Hungary

26 February 2024; AA: Hungary’s parliament on Monday approved Sweden's NATO membership, essentially sealing the deal, as it was the last member of the alliance that had not yet given the green light.

The vote took place in the capital Budapest following last week’s meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson.

The vote of 188-6 was not close.

BUDAPEST, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Sweden has not done anything to boost confidence in its suitability for NATO membership, and has given the impression that joining the alliance is not a priority for the country, an aide to Hungary's prime minister said on Thursday.

Sweden applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in May 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but the accession process, which requires the approval of all existing members, has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

BUDAPEST, January 16. /TASS/: Budapest believes that the European Union should provide assistance to Ukraine without damaging its own budget, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

"I think that we should help Ukraine but without damaging the European Union’s budget," Orban told reporters following talks with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico.

He added that financial assistance to Kiev should be provided outside of the EU budget.

BUDAPEST, December 21. /TASS/: Hungary proposes the European Union refrain from providing financial aid to Ukraine from the bloc’s budget for five years, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at a news conference recapping the results of the past year.

He said EU leaders will reconvene for a special summit in late January or early February to discuss amending the EU budget for 2024-2027, which provides for the allocation of 50 billion euros to Ukraine.

BUDAPEST, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling party unveiled billboards vilifying European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Monday, the first time it has made her a personal target in a campaign similar to one against her predecessor that angered Brussels.

The billboards, erected overnight to launch a campaign for next June's European parliamentary election, depict Von der Leyen alongside Alex Soros, the son of liberal Hungarian-born financier George Soros, a perennial target of hostility from Orban's Fidesz Party.

BUDAPEST, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Compared to the second quarter of this year, Hungary's economic output in the third quarter increased by 0.9 percent according to official figures, ending a technical recession.

Hungary's gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, the country's Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday citing preliminary data.

BUDAPEST, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Hungary has asked the European Commission to launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria over a new fee it has imposed on Russian gas transit shipments, EU affairs minister Janos Boka said in a post on Facebook on Friday.

Bulgaria introduced the new transit fee of about 10 euros per MWh of Russian gas last month, prompting strong criticism from Hungary and Serbia.

BUDAPEST, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Hungary has agreed with Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria to bar Ukrainian grain imports to protect their markets if the European Union does not extend a ban that expires on Sept. 15, the Hungarian farm minister said on Wednesday.

However, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told the Bulgarian state news agency before the start of a cabinet meeting that waiving the ban on imports from Ukraine would be desirable as it would reduce prices of basic foods.

BUDAPEST, August 30. /TASS/: Hungary has refused to discuss EU funding for military aid to Ukraine as the government of that country still lists Hungary’s OTP bank as an "international sponsor of war," said Hungarian Defense Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky.

He made the remarks in a video posted to Facebook (banned in Russia as it’s owned by Meta Corporation, which is designated as extremist in Russia) following an informal meeting with his EU counterparts that took place in the Spanish city of Toledo.

BUDAPEST, August 28. /TASS/: Hungary calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine because it is convinced that the conflict cannot be resolved militarily, Hungarian President Katalin Novak said in an interview with the Index online publication. She was speaking about her meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev on August 23.