The Hungarian government is extending the moratorium on households' loan repayment for some social groups, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told in a video published on his social media page after the meeting of the Economy Protection Operational Group.
Our battle plan in the autumn is different from what it was during the spring, but the most important thing is that Hungary must - and will - remain functional,...
Hungary's pandemic defence must be based on consensus, but we cannot allow the virus to paralyse the functioning of the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said. The Hungarian premier stressed that nearly two million people have returned the national consultation questionnaire, which shows that Hungarians want effective defence without disruptions in everyday life.
German Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has also been Germany's finance minister since 2018, is facing allegations of influence peddling and abuse of power. The politician was questioned by the Cologne prosecutor’s office on Wednesday.
Automotive suppliers struggling due to the crisis will be helped by the German government while car manufacturers will not receive subsidies to ramp up purchase of vehicles fuelled by petrol or diesel,...
The German economic decline was 9.7 per cent in the second quarter, slightly smaller than expected, according to a report by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Tuesday....
The coronavirus pandemic brought unprecedented developments in electricity generation and consumption in the first half of the year, making Hungary's position the most favourable in the region in this respect.
US companies would take part in the construction of the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday, after meeting the Czech prime minister and cybersecurity leaders in Prague. Mr Babis stressed that the Czech Republic and the United States were "important allies" of each other, and business relations between the two countries were "better than usual."
In 2019, the performance of Hungary's construction sector has increased the country's GDP growth by about 1 per cent, and construction investments accounted for 58% of investments in the national economy,...
A new loan scheme will be added in September to the Hungarian “Szechenyi Card Program” to help businesses, which will only be available to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the tourism sector, the CEO of the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU) announced.
Even a series of strikes in 1968 proved insufficient to thrust the country’s economy to a depth comparable to the current coronavirus crisis. The country’s GDP figures already looked battered by the epidemic in the first quarter,...
Young people trying to start a career have been particularly badly affected by the coronavirus-induced economic crisis. Those with low school qualifications happen to be in the most difficult situation.
The European Commission has announced that it will place great emphasis on the development of rail transport in the future as part of the EU's Green Deal environmental directive. Austria, Belgium and Sweden are intent on developing night trains, which are both environmentally friendly and increasingly popular, while Hungary sees a great perspective in the development of rail freight.
The economic aid package adopted in Brussels on Tuesday, along with the EU's next 7-year budget, represent "a significant milestone in EU economic integration" Lorenzo Codogno,...
The health crisis has thrown light on the strengths and weaknesses of French - and European – agriculture. It has shown the risks that globalised supply chains and markets carry for the continuity of food supply in times of crisis. These are just some of the issues Bernard Lannes, president of Coordination Rurale, a major agricultural trade union in France, spoke about in a recent interview with V4NA.
It "looks unlikely, but not impossible" to reach a deal at the Brussels summit this weekend, where leaders of EU member states and EU decision-makers are set to hammer out the details of the EU's recovery package and the bloc's next seven-year budget....
The EU recovery package cannot be tied to conditions and the member states' governments know best what measures are needed, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office said.
Due to a switch to electromobility and the impact of the coronavirus crisis, the auto industry may be forced to shed 250 thousand jobs in the next ten years,...
With the agreement of the European Commission, Hungary can grant uncapped state subsidy to companies which undertake investments to protect jobs, the Hungarian foreign minister announced. Peter Szijjarto said that a new program would be launched to support Hungarian companies that are willing to make an investment of at least 560 million forints (approximately 1.6 million euros) to protect jobs at risk due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The city council has cut one billion dollars from the New York Police Department's budget, while statistics show that the number of homicides has increased by 25 per cent, and the rate of car thefts by 60 per cent during the riots sparked by BLM anarchists. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles school police chief tendered his resignation after his department's budget had been slashed. London Mayor Sadiq Khan is also planning to curtail the budget of the capital's police and fire services, while offering top dollar to recently hired "racism spotters".
