“Wake up Hungary, you won’t catch up this
way,” the director of Transparency International (TI) Hungary, Noémi Alexa,
said upon the release of the global anti-corruption NGO’s 2008
Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Continue »

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and Budapest Mayor Gabor
Demszky opened the Megyeri Bridge, which connects the M0
Budapest bypass north of the capital. The bridge is expected to be
opened for traffic at 4pm. Continue »

After Amsterdam, Budapest
became the second European city to have its famous landmarks featured on Google
Earth with realistic three dimensional images. The Basilica, the Parliament and
Hősők tere are just a few of the 26 sights now accessible from all over the
world. Local government officials believe this to be an excellent marketing
opportunity to promote the capital. Continue »

The latest
scandal in Hungary, whose background reads like the plot of a John Grisham
novel, threatens to shake up the foundations of the country’s still young
democracy and political power relations.  Continue »

A
demonstration organised by the Hungarian Democratic Charter on Saturday, 20 September, saw thousands
gather by the Chain Bridge and march to parliament in protest against the rise
of the extremist right wing. Among those addressing the crowd at parliament
were prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and Budapest mayor Gábor Demszky. Continue »

An
exhausted American soldier rests in a bunker. The British photographer Tim
Hetherington caught this moment on 16 September 2007 during heavy fighting in Afghanistan.
World Press Photo named it Press Photo of the Year, the highest accolade for
photo reporters. It can now be viewed together with other award-winning shots
at the Millenáris centre near Moszkva tér. Continue »

While the Constitutional Court
voided provisions of the so-called Hospital Act that was passed in 2006, it did
not scrap the whole law. The government acknowledged the ruling. Continue »

The head of
State Tax Authority APEH’s wealth accumulation department was caught last
Monday accepting a HUF 2 million (EUR 8,321) bribe in exchange for fudging the
findings of a personal tax audit. Continue »

Hungary has a good chance of joining the U.S.
visa-waiver when it comes into force around January 12, Foreign
Minister Kinga Goncz said in Chicago late on Sunday. “In practice it
all depends on whether the U.S. can implement the electronic entry
system and control system in time,” Goncz said. “In the new system
there will be no need for visas, but tourists will need to register
before they travel,” she added.  Continue »

“The global financial crisis has effects on the Nabucco development, causing an at least a six-month delay in the compilation of the project’s financing package, but the setback doesn’t threaten the entirety of the venture,” Mihály Bayer, Hungary’s “Nabucco ambassador” said at the session of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee last Tuesday. Financial aid cannot be expected from the EU, but both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and World Bank showed interest in the project, Bayer added. At the same meeting Csaba Molnár, state secretary of the Ministry for National Development and Economy emphasised that Hungary’s efforts have accelerated the preparations of the Nabucco-plan and that those of next year’s Nabucco summit are also underway.  Continue »