Parliament adopted on Monday a new tax on financial transactions, to come into effect in January. All opposition parties voted against. The legislation will impose a levy of 0.1 per cent even on routine matters such as deposits and standing orders, subject to a maximum of HUF 6,000 (EUR 20.78) per transaction. Thanks to a… Continue »

Attila Vajnai, chairman of the Workers Party of Hungary 2006, far left, with fellow party members holds a poster with a red star in the corridor of the Supreme Court of Justice (Kúria) on Tuesday after János István Fratanolo, who did not appear at the trial, was acquitted in the case launched against him for… Continue »

An amendment motion on a congestion charge for drivers in Budapest was rejected by the Parliament last Friday. Only the 12-strong green-liberal LMP caucus and two members of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance backed the proposal, while 305 lawmakers rejected it. The proposed legislative changes would have made it possible for Budapest City Council to… Continue »

United States Ambassador to Hungary Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis (above) and embassy staff participated in the Budapest Pride March on Saturday to demonstrate support for the Hungarian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community as part of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s initiative to promote minority rights issues throughout the world. In the US, President… Continue »

The green-liberal party LMP is calling upon the government to develop an effective action plan over the impact of climate change in the Carpathian basin. The small opposition party argues that it is crucial to prepare for the possible effects in the region, and put in place pre-emptive political and economic measures. “Hungarian politics must… Continue »

The 14 banks in a survey by business daily Világgazdaság dismissed 537 employees in the first half of the year, although the banks’ figures showed the headcount dropping only by 359. The number of employees at the responding institutions was 28,783 at the end of 2011, a decline of 2,873 when measured against the end… Continue »

The HUF 1.5 billion (EUR 5.19 million) factory of German aircraft parts manufacturer Diehl Aerosystems was inaugurated in Nyírbátor last Friday. The company’s first plant outside Germany received HUF 200 million (EUR 693,000) in European Union subsidy. It has a workforce of 70 but Diehl plans to increase this 160-170 this year and to 240… Continue »

Of the world’s 105 largest firms, 51 have subsidiaries in Hungary. According to the international corruption watchdog Transparency Inter-national (TI), only four of them made public their local revenue figures: the German corporations Allianz, Deutsche Telekom and SAP, and the British supermarket chain Tesco. Not one of them reveals how much corporate tax they pay… Continue »

European Capital of Culture Košice, in Slovakia, which will carry the title next year, and Pécs, which did so in 2010, will be guest cities at the Borsodi Hegyalja Festival between Tokaj and Rakamaz, in the east of the country, from 18 to 21 July. It means that residents of the two cities who turn… Continue »