Several airline companies appear to be struggling in the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. One of the sector's major players has been forced to take drastic steps to survive,...
One of the biggest state-owned companies is preparing to cut nearly 10 thousand jobs, with some 15-20 per cent of its workers to be dismisssed until 2022....
Speaking in the Bundestag on Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel outlined Germany's key objectives during its EU presidency commencing on 1 July....
This was the main message relayed by Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto on Wednesday, at the foundation stone laying ceremony of a new logistics centre for BHS Trans Llc, in the industrial zone south of the east Hungarian town of Debrecen.
The irresponsible economic policies of the Socialist governments have made the Hungarian economy vulnerable in terms of every key indicator ahead of the 2008 crisis....
EU Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi has urged a more courageous EU investment strategy to support the economic recovery of Ukraine and the Western Balkan region....
In Germany, the number of part-time workers exceeded 7 million in May, according to a report issued by the German Ifo Institute for Economic Research on Tuesday....
Within three years, the Renault Group will slash 15,000 jobs worldwide as part of a €2 billion cost-cutting plan. Six of the group's 14 plants in France will undergo layoffs,...
Contrary to a 500-billion-euro bailout plan proposed by Germany and France, the European Commission (EC) is to initiate a €750 billion economic relief package on Wednesday....
The German government's 9-billion-euro bailout package to rescue Lufthansa will massively distort competition, therefore it is "illegal",...
President Emmanuel Macron announced an 8-billion euro bailout package for the French car industry on Tuesday, following talks with Renault's chairman and leaders of automotive suppliers....
Germany has adopted the largest government aid package of the country's history. The German government agreed to pay some 9 billion euros to bail out Lufthansa in exchange for a 20-percent stake in the company,...
The European Commission plans to provide 100 billion euros to help revitalise the car industry after the health crisis, but the aid is tied to electric propulsion and the production of “cleaner vehicles,...
According to a recent poll, right-wing parties in Italy have managed to retain their strong support. At present, 46.7 per cent of Italian voters would cast their ballots to one of the three centre-right parties,...
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a 500-billion-euro recovery package to be distributed to EU member states worst affected by coronavirus....
In a video, a Polish freedom fighter talked about how proud he was of his compatriots for fighting the epidemic. In the touching video, Mateusz Morawiecki described Poles as a hardworking nation acting in solidarity and stressed that as a result, Poland will soon recover and catch up with the richest countries.
Countries all across Europe are trying to support their producers in a bid to restart the economy as soon as possible. This is no different for V4 countries, which have also launched several campaings promoting the consumption of domestic products.
As the coronavirus pandemic is posing a challenge to certain economies, national sentiments and demand for domestic products have intensified, and campaigns promoting all that have become more vibrant. In Part 2 of its summary, V4NA reveals how Germany and Austria are trying to help their producers, and how Belgian breweries are supported.
The coronavirus pandemic appears to have strengthened national sentiments. Campaigns, broad social co-operations and government measures are all designed to encourage people across the globe to buy domestic food, thus helping local farmers and the economy to recover. In a new series of articles, V4NA has summarised the measures European countries are taking to protect their producers.
An economist has come up with a shocking new idea of imposing a corona tax on the elderly to cushion the pandemic's economic fallout. His proposal is aimed at compensating younger people for the 'injustice' of having to stay home,...
Flavio Briatore, former leader of Renault’s Formula One team has voiced harsh criticism of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and his government....
Renault will have to relocate its production lines to France if it wants to receive the government's 5-billion-euro rescue package, French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday....
Although they had valid work permits, French authorities have sent home more than 80 Bulgarian seasonal farm workers from Roissy airport, citing coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions. The workers' lawyer says the group should have been allowed to wait at the airport until Monday, when the French government lifted the entry ban on seasonal workers.
The European Commission President has threatened to sue Germany over a constitutional court ruling that allows the European Central Bank and Germany's Bundesbank to buy bonds in the euro zone countries....
