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Monthly Archives: August 2019
Thousands of Non-Hungarian Citizens Can Vote at Upcoming Municipal Elections
More than one hundred-forty thousand non-Hungarian citizens are eligible to automatically vote at the upcoming municipal elections, wire service MTI reported recently. Since this number is a lot higher than at the EP elections, it generated minor uproar as some speculated about potential fraud.
According to the communiqué, in total, 114,154 citizens of another EU country living in Hungary have the right to vote in the upcoming municipal elections held on October 13th. Moreover, these people are automatically put on the electoral roll without any prior registration obligations. This high number has caused an uproar as some surmised fraud, realizing that at the EP elections in May, only 3,390 non-citizens were eligible to cast their votes in Hungary.
Liberal political think-tank Political Capital’s expert Róbert László, explained to 24.hu that municipal elections differ from EP elections in certain aspects. Ahead of the May vote, EU citizens were obliged to register themselves (as they are eligible to vote only once). Contrary to the rules of the general elections, Fidesz-led governments haven’t modified it since its last update in 2004 when Hungary joined the European Union.
What is more, this high number adds to the approximate 26,000 refugees, immigrants, and settled persons who also have Hungarian addresses and thus are entitled to vote with similar rights. As László noted, this category might include former, convicted Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski too, providing that he has a Hungarian address. (The only restriction for non-citizens is that they are not eligible to vote on minority self-government candidates).
This is not to be confused with the voting rights of those Hungarians who reside outside the borders without a permanent address in Hungary. They, as a result, are not eligible to vote in October. As HVG notes, this, however, also excludes homeless people, who although live in Hungary and are Hungarians, are short of permanent addresses. Yet this is not all. Electoral law allows passive voting rights for this category, meaning they can stand as a candidate.
László, however, draws attention to voters with fictitious Hungarian addresses, a phenomenon that is very hard to detect. While due to a number of factors, exact numbers cannot be revealed, at the general elections in April 2018, there were reports about certain Fidesz-led constituencies in Eastern Hungary where Hungarian citizens living abroad had been provided a fictitious Hungarian address so that they could vote not only for party lists but also for candidates of single-member constituencies.
(26. 8. 2019 via hungarytoday.com)
Int’l leaders expected in Warsaw for WWII anniversary
The presidents of the United States, Poland and Germany and will give speeches in Warsaw on September 1 during ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, a top aide to the Polish head of state has said.
Krzysztof Szczerski told reporters on Sunday that 20 presidents and a slew of senior officials from abroad were expected at the ceremonies in the Polish capital.
Szczerski said: “We expect 40 foreign delegations, i.e. about 250 guests from around the world, including presidents, prime ministers, parliamentary Speakers, foreign ministers, defence ministers, as well as special representatives of European royal families. They will all be guests [of Polish President Andrzej Duda] during these celebrations here in Warsaw.”
Szczerski added that US President Donald Trump, Poland’s Duda and Germany’s Frank Walter Steinmeier would deliver speeches at Piłsudski Square in central Warsaw.
The next day, September 2, Trump will hold face-to-face talks with Duda. Delegations from their two countries will also meet, Szczerski said.
Trump will then meet Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
The US presidential couple are expected to arrive in Poland on August 31 and leave on the evening of September 2, Poland’s PAP news agency has reported.
Trump’s trip to Poland will be his second visit to the country as president. He previously travelled to Warsaw in July 2017.
Trump in June hosted Duda at the White House, a meeting during which the two presidents approved plans for a stepped-up American military presence in Poland.
(26. 8. 2019 via thenews.pl)
It will be ‘touch and go’ whether UK gets Brexit deal with EU, says Johnson
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the chances of a Brexit deal are “touch and go” in interviews with British television media on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
He has previously said the odds of a no-deal Brexit were “a million to one”.
“Let me give you a metaphor,” Johnson told ITV. “I swam round that rock this morning. From here you cannot tell there is a gigantic hole in that rock. There is a way through.”
“My point to the EU is that there is a way through, but you can’t find the way through if you just sit on the beach.”
It came after US President Donald Trump told Johnson on Sunday morning that Brexit Britain will have a major trade deal with the United States, adding the new British prime minister was the right man to take his country out of the European Union.
The pair met for their first bilateral meeting at the G7 summit in France, with Johnson saying he had made clear the UK’s NHS health service was off the table in trade talks with the US.
The new leader is walking the tightrope at the gathering, trying to keep European allies on side, whilst not angering Trump — he said trade talks with the United States would be tough but there were huge opportunities for British businesses in the US market.
The new UK leader is set to meet European Council head Donald Tusk later on Sunday morning — the pair clashed on Saturday over who would be to blame in the case of a no-deal Brexit.
Tusk said Johnson was at risk of being known as “Mr No Deal” but the prime minister responded by saying it was Tusk who would become “Mr No-Deal Brexit”.
