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    Referendum next spring: Fidesz

    Main
    opposition party Fidesz last Tuesday said it was aiming to put six referendum
    questions on government policy to the nation next spring after the National
    Election Committee (OVB) finally cleared the party’s proposals.

    Fidesz
    first announced the referendum drive at a rally on 23 October last year – a day
    when some supporters were caught up in anti-government rioting after the rally
    had concluded – but has faced a long fight to have the questions allowed. The
    OVB initially only allowed three out of seven questions, saying that those
    rejected – on charges for healthcare and higher education – could not be
    allowed as they affected the current budget. However, Fidesz modified the
    questions to refer to the future and the Constitutional Court in early June
    ordered the OVB to re-examine the three questions.

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    Couple attacked with nail gun

    Former
    lover accused of murder

    A
    42-year-old Croatian man was killed by a ten-centimetre nail fired from a nail
    gun last Tuesday, following an argument with his wife’s former lover. A
    52-year-old German man has allegedly confessed to the crime. The victim’s wife,
    a 43-year-old German woman, was taken to hospital suffering from serious
    injuries.

    The German woman, Manuela B. from Augsburg and her Croatian husband travelled
    to the ranch near Balaton?szöd last Tuesday morning. The woman had earlier had
    a four-year relationship with the German man, identified as Hans B. from
    Frankfurt am Main, and they had run the horse ranch together. After their
    break-up, the woman wanted to clear up some financial issues with the 52-year
    old, and the two of them had arranged a meeting with a notary last Friday. When
    the man failed to appear, the woman and her Croatian husband travelled to the
    ranch, where a fight began between the two men, Gábor Bíró, spokesman from the
    Somogy county police told the press.

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    Beating of journalist puts ‘oil mafia’ back in spotlight

    Ugly side of corruption still sensitiveInvestigative journalist Irén Kármán needed emergency surgery to stem potentially fatal internal bleeding after being found beaten up on the banks of the Danube on 23 June. The 40-year-old mother of three made her reputation investigating the oil mafia of the 1990s. She had been bundled into a car at around 10:30pm in Pesterzsébet, brutally beaten, and then dumped with her hands bound before a fisherman found her at 11:10pm

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    Summer party of the Italian Chamber – Ceremonial handover of presidency

    29 June
    2007, Budapest – The Italian Chamber of Commerce
    in Hungary took the
    opportunity of the annual boat cruise on the Danube
    to ceremonially hand over the presidency of the EU Chambers after two years to
    the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK). The outgoing
    president of the EU Chambers, Alessandro Stricca who held this post for a year
    and a half as president of the Italian chamber, can draw a positive balance.

     

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    746 jobs follow subsidies

    Government
    gives hefty subsidy to Vodafone

    Vodafone
    will receive HUF 1.3 billion (EUR 5.25 million) in subsidies and tax breaks
    from the government to support its new Budapest service centre, Prime Minister
    Ferenc Gyurcsány said last Wednesday as Vodafone chief executive John Bond
    signed the contract with the government.

    Vodafone
    announced in early May that it would invest HUF 9 billion (EUR 36.38 million)
    to set up a service centre to handle financial processes and transactions for
    18 countries. The centre will create 746 jobs. Bond said Vodafone looked at setting up the centre in
    20 different countries but plumped for Hungary because of its skilled
    workforce.

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    MOL moves to maintain control

    Hungary’s gas giant hostile toward apparent
    OMV takeover bid

    MOL
    Hungarian Oil and Gas last week bought back over 6 million of its own shares as
    it attempted to strengthen its position against an apparent takeover bid by
    Austrian counterpart OMV.OMV
    announced last Monday it had spent about EUR 1 billion to increase its stake in
    MOL from 10% to 18.6%. The Austrian company then said that it wished to invite
    MOL to have “an open and constructive dialogue” on strategic cooperation.

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    Audi investment rolls on

    Car manufacturer to build new A3 Cabriolet in HungaryGerman car
    manufacturer Audi AG will manufacture its new A3 Cabriolet at its plant in
    Gy?r, western Hungary, the
    company’s chairman Rupert Stadler told journalists in Budapest last Friday.

    Stadler
    said that it was an easy decision to manufacturer the car in the Hungarian
    plant because of its previous good record. While he refused to give exact
    details on the planned production figures, he said that the vehicle would hit
    the markets in the spring of 2008.

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    US business interests lobby calls for government to embrace digital age

    Get with the programs
    The head of
    the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary (AmCham), Gusztáv Bienerth
    and the chairman of AmCham’s IT committee, Dr Péter Pál, at a press
    conference last Wednesday introduced a document calling on the
    Hungarian government to improve the local business environment by
    computerising the country’s bureaucratic machinery.

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    One can’t lead, other doesn’t show it

    MSZP knives to come out against PM, analyst predicts
    The
    director of the Századvég think tank, István Stumpf, talked to this
    newspaper about a moral crisis in Hungary, the future of Prime Minister
    Ferenc Gyurcsány, new elections and whether opposition party Fidesz is
    capable of governing. Stumpf ran the Prime Minister’s Office during the
    Fidesz government, although he was not a member of the party.

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    16th Budafest summer music festival

    Klezmer, flamenco & Madame Butterfly
    Every
    year in July and August the Dominican Court in the Castle District
    becomes home to klezmer, ragtime and operas. The square in front of St.
    Stephen’s Basilica hosts symphony concerts, whilst the summer opera
    festival is held at the Hungarian State Opera. It’s all part of the
    wide-ranging and widespread Budafest summer music festival.

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    Austrian officer arrested

    Suspected Russian spy released
    Austria
    was forced to release a suspected Russian spy in a military technology
    case last Thursday after the United Nations decided that he had
    diplomatic immunity. The alleged secret agent, named in the Austrian
    media as Vladimir V. Vozhzhov, was arrested in Gmunden near Salzburg in
    Upper Austria on 11 June. The Russian was suspected of attempting to
    obtain technical details of the Franco-German military helicopter
    project Eurocopter Tiger.

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    Hospital loses power, airport closes

    Storm shakes infrastructure
    Budapest
    last Thursday received its most severe pounding by a storm since the
    disastrous 20 August celebration last year. The first gusts of wind
    triggered car alarms and set dogs barking at around 8pm, but within
    minutes gales of up to 100km/h were tearing branches off trees and
    driving torrential rain and hail through the streets. The air
    temperature plummeted by around 12 C. This was mere hours after
    temperatures in Budapest reached a record high of 35.7 C.