There are no "Eastern or Western vaccines"; only good or bad ones, PM says

Hungary in race to procure as many jabs as possible, Orbán tells Focus Online

Countries must quickly purchase as many coronavirus vaccines as possible, regardless of whether they come from the East or the West, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to German news portal Focus Online. Asked about Hungary’s decision to buy Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, Orbán said that in a pandemic, a politician’s job was to take responsibility and protect the health and lives of his country’s citizens. This is why, he said, countries had a duty to procure as many vaccines as possible as quickly as possible. “Because those who buy time win lives and regain their freedom,” he said.

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Number of Hungarians living in poverty plummets

Eurostat data show that the ratio of Hungarians living in poverty has dropped over the past ten years, a human resources ministry's official said, visiting a foster family in a village in north-eastern Hungary on Monday.

We Are Crimea focuses on people's lives after the invasion

Remembering a homeland that was snatched away

Four prominent Crimeans are telling on film the stories of how their lives have been damaged by Russia’s occupation of the peninsula that until its illegal seizure seven years ago was part of Ukraine. The stories comprise a project called We Are Crimea that ...

Fidesz dubs DK's initiative a "campaign of death"

DK launches petition for free vaccine choice

The Democratic Coalition (DK) is launching a petition demanding that people be allowed to pick the Covid-19 vaccine they prefer without being put at any disadvantage, the deputy leader of the opposition party's parliamentary group said on Sunday.

Concerts from Liszt Ferenc and Budafok Dohnanyi orchestras

Playing music and the market

Hungary’s celebrated Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, which will give a free online concert from Budapest’s Liszt Academy on March 10, has developed a long-term artistic and business plan, aiming to “find a foothold as a market player and to draw a diverse audience”.

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It's "fake news in the German social democrat-style", minister says

Claim that Hungary opposed BioNTech/Moderna vaccine purchase ‘lie’

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday that "every word" German Social Democrat politician Karl Lauterbach said in a recent Twitter post about Hungary having opposed the acquisition of BioNTech/Moderna vaccines because they were too expensive "was a lie".

Szolnok with an unexpected Estonian twist

A tale of two Tallinns

This wintery, restricted-action January I yearned for a day out. It did not matter where. In haste, I took the first train out of the city and went to Szolnok. I had no real aim in mind other than to be the mere tourist ...

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Egis favipiravir drug licenced for Covid-19 treatment

A new drug with the active ingredient favipiravir manufactured by Hungarian pharmaceutical company Egis has been licenced for treatment of Covid-19 by the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGYEI), the institute said on Saturday.

Calling Hungary's democracy "degenerate" called into question the achievements of the Hungarian people, minister says

Szijjarto hits back at Tusk’s criticism

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Sunday slapped down European People's Party leader Donald Tusk's recent criticism of the state of Hungary's democracy, saying that the EPP leader had "failed both as a party leader and as a person".

“Greyhound” by C.S. Forester (published by Penguin Books)

Dogged by death in the deep

C.S. Forester died in 1966 and he is not forgotten in The Budapest Times office, where we have a nice little collection of 18 of his books. But they don’t include “Greyhound”, and in fact we were a bit puzzled when it was published ...