Johnson said upon his arrival in Biarritz on Saturday that he would be telling Trump to pull back from the US-China trade war that is already destabilising economic growth around the world.
Speaking to reporters, the British prime minister said one of his priorities for the summit was “clearly the state of global trade. I am very worried about the way it’s going, the growth of protectionism, of tariffs that we’re seeing”.
“Don’t forget that the UK is at risk of being implicated in this,” Johnson said. “This is not the way to proceed. Apart from everything else, those who support the tariffs are at risk of incurring the blame for the downturn in the global economy, irrespective of whether or not that is true.
“I want to see an opening up of global trade, I want to see a dialling down of tensions and I want to see tariffs come off.”
A surprise visit from Zarif
The Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif landed in Biarritz in a surprise move. He met with French President Emmanuel Macron and French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Macron also held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Paris on Friday, ahead of the G7.
Euronews’ Anelise Borges spoke to Zarif about his discussion with the French leader: “We discussed with Macron how the US could come back, and how Europe and the international community can live up to their commitments, independent of the US,” he said.
US-China trade war
On Friday, Beijing announced it would raise tariffs on US goods worth around €68 billion.
A retaliatory measure was taken in response to Washington imposing additional €270 billion tariffs on Chinese goods, set to come into effect from September and mid-December.
US President Donald Trump responded to China on Twitter saying that the vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must stop.
rump also ordered American companies to immediately begin the search for alternative trading options to China; be it relocating companies or relocating production to the US.
This is the latest episode in the long-running trade war between the two richest countries with repercussions being felt worldwide. Both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have lowered their economic growth forecast for this year. They now predict it will between 2.6 and 3.2%.
On Sunday morning at the G7, Trump said he was not concerned about the market reaction to the spat, which stoked market fears that the global economy will tip into recession and sent US stocks into a tailspin.
When asked if he was having second thoughts, he said: “I have second thoughts about everything.”
“We are very close to a trade deal with Japan,” he said, adding the situation with China was helping this process.
G7 summit to be ‘a difficult test of unity,’ says Tusk
The summit in Biarritz will prove “a difficult test of unity and solidarity” after a year during which leaders of the rich nations have struggled to find a common language, European Council President Donald Tusk said in his opening statement.
He added that trade wars among the G7 members would serve to further erode trust among them.
Under no condition can the EU agree with a Trump proposal to bring Russia back into the G7 after it was excluded for annexing Crimea and backing an anti-Kyiv rebellion in eastern Ukraine, Tusk said.
On the topic of Brexit, Tusk said the EU was always open to cooperation before now to avoid Brexit and a no-deal scenario, but added the one thing the bloc would not cooperate on was a no-deal. Boris Johnson will not want to go down in history “Mr No Deal”, the leader added.
‘So far so good,’ says Trump on arrival
Trump seemed positive upon arriving in Biarritz, saying: “We’ll accomplish a lot this weekend.”
“So far so good,” he said of the three-day summit, adding that he had a special relationship with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
Sitting on a terrace with the French president, Trump said of their relationship: “We actually have a lot in common, Emmanuel and I. We have been friends for a long time. Every once in a while we go at it a little bit, not very much.”
Amazon wildfires
Also on the agenda, if French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister have their way, are the wildfires sweeping the Amazon rainforest.
Macron called on members of the G7 to discuss the raging wildfires ravaging the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
“Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest – the lungs which produce 20% of our planet’s oxygen – is on fire. It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let’s discuss this emergency first order in two days! #ActForTheAmazon,” the president tweeted on Thursday, a few days before the start of the G7 summit in Biarritz.
His sentiment was backed up by Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson, who said he would use the G7 summit to call for a renewed focus on protecting nature, his office said on Friday.
“The prime minister is deeply concerned by the increase in fires in the Amazon rainforest and the impact of the tragic loss of these precious habitats,” said a spokeswoman.
World economic inequality
The gap between rich and poor in the majority of the G7 countries isn’t reducing. Combined, US, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy and Japan’s populations, own more than half of total global wealth.
Of these countries, the richest 10% own approximately half or more of the country’s wealth, whilst the poorest 50% own 10% or less.
And with the world’s economy slowing down, this inequality gap won’t be diminished any time soon.
Food for thought
Macron opened the summit with a dinner at the base of a clifftop lighthouse overlooking Biarritz, at which a menu of piperade, a Basque vegetable speciality, tuna and French cheeses awaited the leaders, Reuters reported.
(26. 8. 2019 via euronews.com)
No reason yet to reinstate Russia to G7: Polish FM
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz has said there is no reason for the West to soften its stance on Russia until Moscow changes its aggressive policy towards Ukraine.
Czaputowicz was speaking at a press conference in New York on Thursday after a UN Security Council session chaired by Poland.
