http://www.politics.hu/ en Copyright 2010 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:05:45 +0100 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány said Thursday he does not want to be the Socialist party chairman or caucus leader, nor would he accept such posts. In an interview with state news agency MTI, Gyurcsány said Hungarian progress and the left wing matter more to him than who leads the Socialist party or caucus in May. As the election campaign is about to enter its final act, the slogan "all hands on deck" is more relevant than ever, he remarked. Declaring that Fidesz has been afraid of him for 20 years, Gyurcsány said Viktor Orbán has been "personally offended" since the 2006 televised debate with Gyurcsány and considers struggle against him a personal matter. This is a mistake, Gyurcsány continued, because it makes Orbán biased and is a kind of luxury in politics. Gyurcsány promised that his speech on March 19 will be honest, with straight sentences and without any sensation. http://www.politics.hu/20100312/former-pm-gyurcsany-has-no-desire-for-party-role http://www.politics.hu/20100312/former-pm-gyurcsany-has-no-desire-for-party-role news auth_hatc ferenc gyurcsany mszp viktor orban Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:05:45 +0100 Violence against Roma was highlighted in the Hungary country report of the US Department of State's 2009 human rights report published on Thursday. "In the wake of the economic downturn, there have been a number of killings and incidents of violence against Roma, including in Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic," the report assessing the situation of human rights in 194 countries around the world said. "Roma are the largest and most vulnerable minority in Europe; they suffer racial profiling, violence, and discrimination," it added. The country report stated that human rights problems in Hungary included police use of excessive force against suspects, particularly Roma. Additional problems highlighted in the report were government corruption, societal violence against women and children, sexual harassment of women and trafficking in persons. According to the report, some problems worsened, such as extremist violence and harsh rhetoric against ethnic and religious minority groups. "Extremists increasingly targeted Roma, resulting in the deaths of four Roma and multiple injuries to others," the report said. http://www.politics.hu/20100312/us-human-rights-report-on-hungary-highlights-violence-against-roma http://www.politics.hu/20100312/us-human-rights-report-on-hungary-highlights-violence-against-roma news auth_mti extremism foreign relations human rights united states Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:57:59 +0100 The inclination of right-wing supporters to vote at the upcoming parliamentary elections is twice as strong as that of left-wing supporters, a February poll Tarki published on Thursday shows. Among those who said they would certainly cast their votes, left-wing supporters represented only 15 percent as compared with right-wing supporters representing 36 percent. Among all voters, right-wing supporters represented 28 percent and left-wing supporters accounted for 15 percent, the poll said. The number of right-wing supporters is higher than average among men, within the group of those aged between 18 and 29, among residents of rural areas and members of large households with at least 5 members, Tarki said. There are more than average left-wing supporters among small households with one or two members, pensioners and Budapest residents, said the poll. The parliamentary elections will take place on April 11 and April 25. http://www.politics.hu/20100312/hungarians-inclination-to-vote-twice-stronger-on-right-than-left http://www.politics.hu/20100312/hungarians-inclination-to-vote-twice-stronger-on-right-than-left news auth_mti elections polling tarki Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:50:12 +0100 Energy issues do not feature high in the Hungarian election campaign, a staff member of Energia Klub, an NGO, said on Thursday. Denes Fellegi has examined the campaign platforms of all parties who won at least two percent of the vote in the European elections last year and found that their energy-related messages were rather soft-toned. All parties agreed that Hungary needs nuclear energy in the future, Fellegi said. Main opposition Fidesz, whose official programme is not yet available, plans to establish "green banks" to help finance modernisation projects in high-rise blocks and energy efficient heating programmes. The radical nationalist Jobbik campaigns for authority-fixed energy prices and a rise in mining fees. The small conservative opposition Democratic Forum has envisaged high-rise modernisation plans and would freeze the VAT on district heating at 5 percent while supporting green energy investments at public institutions. The small green party Politics Can Be Different (LMP), which currently hovers around the 5 percent support necessary for entry to parliament, has outlined strict rules to curb energy consumption and would replace gas price subsidies with a flat-rate housing subsidy. Fidesz and the Democratic Forum have proposed expanding the Paks nuclear plant in order to reduce Hungary's energy dependency. Jobbik would increase the use