PETER SZIJJARTO

Hungary's foreign minister says the West’s steady criticism of his country on democratic and cultural issues makes the right-wing government reluctant to offer support on practical matters, specifically NATO’s buildup against Russia.

Budapest will not support Ukraine's accession to the European Union and NATO because of the country's education law, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after a meeting with UN Human Rights Assistant Secretary General Ilze Brands Kheris.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hailed the "game-changing decision" from the EU.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto visited Belarus on Monday, making him the first European Union official to visit the nation since its 2020 crackdown on opposition

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has made the first visit to Belarus by a high-level politician from a European Union country since Belarus imposed a harsh crackdown on opposition in 2020

Sweden's government should “act differently” if it wants to clinch Turkish support for its bid to join NATO, Hungary's foreign minister said Tuesday, adding that a recent Quran-burning protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm was “unacceptable." Peter Szijjarto made the remark at a news conference following talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Hungary’s capital Budapest. Both diplomats addressed the Jan. 21 anti-Turkish protest that increased tensions between Ankara and Stockholm as Sweden seeks Turkey’s approval to join the NATO military alliance.

Hungary's foreign minister says his country won't block a planned tranche of 500 million euros ($543 million) in European Union arms funding to Ukraine to use in the war with Russia.

The European Union has reached a deal in principle to send an 18 billion euro ($18.93 billion) financial aid package to Ukraine and approve a minimum tax of major corporations in a big move that narrowed a rift between the European Union and recalcitrant member Hungary.

The European Union’s executive branch has recommended that billions of euros in EU funds be withheld from Hungary over its failure to implement solid rule-of-law reforms, a move highlighting lingering divergences between the European partners.

The European Union is planning to provide Ukraine with around 18 billion euros in financial aid next year to help the war-ravaged country keep its energy and health care facilities running, and to fund salaries and pension schemes.

The European Union is sending up to 40 experts to Armenia to help watch over its border with Azerbaijan.

European Union energy ministers have adopted a package of measures to ease an energy crisis, including a levy on windfall profits of fossil fuel companies.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto argued that the European Union defines democracy as a liberal government in power, but that Hungary has progressive policies, too.

Israel's Antiquities Authority said Monday it has discovered a rare 1,850-year-old bronze zodiac coin during an underwater survey off the coastal city of Haifa. The coin bears the image of the zodiac sign Cancer behind a depiction of the moon goddess Luna. Experts say the coin was minted in Alexandria, Egypt, under the rule of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, who ruled between the years 138–161 A.D. It is part of a series of 13 coins depicting the 12 zodiac signs and one of the entire zodiac wheel.

Viktor Orban’s foreign minister says he is ‘constantly’ consulting Republican lawmakers on opposition to plan to tax multinational firms

When asked about the prospect of the EU targeting Russian gas in its next round of sanctions, the Hungarian minister replied: "No, it's impossible."

Slovakia and Hungary say they won't support sanctions against Russian energy that the European Union is preparing over the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is appealing to NATO to provide his war-torn country with weapons to help avoid further atrocities like those reported in the town of Bucha this week.

Hungary’s foreign minister has accused Ukraine’s leadership of attempting to interfere in the upcoming Hungarian election.

Hungary’s foreign minister on Wednesday accused Ukraine’s leadership of attempting to interfere in the upcoming Hungarian election, a charge later denied by his Ukrainian counterpart in an episode that put further strain on relations between the two countries. In a video on social media, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto claimed that there was “ongoing coordination between the Hungarian left and representatives of the Ukrainian government,” and that Ukraine was attempting to influence Hungary’s April 3 election in favor of a coalition of opposition parties.

Hungary’s right-wing nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has nurtured close political and economic ties with Russia for more than a decade.

President Joe Biden has wrapped up his two-day democracy summit, an event that was more about starting a global conversation about how best to halt backsliding than producing immediate results or expanding democracy’s reach.

MTV says its Europe Music Awards will air next month in Hungary.

Hungary has offered neighboring Romania help in caring for coronavirus patients as the country faces an alarming surge of COVID-19 cases and a shortage of intensive care beds.

An uptick in anti-European Union rhetoric in Hungary and Poland has some observers worried the countries' right-wing governments might be planning to pull out of the 27-nation trade bloc.

Hungary’s right-wing government is attracting conservative thinkers from the United States who admire its approaches to migration, LGBT issues and national sovereignty.

As the man's 12-year-old daughter shopped inside, he was parked near the doors when the guard confronted him, deputies say.

The top health official in Australia's Queensland state is advising adults under age 40 not to take the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine because of the risk of a rare blood clotting disorder, even though the Australian government is making those shots available to all adults.

The European Union’s chief executive is vowing to take action to thwart a new law in Hungary that would ban content portraying or promoting homosexuality or sex reassignment to children.

Foreign ministers of Europe's four Visegrad countries discussed cooperation to boost national economies and tourism after the pandemic.