The budget must serve the economy protection action plan, investments and job creation, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday, when he held consultations with the heads of the Finance Ministry and its background institutions.
Nine days after the lifting of strict coronavirus measures and the restart of manufacturing, the French CGT union shut down Renault's car plant in Sandouville again....
In two years anti-corruption Anticor has filed its fourth complaint against the French president's right-hand man Alexis Kohler, the secretary general of the Elysee Palace....
US speculator George Soros has recently proposed a plan which would have the EU introduce a new type of bond to deal with the economic problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It is a type of perpetual bond that would pose significant risks to the European economy.
In an open letter, nine French regional airlines asked Aeroports Paris to reopen Paris-Orly airport in June, otherwise the companies will face massive layoffs and bankruptcy....
In order to boost car sales, the Bavarian government is planning to provide financial support for the purchase of Euro 6-compliant diesel or petrol vehicles,...
Having turned to its investors in a desperate bid to accept its bailout plan, Norwegian Air's management is preparing for a "worst-case scenario....
Hungary's finance ministry has submitted a bill to reduce the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic on companies, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga announced on his Facebook page on Thursday....
The implementation of Hungary's largest ever economy protection plan is already under way with a view to restarting the country's economy as quickly as possible. Led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Hungarian government and the Hungarian economy's leading institutions have introduced a number of significant measures to put a swift end to the interim situation caused by the pandemic to families and businesses. Hungarian news portal Origo has summarised everything we know about the Orban plan, geared towards revitalising Hungary.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has published a list of states where tourism is most affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In Europe, the decline mainly affects Spain and Italy,...
Thierry Breton, the EU's Internal Market Commissioner would funnel over 30 billion euros into the European auto industry. At the reopening of the Wolfsburg plant on Monday,...
The Hungarian government believes that the jobs of Hungarian people must be protected, and this is a key element of its economic action plan. Unlike under Hungary's left-wing governments, people now receive assistance in the form of wage subsidies instead of aid, and companies can enjoy state support instead of restrictions, the deputy minister at Hungary's Innovation and Technology Ministry has said.
Every EU member state should have access to the bloc's coronavirus aid, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said. Poland has already spent 25 million euros on creating jobs within the framework of the most ambitious relief package in the country's history.
Lufthansa requests a 10 billion euro state aid to solve its liquidity problems, the German company announced on Thursday. In Italy, the government will re-nationalise the Alitalia airline in June....
Nitrogen dioxide levels in the air remain high despite a sharp decline in road traffic due to the pandemic, according to measurements by the German Federal Environmental Protection Agency (UBA) in Stuttgart and Munich....
Europe has already lost the UK so Italy has to realise how strong its position is. The EU would not exist any more without Italy, Georgia Meloni, leader of the Fratelli d'Italia (FdI) party said in a televised interview....
In Britain, the damage caused by crimes committed in reference to coronavirus has exceeded 2 million pounds (2.5 million dollars) this week, and 13.5 million dollars in the United States....
One of the key questions when it comes to the containinment of the coronavirus pandemic and mitigating its economic fallout is when the individual countries' governments had introduced the necessary precautionary measures,...
The Hungarian government has decided to extend the deadline for filing tax returns and to take steps to boost tourism, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, said during his online press briefing on Thursday.
Figures compiled by the Hungarian Szazadveg Economic Research Institute show that Hungary's economy protection action plan, compared to the measures of other states, is outstanding even at a European level. While the French government, for instance, only utilises 11 per cent of the country's GDP to protect the French economy, Hungary has pledged to reallocate 19.6 per cent.
Patriotism is nothing less than responsible thinking which suggests that all products and developments that we can manufacture or implement in Hungary should be made there, creating added value and jobs for a large number of Hungarians. Laszlo Gyorgy, state secretary at the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, spoke to V4NA about the Hungarian government's large-scale Economic Protection Action Plan, which aims to mitigate the economic effects of the current coronavirus crisis and to restart the economy. The action plan prefers a work-based society to running up ill-considered debts, and it rewards work and learning, Mr Gyorgy revealed.