of domestic resources and renewables. LMP has called for a "monitored transition" from the use of fossil fuels to renewables. LMP is the most elaborate on climate-change policy plans: it made calls for a binding international climate agreement, a pan-European transport tax and build reginal and local energy supply systems. All parties have encouraged the use of renewable resources in their energy programmes. http://www.politics.hu/20100312/ngo-compares-energy-agendas-in-campaign http://www.politics.hu/20100312/ngo-compares-energy-agendas-in-campaign news auth_mti business elections environment ngos Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:49:13 +0100 The Visegrad Four - Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland - has not threatened to stay out of the European Union's new foreign service, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told MTI on Thursday, denying a Russian media report earlier in the day. Russian news television channel Vesti 24 said that the four countries would boycott the European External Action Service (EEAS) unless "granted representation in proportion to their importance". "The news is half true," said Balazs, however, adding that the Visegrad states had urged the EU in an informal document to ensure each member state diplomatic positions according to "a certain geographical proportionality". He also said that it was important to select EU diplomats on basis of "merit and achievement". According to the website of the Russian TV channel, the Visegrad Group's claim to get positions in the diplomatic service in line with each country's "geographical weight" was backed by the Baltic states, as well as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Romania. The EU is expected to finalise the structure and size of the European diplomatic corps and appoint its officials on March 25-26, and submit its decisions to the European Parliament for final approval before the summer holidays starting on July 5. http://www.politics.hu/20100312/foreign-minister-denies-report-v4-plans-eu-boycott http://www.politics.hu/20100312/foreign-minister-denies-report-v4-plans-eu-boycott news auth_mti czech republic european union foreign relations media poland russia slovakia visegrad four Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:47:55 +0100 Just over a month before the first round of Hungary's parliamentary elections, radical nationalist party Jobbik has shown a surge in support, pollster Szonda Ipsos said. In the decided camp, Jobbik scored 17 percent support - over three times the backing needed to get seats in parliament - while among the electorate as a whole, the radical party had double the five percent needed for representation. In January it had 12 percent support in the former camp. Any hope among the Democratic Forum and near-defunct liberal Free Democrats that combining forces might tip them over the five percent threshold appeared dim, at least by the lights of the poll published in Nepszabadsag daily on Thursday. Only one percent of the electorate sampled indicated a vote for the small conservative party whereas the liberals had no backing whatsoever. The new green-cum-humanist party LMP had 2 percent backing of the whole sample and 3 percent among decided voters. Main opposition party Fidesz has been on a steady course to win a landslide for a long time, though it has shed thousands of potential voters over the past three months, dropping from 63 percent of decided voters to 57 percent in March. The Socialists have stayed virtually steady with 20 percent of decideds. In the whole sample, Fidesz was on 35 percent compared to 12 percent for the Socialists. The proportion of undecided voters stood at 38 percent, according to the Szonda Ipsos poll. http://www.politics.hu/20100311/jobbik-surges-ahead-in-march-szonda-ipsos-finds http://www.politics.hu/20100311/jobbik-surges-ahead-in-march-szonda-ipsos-finds news auth_mti elections jobbik lmp mdf polling szdsz szonda ipsos Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:41:10 +0100 With hardly more than a month to go until the general elections, Hungary's main opposition Fidesz maintained its lead over the ruling Socialists last week, a recent poll by the Nezopont Institute showed. The poll conducted on a sample of 1,000 over-18 respondents from March 5 to 7 indicated that support for the three parties generally tipped to win seats in Hungary's next Parliament had not changed considerably as against the previous week. Forty nine percent of respondents willing to vote expressed support for Fidesz, 12 percent for the Socialists and 9 percent for the radical nationalist Jobbik party. The poll, commissioned by the weekly Heti Valasz, suggested that neither the conservative Democratic Forum, nor the green LMP would be able to clear the 5 percent threshold required for acquiring seats in Parliament. Twenty six percent of those asked were unable or unwilling to tell whom they would vote for. In the six weeks to the early March poll, support for Fidesz fluctuated between 42 and 51 percent. The corresponding bands were 10-12 percent for the Socialists and 7-9 percent for Jobbik. http://www.politics.hu/20100311/support-for-parties-stable-nezopont-intezet-poll-shows http://www.politics.hu/20100311/support-for-parties-stable-nezopont-intezet-poll-shows news auth_mti elections