In the second month of the year, the volume of tourism traffic grew by 12 percent in comparison to the already high base of the previous year. After the fluctuation in the number of arrivals at the end of last year, it is an especially promising sign that the number of arrivals soared in case of each of Hungary’s top ten source countries, including Germany, and Russian guests have also come in larger numbers.
On Friday Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received President of the International Skating Union (ISU) Ottavio Cinquanta in Parliament, saying that since the Government of Hungary has significantly increased the support provided to skaters, they have achieved better and better results. Thanks to this, he said, Hungary has regained its position among the best in the sport.
At a press briefing held after multi-party talks in Budapest on Friday 8 April, the Minister of Defence stated that the parliamentary parties have agreed on the need to amend the Fundamental Law of Hungary in relation to counter-terrorism measures.
A strong domestic financial sector can -- through lending -- significantly contribute to the improvement of economic competitiveness as well as to investment and employment growth, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at the staff meeting of the Hungarian Banking Association.
After talks with his Hungarian counterpart László Trócsányi in Krakow on 8 April, Poland’s Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro announced that his country is supporting the lawsuit filed last December by Hungary at the European Court of Justice against the EU mandatory migrant resettlement quota, because it considers Hungary’s complaint to be legitimate.
Bertalan Havasi, Deputy State Secretary heading the Press Office of the Prime Minister, has told kormany.hu that on Friday Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov in the Hungarian Parliament Building.
Should the European Commission’s quota proposal be implemented, it would jeopardise Europe’s future and internal security, the Chief Advisor of the Prime Minister for Internal Security said on the Friday evening programme of the public service current affairs television channel M1.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó received a bipartisan delegation of United States Members of Congress on Friday in Budapest. “The system of relations between Hungary and the United States of America have never been as highly developed as they are now”, he said at the event.
On Friday morning, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received a two-party delegation consisting of US Congress representatives. US Ambassador to Budapest Colleen Bell also attended the meeting.
In an interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió on Friday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that he has asked the Minister of Interior, Hungary’s secret services and the Minister supervising the National Tax Authority to individually investigate all Hungarian strands in the “Panama Papers” offshore scandal. People must see whether or not those with large amounts of capital are respecting the law, he said.