A man who pointed a pistol, later discovered to be a toy, at Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány has been fined HUF 30,000 (EUR 125) by the Pest Central District Court. Undercover police agents swiftly wrestled the man to the ground and led him away in handcuffs when he pulled out the plastic gun during May Day festivities in City Park. The man did not attend the trial. The presiding judge described it as an aggravating circumstance that the man was inebriated at the time of the incident. The judge, however, took into account the fact that the man was a first offender and had expressed regret over his actions, and did not impose the maximum penalty of 60 days in prison or a fine of HUF 150,000 (EUR 627). The ruling is open to appeal.  Continue »

Electricity consumption rocketed on the weekend of 21 June and as air conditioners were employed to cope with temperatures hovering over the 30ĹźC. The head of national grid operator Mavir’s dispatch service, Mihály Kapás, said on Monday that consumption was up 200-300 MW nationwide. He added that demand for electricity in the summer rises by about 100 MW for every degree that the temperature rises above 26c. Last summer’s heat wave, when temperatures reached record highs over 40ĹźC led to a run on air conditioning units and sparked fears that the national grid was close to meltdown. Kapás said that Hungary currently has a reserve capacity of 1,330 MW which, if his calculations are correct, puts the danger point where the national grid will struggle to meet demand somewhere around 39ĹźC. Continue »

Budapest City Council decided last week that the number 1 and 3 tramlines will both be extended if the EU agrees to fund most of the cost, news agency MTI reported. The project will include the reconstruction of the entire existing length of both lines, adding five extra stops and purchasing 16 new trams at a total cost of HUF 44 billion (EUR 184.79 million) with the EU paying three-quarters of the total. Continue »

Hungary’s population could dip below the psychological ten million barrier in the next couple of years, daily Népszabadság reported last week. Although the birth rate has shown signs of picking up (between January and April this year 263 children were born on average each day compared to 257 in the same period of the previous year), Ferenc Kamarás of the Central Statistical Office (KSH) told the newspaper that “for a demographic balance to be reached, the number of births should grow by 30 percent, which is obviously impossible.” In the first four months of the year 31,774 births were recorded, 3.2% more than in the equivalent period of the previous year, and 45,301 deaths, 1.9% fewer. Natural loss totalled 13,527, lower than the previous year. Thanks to Hungary’s positive migration balance, the actual population decline was around 9,000 in the January to April period. At the end of April Hungary’s population was estimated as 10,035,000. The 2011 census will reveal whether or not Hungary’s population has actually fallen below ten million.  Continue »

Hungary’s first child to receive a heart transplant died last Tuesday at a camp for children with transplants near the Balaton. Balázs L?rincz, was given a new heart last October at the age of seven in an operation lasting more than five hours. László Ablonczy, the boy’s consultant at the National Cardiology Institute, said that an unexpected heart rhythm disorder was the probable cause of his death. At a press conference doctors said that the boy had been examined a few weeks earlier but there had been no indications of any problems. Despite receiving medical assistance in time, doctors were unable to save his life. Ablonczy said that the heart transplant programme would not stop because for many children it could the only chance to live. A baby girl who was given a heart transplant at a later date is doing very well, Ablonczy said. Continue »

Four Romanian citizens were arrested in NE Hungary early last Tuesday morning for trying to traffic nine Moldovans through to Italy. Seven woman and two men were smuggled across an open section of the Romanian-Hungarian border, then the two Romanians crossed at an official checkpoint before picking up their illicit passengers in two vehicles which were subsequently spotted by border police. Since Hungary joined the Schengen zone in January, once an illegal immigrant has entered Hungary, there is little to stop them travelling freely to Western Europe. Continue »

Police will shortly begin putting up signs warning motorists about apparently friendly thieves at motorway service stations around the capital. The move comes in response to a recent spate of thefts when seemingly eager-to-help fellow motorists warned drivers about problems with their vehicles. The victim’s valuables were then stolen when the victim went to check out the alleged problem, news agency MTI reported.  Continue »

The number of deaths on the roads decreased by 20% in the first five months of 2008 compared to the equivalent period of 2001, according to government commissioner Ferenc Kondorosi. There were 306 deaths on the roads from January to May this year compared to 385 seven years ago. In 2001 Hungary joined a ten-year EU programme aimed at halving the number of road fatalities. In addition to the existing 120 speed cameras, cameras are also being fitted in government cars to take accurate pictures of offenders who are speeding or parking illegally. Kondorosi last week proposed amending the rules of the highway code (KRESZ) to make it compulsory for drivers have to give priority to pedestrians at zebra crossings, following four recent fatalities, and said the possibility of introducing a speed limit of 30km/hour ahead of zebra crossings was being considered, daily Népszabadság reported. Continue »

Fidesz is demanding the government justify spending HUF 200 million (EUR 841,120) on a new website. Fidesz deputy spokesman András Cser-Palkovics demanded that the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Péter Kiss, reveal who was asked to tender an offer to build the kormanyszovivo.hu (government spokesperson’s web pages). The PMO said the matter was not within its remit, while government spokeswoman Bernadett Budai promised to answer the questions. Fidesz has threatened to take legal action if it is not happy with the replies it receives. Continue »

Church officials boycotted talks with the Education Ministry last week in anger of funding. The State Audit Office (ÁSZ) recently discovered that the government allocated HUF 2.7 billion (EUR 11.36 million) less than the amount stipulated by law to church-run schools in 2005-6. Education Minister István Hiller is due to issue a government decree at the end of the month on how supplementary state funding for schools is calculated. The Calvinist Church, which has threatened legal action against the state, wants the issue to be put to a parliamentary vote. Continue »