fidesz jobbik lmp mdf mszp nezopont intezet polling Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:40:09 +0100 President Laszlo Solyom on Wednesday signed a recent law on penalising Holocaust denial, a senior official of the president's office, told MTI. Solyom signed the law since it does not contravene the Constitution, said Ferenc Kumin. At the same time, Solyom said that adopting the law amid the campaign for the April general election had been inappropriate. Parliament approved on February 22 an amendment to the Penal Code under which denial of the Holocaust in public is punishable by up to three years imprisonment. The Alliance of Hungarian Jewish Communities (Mazsihisz) said in a statement that the approval of the law could be an important weapon in the fight against anti-Semitism and created the opportunity for the authorities to take action against groups posing a threat to a peaceful society. The Hungarian anti-Fascist association (MEASZ) also welcomed Solyom's decision to sign the amendment to the penal code, while at the same time arguing that further amendments would be needed before human dignity is properly protected. Main opposition party Fidesz said that it intended to draw up legislation after the general election which penalises sympathy expressed for the Nazi- and Communist-era crimes on equal terms, said MP Robert Repassy. The Socialist-initiated amendment was adopted with 197 votes for, one against and 142 abstentions. At the time, politicians supporting the legislation criticised deputies of the main opposition Fidesz for abstaining. Leaders of the Jewish community Peter Feldmajer and Gusztav Zoltai as well as several Holocaust survivors attended the parliamentary session in which the law was passed, the last before the general election. The bill was submitted by Attila Mesterhazy, prime minister candidate of the Socialist Party, on January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day. He said at the time that legislative action was required because anti-Semitism and extremist, neo-Nazi ideologies were on the rise in Hungary. http://www.politics.hu/20100311/president-solyom-signs-holocaust-denial-bill http://www.politics.hu/20100311/president-solyom-signs-holocaust-denial-bill news anti-semitism attila mesterhazy auth_mti fidesz laszlo solyom legislation measz mszp neo-nazis robert repassy Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:39:08 +0100 More than 1,000 people staged a demonstration against the Slovak patriotism act outside the president's palace in Bratislava on Wednesday afternoon. The crowd, mostly comprised of young people, demanded that President Ivan Gasparovic rejects and veto the act that was passed last week. Under the new law all Slovak schools will be obliged to play the national anthem at the start of every week and hang national symbols in all classrooms. Several dozen people meanwhile demonstrated favour of the act. Police separated the two crowds and no incidents occurred. Gasparovic's spokesman Marek Trubac said the president will study the act before making a decision. http://www.politics.hu/20100311/over-1000-stage-demo-in-bratislava-against-slovak-act http://www.politics.hu/20100311/over-1000-stage-demo-in-bratislava-against-slovak-act news auth_hatc demonstrations ethnic tension legislation slovakia Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:38:31 +0100 Rumors have started to swirl around the private life of Jobbik Chairman Gábor Vona after someone claiming to have hacked his Hungarian social networking site IWIW profile posted images from the account as well as personal communications online. Now Magyar Hírlap, which for a while flirted with the far-right before coming back to support Fidesz, is reporting that Vona may have had an extramarital affair with Mariann Pogácsás (seen here with Vona at presumably some Magyar Gárda event), and possibly with others. Jobbik denied the allegations on their official media site barikad.hu, calling them forgeries and part of a campaign to discredit Vona by the "Socialist-Fidesz grand coalition." What remains to be seen, however, is if this story gets some legs or quickly dies down.]]> http://www.politics.hu/20100310/allegations-of-marital-infidelity-hit-jobbik-chairman http://www.politics.hu/20100310/allegations-of-marital-infidelity-hit-jobbik-chairman Political Pest auth_zoltan gabor vona jobbik mariann pogacsas social networking Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:58:08 +0100 The ruling Socialists have decided to cancel the policy debates planned between senior ministry officials and experts of the main opposition Fidesz party, the party spokeswoman told MTI on Wednesday. At the first of the three debates the Socialists initiated last week, Deputy Social Affairs Minister Lajos Korozs remained without a partner as no representative of Fidesz showed up on Tuesday to discuss social policy and welfare, said Bernadett Budai. The next two debates scheduled originally to discuss agriculture today and economic policy on Thursday will therefore not be held, she said. Fidesz on Sunday rejected a call by the Socialists' prime-minister candidate to take part in a broadcast debate on their respective campaign programmes. Attila Mesterhazy had asked Viktor Orban, the Fidesz leader, and the party's top policymakers to take part in a