Hungary

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Austria’s government on Monday asked Hungary for explanations as it stepped up security along the countries’ shared border following Budapest’s decision to grant early release to convicted people smugglers.

The decision to release several hundred convicts has “a direct impact on our security,” the Austrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement to The Associated Press.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s populist prime minister likened liberalism to a “virus” in an opening speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the Hungarian capital on Thursday, painting a picture of a global right-wing movement mobilizing to defeat “progressive elites.”

Viktor Orban’s speech at CPAC Hungary centered around battling what he frequently described as “woke culture,” and delved primarily into hot-button cultural topics such as transgender and LGBTQ+ rights, migration and the content of education for children.

BUDAPEST, March 29 (Reuters) - Hungary is holding up Sweden's admission to NATO because of grievances over criticism by Stockholm of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's policies, the Hungarian government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Bridging the gap will require effort on both sides, spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said.

Sweden and its neighbour Finland asked to join the NATO military alliance last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But the process has been held up by Hungary and Turkey.

BUDAPEST, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus.

The group of 22 tourists, scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary, was greeted by officials from the Hungarian Tourism Agency and the Budapest Airport upon their arrival.

The Chinese tourists were greeted by a local Hungarian in traditional folklore dress, and were each presented with gifts as a token of appreciation for choosing Hungary as their holiday destination.

BUDAPEST, March 6. /TASS/: Hungary believes the settlement of the armed conflict in Ukraine requires direct talks between Russia and the US, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in the country’s parliament on Monday.

"We would welcome direct talks between the US and Russia" on Ukraine, the minister said. He brought up the brief conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of 20 countries in India on March 2.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary has further delayed a vote on ratifying Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession bids, according to an updated schedule published Thursday on the National Assembly’s website, the latest in a series of postponements that have frustrated Western allies.

The delay, which pushes the vote back by two weeks to the parliamentary session beginning March 20, comes as Hungary remains the only NATO member country besides Turkey that hasn’t yet approved the two Nordic countries’ bids to join the Western military alliance.

BUDAPEST, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff signalled on Saturday a possible further delay in Budapest's ratification of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, saying a vote may take place only in the second half of March.

Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the transatlantic defence pact after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But all 30 NATO members need to back the applications and Sweden has faced objections from Turkey for harbouring what Ankara considers to be members of terrorist groups.

BUDAPEST, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that more parliamentary group talks were needed before lawmakers vote on the ratification of Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids which they will begin debating on Wednesday.

Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the trans-Atlantic defence pact after Russia invaded Ukraine, but Sweden faced unexpected objections from Turkey for harbouring what Ankara considers to be members of terrorist groups.

BUDAPEST, February 7. /TASS/: Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged leaders of the European Union and its member-states to start consultations for reconsideration of sanctions against Russia, press secretary to the Prime Minister Bertalan Havasi said.

BUDAPEST, Feb 4 (NNN-XINHUA) — Budapest Airport said that it has recovered 75 percent of its pre-pandemic passenger traffic, handling 12.2 million passengers in 2022.

This was a 164 percent increase from 2021, the airport said.

The past year has been “extremely challenging, yet very successful,” the airport in the Hungarian capital said, with the addition of new destinations to its schedule.

Last year, the airport processed 194,000 tons of air cargo, up from 183,362 tons in 2021, which set “unprecedented records.”