chains raise prices even when there is no reason for it, using high energy costs as a pretext. At the same time, their leaders go to Brussels to complain about the Hungarian government and collude with the Brussels bureaucrats, the PM argued.

The research indicates that as age increases, the proportion of those considering the likelihood of owning their own property, being married, and living in Hungary also increases. Conversely, in terms of working in a foreign language environment, having a better financial situation than currently, and having children, the relationship with age is reversed.

The CEO of BNP Paribas Cardif, Márk István Kiss, noted in the press release presenting the results of the survey that the rising prices and the challenging economic situation have not significantly impacted labour market processes, and the mood of Hungarian employees seems to be stabilising overall.

After the completion of the investment, the Chinese–Hungarian joint venture, Jiangsu Magnus Aircraft Manufacturing, is expected to create a total of 300 jobs, with Hungarian employees playing a leading role.

Carsharing is a simple, user-friendly and cost-effective alternative to owning a personal vehicle. All it requires is a smartphone and a credit or debit card.

The ‘survival programme’ was approved with 18 votes in favour and 12 abstentions. As a result, the city will take out a 16.6 billion forint loan for project development in 2023. The loan is going to match the support provided in EU funding, central budget allocations and loans granted by the European Investment Bank.

The goal is to curb inflation and avoid recession, Viktor Orbán stressed last year. On Tuesday, 3 January, Finance Minister Varga announced that Hungarian public debt has decreased more significantly than expected, dropping to 73.5 per cent of GDP in 2022, and confirmed that in line with the projection, last year’s budget deficit target was met, at 4.9 per cent of GDP.