debate on the contents of their programmes. Fidesz spokesman Peter Szijjarto said at the time: "The unproductive debate with you has past its sell-by date." http://www.politics.hu/20100310/ruling-socialists-cancel-policy-debates http://www.politics.hu/20100310/ruling-socialists-cancel-policy-debates news attila mesterhazy auth_mti fidesz mszp viktor orban Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:46:10 +0100 No fundamental changes are likely in Hungarian foreign policy once the next government assumes office after the April general election, Gabor Iklody, a senior foreign ministry official, told his American colleagues on Tuesday. The ministry's political director said he had been asked by US government officials if Hungarian foreign policy was expected to undergo any significant changes, for example, in connection with Hungary's role in Afghanistan. Iklody reassured American officials, noting that there was complete cross-party agreement in this area. http://www.politics.hu/20100310/no-big-changes-in-hungarys-foreign-policy-likely-after-election-says-official http://www.politics.hu/20100310/no-big-changes-in-hungarys-foreign-policy-likely-after-election-says-official news afghanistan auth_mti elections foreign relations united states Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:42:35 +0100 Representatives of four Hungarian political parties met in Budapest on Tuesday to hold a debate on how to capture the vote potential left behind with the fragmentation of the liberal Free Democrats. Party leader Ildiko Lendvai for the governing Socialists, parliamentary group leader Tibor Navracsics for the centre-right opposition Fidesz, PM candidate Lajos Bokros for the conservative opposition Democratic Forum and Andras Schiffer, head of the small green party Politics Can Be Different (LMP)'s national list, all made claims on the liberal-minded electorate, each of them insisting they have something to offer for them. However, the politicians could not entirely agree on exactly who the liberal voters might be. http://www.politics.hu/20100310/parties-discuss-how-to-capture-liberal-voters http://www.politics.hu/20100310/parties-discuss-how-to-capture-liberal-voters news andras schiffer auth_mti elections fidesz ildiko lendvai lajos bokros lmp mdf mszp szdsz tibor navracsics Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:40:11 +0100 Miklos Nemeth, Hungary's last communist-era prime minister, will not be obliged to hand over copies of protocols of talks he had engaged in with the Soviet regime during Hungary's peaceful transition to democracy in 1989, a Budapest court ruled on Tuesday. Hungarian Historian Peter Kende had asked the court to instruct Nemeth to publish three documents containing crucial data on the period. One of them is a protocol of Nemeth's talks with Gorbachev on March 3, 1989, and another is the exchange of letters between Nemeth and Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Rizkov in the same year. Both of these documents contain information about the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary and on Soviet nuclear weapons stored on Hungary's territory. The documents are mentioned in a book of Andras Oplatka, a historian living in Switzerland, which deals with the 1989 events. Oplatka said he had accessed the documents from Nemeth's private archives. Nemeth's lawyer said at the Tuesday court hearing that his client only held copies of the documents and that he had deposited the originals with the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry upon leaving his post. Kende's lawyer insisted that the originals should be in the National Archives of Hungary where they are available for scientific study. Hungarian laws on public access to documents from this era are controversial. Historians are fighting an ardent battle for the disclosure of pre-1990 secret police files, some of which are kept under wraps by the national security authority until 2060. http://www.politics.hu/20100310/court-rules-former-pm-nemeth-can-hold-on-to-documents-on-regime-change http://www.politics.hu/20100310/court-rules-former-pm-nemeth-can-hold-on-to-documents-on-regime-change news auth_mti communist era miklos nemeth Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:38:42 +0100 The main opposition Fidesz party and its Christian Democratic ally have attained their target to collect two million candidate petition slips for the general elections, a senior party official told reporters in Budapest on Tuesday. The number of slips has even exceeded two million, operative director Zsolt Nyitrai said. Under Hungary's election law, individuals wishing to enter the elections have to collect at least 750 petition slips in their constituency. As there are altogether 176 individual constituencies in the country, the figure announced by Nyitrai implies that Fidesz has collected over ten times the amount of slips required for fielding a candidate everywhere. The party alliance, which is widely tipped to win a landslide in the April elections, will launch its election campaign on March 15. http://www.politics.hu/20100310/fidesz-collects-two-million-candidate-petition-slips http://www.politics.hu/20100310/fidesz-collects-two-million-candidate-petition-slips news auth_mti elections fidesz Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:37:38 +0100