Hungary

BUDAPEST, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Western countries' sanctions against Russia have turned the "local" conflict between Russia and Ukraine into a "global economic war," Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said here on Monday.

An increasing number of countries across the world is becoming "victim" of the conflict in Ukraine, Orban said at the opening of Parliament's autumn session.

He said that the United States and the European Union (EU) were supplying Ukraine with weapons and money, but Russia's reserves of material and men were "endless."

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s governing party said Thursday it wants to poll the country’s citizens on whether they support European Union sanctions imposed against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Fidesz plans to call for a “national consultation” on energy sanctions which he said had been decided on by the EU’s “Brussels elite,” the party’s caucus leader, Mate Kocsis, said at a news conference Thursday following a closed-door meeting.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — After his headline performance at Hungary’s Sziget Festival last month, pop star Justin Bieber held a grandiose party for his staff in a luxurious countryside setting — a 19th century castle owned by the son-in-law of the country’s prime minister.

The castle, to the critics of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is emblematic of the corruption, nepotism and largesse of which the populist leader and his government have been accused for years — the kinds of behavior which now threaten to cost Hungary billions in European Union funding.

BUDAPEST, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- A bomb squad of the Hungarian military has defused a 100-kilogram World War II bomb found in the Danube in central Budapest, the Hungarian armed forces said on Monday.

The bomb squad dismantled the ignition mechanism of the explosive device, which was then taken away by a military boat, the bomb squad leader said on Facebook.

Underwater firefighters found the Soviet-made bomb during a practice dive last week in the Danube river's section between the Elizabeth Bridge and the Chain Bridge of central Budapest.

DEBRECEN, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) signed a real estate deal with the city of Debrecen in Hungary on Monday, marking the official launch of its second European plant.

Covering an area of 221 hectares in the Southern Industrial Park of Debrecen, construction of CATL's Hungarian plant is scheduled to begin this year. With a total investment of 7.34 billion euros (7.28 billion U.S. dollars), the plant is expected to achieve a production capacity of 100 GWh.

BUDAPEST, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The European Union will suspend an agreement with Russia that eases visa issuance but there will not be a blanket visa ban imposed as there is no unanimity on that, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook on Wednesday.

Szijjarto also announced that Hungary has signed a deal with Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) for additional gas shipments from Sept. 1.

He said Hungary, along with some other member states, opposed a Russian visa ban at a meeting of EU ministers in Prague.

BUDAPEST, July 23 (Reuters) - The European Union needs a new strategy on the war in Ukraine as sanctions against Moscow have not worked, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday.

"A new strategy is needed which should focus peace talks and drafting a good peace proposal...instead of winning the war," Orban said in a speech in Romania.

Orban, reelected for a fourth consecutive term in April, reiterated that Hungary - a NATO member - would stay out of the war in neighbouring Ukraine.

BUDAPEST, July 15 (Reuters) - The European Union has "shot itself in the lungs" with ill-considered economic sanctions on Russia, which, unless rolled back, risk destroying the European economy, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.

Gas supplies to Europe have tightened and fuel costs have soared since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February and subsequent sanctions, leaving countries scrambling to refill storage and diversify supply channels. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation".

BUDAPEST, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian government declared a state of energy emergency and adopted a 7-point plan on energy security, with special focus on the supply security of Hungarian families, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, told a press conference on Wednesday.

The measures will take effect on August 1.

Gulyas blamed the prolonged conflict in Ukraine and the European Union's sanctions against Russia for the steep rise in energy prices in Europe, culminating now in what he called an energy crisis.

BUDAPEST, June 19 (Reuters) - Russia has promised to continue gas shipments to Hungary and that Gazprom will fulfil its contractual obligations to the country, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview on public service radio on Sunday.

In Russia's response to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine, state energy giant Gazprom has cut supplies to Denmark's Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and to Shell Energy (SHEL.L) for its contract to supply gas to Germany.