Strange phenomena have taken place around the Hungarian forint recently, as the value of the currency has decreased in a scale that did not reflect the state of the economy. According to Hungarian analysts, the attack of American stock market speculator George Soros may be in the background. Although short-term financial operations have been tightened due to the coronavirus pandemic, Soros is unlikely to be interested in that. While he likes to talk about the importance of rules, practice shows that these are just empty words.
According to Hungarian experts, the American stock market speculator is consciously trying to weaken the Hungarian currency. In 1992, it was the British pound, while in 1997, the exchange rates of East Asian countries collapsed due to Soros’s attacks. It is suspected that this time the billionaire not only wants to make a profit from devaluing the forint, but is also motivated by political revenge.
With the spring coming, it is time for seasonal work in agriculture, but workforce is scarce. France and the United Kingdom encourage people without work to give a hand in agriculture. Spain needs to conclude a special agreement with Morocco so that Moroccans are allowed to cross the border for harvests in Spain. Germany has plans to fly seasonal workers into the country, who will need to work in isolation for two weeks.
Leading research institutes expect the biggest recession in the German economy to date due to the coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown of the industrial and service sectors may cause production to fall by 9....
Monday's news reports claiming that PM Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital with persistent coronavirus symptoms had serious economic ramifications as the pound sterling moved lower in response. Because of the current economic uncertainties and volatile currency markets an increasing number of countries may become the target of stock exchange speculators like George Soros. Matteo Salvini warned about the risks of short-sellling transactions a month ago, but the danger hasn't passed.
The Monetary Council of the Hungarian Central Bank will provide new resources worth 3000 billion forints for the protection of Hungary's financial system, which accounts for 6% of Hungary's predicted 2020 GDP. The Central Bank governor said that measures introduced by both the government and the central bank so far had created economic and financial stability in Hungary, which is the foundation of trust. Hungary's Central Bank continues to forecast a 2-3 % GDP growth for 2020.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte have excluded European Parliament President David Sassoli from talks on the EU's coronavirus response on Monday,...
On Tuesday, Hungarian Innovation and Technology Minister Laszlo Palkovics gave a detailed account of the economic measures announced by Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday. The government's new action plan to boost the economy is based on four pillars and includes elements like tax cuts, supporting companies with favourable loan conditions, capital investments and wage relief, as well as supporting adult education and providing family subsidies.
Hungary’s prime minister announced the launch of the second phase of Hungary’s economy protection action plan, helping Hungarian businesses with additional measures to overcome the epidemic. Viktor Orban said the government will create as many jobs as are lost because of the coronavirus crisis.
Burden-sharing is needed in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, to this end, the Hungarian government has established a coronavirus protection fund,...
The biggest economic recovery package in the history of Hungary will be announced next Tuesday, Hungary's prime minister said. Viktor Orban pointed out that the government's aim was to retain jobs and create new job opportunities so that the country could avoid having to return to an aid-based economy. The premier stressed that health care workers are to receive additional benefits, adding that the government would decide on the extension of the current curfew restrictions next Wednesday.
Romania is seeking unconditional financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to sustain its economy during the coronavirus pandemic. Throughout the world,...
Vehicle sales in France have dropped by an unprecedented 70 per cent after the government ordered the closure of all stores selling non-essential goods and services,...
This year's budget must be radically restructured to manage the current crisis and reboot the economy, but we must also outline next year's budget and introduce Hungary's largest ever economic stimulus package,...
Failure by the European Union to show more solidarity to its member states during the coronavirus emergency could herald the end of the European project,...
The hardest part of the coronavirus pandemic is yet to come, when the stage of group infections will surely reach the mass infections phase, Csaba Domotor, the parliamentary state secretary of the cabinet office, told Hungary's public media.
Neither Hungary, nor the Czech Republic has received any additional funds to tackle the pandemic, contrary to what the Czech press and the Hungarian opposition claim.