He was asked by public broadcaster Polish Radio whether Russia should be reinstated to the G7, an inter-governmental political forum from which it was excluded after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.
Czaputowicz replied: “If Russia changed its policy, only then would there be grounds to change the position of the West. We stand for maintaining unity within the West and waiting for Russia to change its position.”
Czaputowicz added that US President Donald Trump’s suggestion earlier this year that it would be “appropriate” to have Russia rejoin what used to be the G8 was “intended to test the position of Russia.”
(23. 8. 2019 via thenews.pl)
epa07783054 Jacek Czaputowicz, Foreign Minister of Poland and rotating president of the security council speaks at a security council meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 20 August 2019. The meeting was for the promotion and strengthening of the rule of law in the maintenance of international peace and security. EPA/PETER FOLEY
Dostawca: PAP/EPA.
Merkel Thanks Hungary for Its Role in German Unification
German Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked Hungary for the role it had played in the reunification of Germany, at an ecumenical service held in western Hungary’s Sopron on Monday, marking the 30th anniversary of the Pan-European Picnic, a pivotal event in the fall of communism in 1989.
We Germans are grateful for Hungary’s contribution to abolishing division in Europe and to German reunification. We thank Hungary for that”
She noted that thirty years ago, the Pan-European Picnic was organised as a demonstration for European peace and included plans to symbolically open the Hungarian-Austrian border for a few hours. East Germans, “vacationing at Hungarian camping sites,” have caught wind of the event and hundreds left all their belongings behind to try and reach freedom, she said.
Merkel called the picnic an event of historic importance and noted Hungarian border police’s courage who refused to shoot at those crossing the border.
The Pan-European Picnic has become a symbol of the era’s freedom fights, Merkel said. On September 11, Hungary opened its borders for good, and on November 9, the Berlin Wall fell, ending division in Europe, she said.
She thanked the organisers of the Picnic, those helping East Germans in their flight and all those fighting for democratic change.
Regarding the “enormous” challenges facing Europe, Merkel said Europeans should not lose sight of their shared values. “We have to be aware that any nation’s prosperity is conditional on Europe’s. Europe is only as strong as it is united. Europe is strong only inasmuch as it can make compromises in contested issues,” she said.
The European peace project “is not self-sustaining,” Merkel said, adding that shouldering shared responsibility for Europe and the world at times requires “stepping over one’s shadow”. The masses seeking asylum and needing protection in Europe from crisis regions of the world show how important it is to fight against the root causes of persecution and flight, she said.
Hungary, Germany and the other EU states are today partners in shaping the future of a united Europe, she said.
We have to proceed on the road to freedom, democracy and unity, and might be strengthened by remembering the Pan-European Picnic” Merkel said.
(19. 8. 2019 via hungarytoday.hu)
Polish MPs elect new Speaker after row over gov’t planes
Poland’s conservative interior minister was on Friday elected the new Speaker of parliament after her predecessor quit amid claims he misused government planes.
In a vote just two months before Poland holds a general election, Elżbieta Witek from the governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) was backed by 245 deputies as the new lower house Speaker.
(9. 8. 2019 via thenews.pl)
Italy’s president holding talks to find new government after Conte quits
Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, is beginning two days of consultations with political parties in the hope of finding a majority for a new government.
The country was plunged into a fresh political crisis on Tuesday after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte quit as head of the ruling coalition.
It paired Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party with the left-leaning Five Star Movement, but tensions between the two have proved too much.
If a new government — which would be Italy’s 67th since World War II — cannot be found, fresh elections will be called.
In his resignation speech on Tuesday, Conte attacked Salvini for allegedly sinking the coalition and endangering the economy for personal and political gain.
“Salvini’s decision [to call time on the coalition] is serious, it has relevant consequences for the economic and social life of the country,” Conte said in the Senate on Tuesday. “He has shown that he is seeking personal interest and party’s interest (above the nation’s one).
“When a political force pursues electoral convenience only, it compromises national interest,” he added. “Salvini’s choices reveal a lack of institutional sensitivity and a serious lack of institutional culture.”
“The behaviour of a political force which, while presenting a motion of no confidence in the government, does not withdraw its ministers appears to be contradictory,” he said.
“Whoever holds government responsibilities, should not exploit religious symbols, offending worshippers and undermining the principle of secularism in a modern state.”
“I would do everything I did again, with the strength of being a free man who is not afraid of the judgement of the Italians. Those who are afraid of the judgement of the Italian people are not free. It’s the salt of democracy. The insults of Conte seem like those of Roberto Saviano or Matteo Renzi.”
Reiterating his call for elections, Salvini said: “In a democracy, the main way is to ask the opinion of our employers, the voters: VAT does not increase if there is a government in office in November, with a vote in October.”
Later he took a swipe at coalition partners Five Star Movement and accused them of plotting against him so they could govern instead with the Democratic Party.