For a month and a half, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) did not treat the potential risks of coronavirus with sufficient seriousness, V4NA discovered, based on the EU institution's risk assessments. Even on the day of the first death in Europe, the ECDC said the risk of viral infection for the population of the European Union and the United Kingdom was "moderate".
An aircraft arriving in Budapest on Saturday will bring 27 tons of protective gear from China to Hungary. On Sunday, another two planes will bring 3,270,000 masks to Budapest to ensure that everyone involved in health protection is equipped with the right protective gear, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
The Hungarian government's financial action group is constantly adjusting the budget to the pandemic situation, and several new economic protection measures are to be announced next week,...
Countries concerned over economic damage caused by the coronavirus and taking measures to protect their economies within their own powers appear to disagree with EU bureaucrats....
The move was announced by the Government Information Centre in Budapest on Wednesday. The substance is used in the treatment of coronavirus patients.
A two-month long state of emergency has entered into force in France as the number of coronavirus patients is growing rapidly. The government is also tightening the rules of leaving one's home during the curfew,...
On Monday, the German government has approved a supplementary budget of 156 billion euros to shore up jobs and businesses at risk from the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak....
European football clubs are incurring millions of euros in damage caused by the halting of championships due to coronavirus pandemic. The clubs were able to obtain at least the television royalties of matches behind close doors, but the loss of ticket sales due to the cancellation of the matches could force the teams to their knees. In the US basketball league NBA, the delay of the playoffs will cut revenues by 500 million dollars. The Formula One season has not even started yet, but even the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix was cancelled on Thursday, threatening the livelihood of hundreds.
Hungary's government intends to provide support to those who suffer losses due to the pandemic so that they could survive the crisis, head of the Prime Minister's Office Gergely Gulyas said at his regular press conference in Budapest on Thursday....
Major European stock indexes rose on Thursday morning after the European Central Bank (ECB) had announced a 750 billion euro bond purchase programme on Wednesday night to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
After the announcements of Volkswagen and Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) on Tuesday, BMW also stated on Wednesday that it would terminate manufacturing in all of its European factories for one month because of coronavirus....
France may nationalise companies essential to ensuring smooth production, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on television. The lockdown hugely impacts French people's everyday lives,...
The EU offered up to €80 million of financial support to German company CureVac, whose researchers are developing a coronavirus vaccine. According to German press reports,...
German airline Lufthansa has requested help from Germany, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland to alleviate the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic....
In a bid to protect their economies from collapsing under the shock of the coronavirus disease, Germany has launched an unlimited government loan programme, the UK and Austria have introduced stimulus packages worth 33.5 billion and 4 billion euros, and France has offered paid sick and emergency leave to its citizens. Besides, the EU is launching a €37 billion investment stimulus programme to support businesses in the member states, and these are only the first steps in mitigating the pandemic's negative effects.
Twenty years after the introduction of the eurozone, experience shows that a country's economy can perform well with or without the euro. An independent monetary policy can help countries recover from a crisis more easily whereas the eurozone did not help Italy and Greece. Poland and Hungary managed to achieve significant growth in the decade after the 2008 recession without the euro, Gabor Regos, head of the Macroeconomic Business Sector of Szazadveg Foundation, told V4NA.
The pay gap between men and women in the EU's most advanced economies is surprisingly large, according to Eurostat's latest report. While left-wing politicians talk about "discrimination" against women in Central and Eastern European states,...
Speaking at the economic policy forum of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Budapest on Tuesday, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban promised several billion euros in assistance to Hungarian economic players worst hit by the spreading coronavirus. Mr Orban said as the coronavirus will bring 'brutal changes' to the economy, Hungary needs an economic policy that encourages performance and creates a sense of comfort and pride. He emphasized that the key question now was not the extent of Hungary's expected economic growth, but whether Hungary could produce a growth rate at least 2 per cent higher than the EU average.