“The government is over because of the Five Star Movement politicians and their ‘no, we cannot’ attitude for every dossier,” said Salvini.
What will happen now that Conte has resigned?
Silvia Sciorilla Borrelli, Rome Correspondent for Politico, told Euronews five scenarios could now play out.
1. An ‘Ursula government’
Named after Ursula von der Leyen, the president-elect of the European Commission, this would be a centrist government led by Romano Prodi, including the Democratic Party, Forza Italia and Five Star Movement – the same parties that were decisive in the election of von der Leyen.
The challenges would be that the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement would struggle to govern together, and it would strengthen the League in opposition.
2. A ‘red-yellow’ government
The Democratic Party and Five Star Movement. Possible prime ministers could include Conte or Five Star’s Roberto Fico, current president of the Chamber of Deputies.
Problems: What would Renzi’s role be in this new government? And how long would it last?
3. A ‘national unity’ government
Likely led by the president of either of the two chambers (Fico or Elisabetta Casellati, current president of the Italian Senate) to push economic reforms and stabilise the country.
But who would support it?
4. Technocrats
Led by Conte, Raffaele Cantone (former prosecutor and head of anti-corruption unit) or Enrico Letta (former prime minister of Italy) to get Italy through the budget session and head to the polls later this year.
5. Fresh elections if none of the above options gets a majority
The end of Salvini?
For Politico’s Borrelli, it is Salvini who might end up being the biggest loser if the government collapses.
“Italy has never had a government crisis right in the middle of the summer, it hasn’t headed to the polls for a general election in 100 years,” she said.
“It’s not very likely for Sergio Mattarella, the Italian President, to send Italians back to the polls right in the middle of a complicated budget negotiation with Brussels.
“So, it looks like there is a chance, assuming the Five Star movement and the Democratic Party succeed in their potential tie-up that Matteo Salvini, instead of becoming prime minister, could be ousted from government.
(21. 8. 2019 via euronews.com)
Il presidente della Repubblica Sergio Mattarella durante la cerimonia di consegna gli Attestati d’Onore ai nuovi Alfieri della Repubblica al Quirinale a Roma, 13.marzo 2019 ANSA/Francesco Ammendola – Ufficio per la Stampa e la Comunicazione della Presidenza della Repubblica EDITORIAL USE ONLY NO SALES
Poland praised by US for efforts to tackle global issues
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has praised Poland for efforts to help solve global problems.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Pompeo thanked Poland for working with the United States to deal with international problems, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The two top diplomats met in New York on the sidelines of a UN Security Council debate chaired by Poland’s Czaputowicz to discuss challenges to peace and security in the Middle East.
Pompeo in a tweet thanked Poland for helping America “confront an array of challenges facing the Middle East.”
Poland and the United States in February held an international conference in Warsaw that aimed “to promote a future of peace and security in the Middle East.”
Poland’s Czaputowicz told reporters in New York on Tuesday that his talks with Pompeo and visits at various levels testified to “particularly good relations between our two countries.”
A delegation of US administration officials was expected to visit Poland this week to discuss the details of President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to the country.
Pompeo announced that he would accompany Trump to Poland later this month, the IAR news agency reported.
(21. 8. 2019 via thenews.pl)
Ursula Von Der Leyen on Twitter: ‘Good Talk with PM Orbán’
Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming President of the European Commission, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met in Brussels to prepare the work program of the next European Commission on Thursday. After the meeting the Hungarian PM seemed confident, telling public media that supporting the German politician for the job had proved to be a good decision. Recently, Von der Leyen also talked about the discussion in a similar, positive way, tweeting she had a good talk with Orbán.
After the meeting, no press conference was set up or press release issued but the Hungarian prime minister talked to state television M1. Summarizing his impressions about von der Leyen, Viktor Orbán said that the new EC president is pragmatic, capable of thinking like the Central Europeans, with similar thoughts to the Hungarian government on many issues.
When describing her first meeting with the Hungarian leader, the EC President-elect words were also positive.
In her recent Twitter post, von der Leyen agreed with the Hungarian prime minister that the EU needed a fresh start and pragmatic solutions in respect of migration. During the meeting, the key topic was the competitiveness of the European Union. Von der Leyen added that they had agreed that the EU institutions should be brought closer to member states. The EC President-elect also emphasized in her “report”, unlike Orbán, that the rule of law was indispensable and applied to everyone. She also added that a strong defense union was needed.
During the past week, the German politician had discussions with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
Central European governments had backed von der Leyen’s candidacy in an effort to prevent Socialist Dutch politician Frans Timmermans to become head of the Commission. In an interview, Orbán said the main reason for the Visegrád countries not to support him is because they thought that “he is a fighter of ideologies and he is against anyone who has a different view of the world”.
(2. 8. 2019 via hungarytoday.hu)