Hungary has loosened several COVID-19 pandemic restrictions for people holding a government-issued immunity card.

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2021, file photo, people receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada is making all residents ages 16 and older eligible for the coronavirus vaccine starting April 5 as part of its efforts to inoculate the population as quickly as possible. Dr. Marcela Nunez-Smith, the White House COVID-19 equity task force chair, says the administration is spending $150 million to broaden access to monoclonal antibodies. In contrast, Arizona and Montana are achieving equity in vaccine coverage, directing vaccines to counties with more economic and social disadvantages. AdThe CDC analyzed vaccine coverage through March 1 and included data representing 49.2 million people who had at least one dose.

But Hungarian Chamber of Doctors has warned that the number of ICU beds and ventilators are overshadowed by a lack of qualified doctors and nurses to treat ICU patients. Hungary has 2,000 specialists for ICU wards and a similar number of ICU nurses. The country of nearly 10 million people has seen 3,281 confirmed coronavirus deaths, half of them in the last three weeks. Hungary’s shortages of health care workers predates the coronavirus pandemic: doctors have emigrated in large numbers since the country joined the European Union in 2004. Despite recent pay raises to doctors and nurses, Hungary remains near the bottom in the EU on investments in its health care system relative to GDP.

Szijjarto tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Thailand for an official visit, Thai and Hungarian officials said Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. (Pool Photo via AP)PHNOM PENH – Cambodia on Wednesday banned all state-organized events in the capital and a neighboring province for two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus after a number of people connected to a Hungarian official's visit tested positive. Two Hungarian ambassadors, to Thailand and to Cambodia, are among people who have tested positive since Szijjarto's visit. Thai authorities said Tuesday a Hungarian diplomat in Bangkok tested positive for the virus, the only local case in Thailand so far linked to Szijjarto. The 53-year-old Hungarian diplomat in Bangkok was sent to an infectious disease facility for treatment and isolation.

But glimmers of hope emerged from France, Belgium and elsewhere that tough restrictions might be starting to work. Health Minister Olivier Veran said early indications are that the measures may be starting to slow the latest virus surge and that it would “have flared up faster and stronger” without them. The drop follows a return to partial lockdown measures including the closure of nonessential businesses and extending a school vacation. In Germany, the health minister said increased infections seem to be leveling off but that it’s too early to talk of a trend. But Health Minister Jens Spahn said Monday “we are seeing that the momentum is flattening, that we have less strong increases."

Another 1,168 new cases were reported Saturday, bringing Malaysia's total tally to 39,357 — compared to just 13,993 a month ago. It said he tested positive for the disease when he applied Wednesday to have his work permit renewed. The country has confirmed a total of 3,830 coronavirus cases, including 60 deaths. Szijjarto tested positive upon arrival in Thailand on Tuesday after his Cambodia visit. Hun Sen and four Cabinet ministers are in quarantine after they met with Szijjarto the same day he tested positive.

With 8.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, India is the second worst-hit country behind the United States. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)NEW DELHI – India’s coronavirus outbreak increased by more than 50,000 cases Thursday amid a resurgence of infections in the capital. Nerves are frayed in New Delhi after it reported a record 6,842 new cases in the past 24 hours. With 8.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, India is the second worst-hit country behind the United States. Indonesia has reported more than 425,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the largest in Southeast Asia and second only to India’s 8.3 million in all of Asia.

(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)GENEVA — The World Health Organization says there has been a “further acceleration” in the speed of COVID-19's spread in Europe, which was responsible for about half of the globe’s new cases reported last week. The livestreamed audience is the same setup Francis used during the Vatican’s nearly three-month COVID-19 lockdown in the spring and summer. ___BANGKOK — Hungary’s foreign minister tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Thailand for an official visit, officials said Wednesday. Coronavirus cases are on an “upward spiral,” making it unsafe to hold trials, said Tim Kenny, chief judge at Wayne County Circuit Court. Libertas Christian School in Hudsonville sued to stop the Ottawa County health department from closing the school.

Szijjarto tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Thailand for an official visit, Thai and Hungarian officials said Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. (Pool Photo via AP)BANGKOK – Hungary's minister of foreign affairs and trade tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Thailand for an official visit, Thai and Hungarian officials said Wednesday. The 42-year-old foreign minister will return on one plane and the other members of his party in a separate aircraft, Anutin said. The Hungarian news agency MTI, citing the chief press officer at Hungary’s foreign ministry, confirmed that Szijjarto tested positive for the coronavirus. During his visit, Szijjarto paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Hun Sen and held separate meetings with Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and the ministers of commerce and agriculture.

BUDAPEST BUDAPEST, HungaryHungarys government on Monday published a new questionnaire with 13 topics centering on the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has carried out several similar propaganda campaigns since returning to power in 2010. Speaking Monday in parliament, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that all Hungarian citizens would receive the questionnaire in the mail, asking them to return it by Aug. 15. We have a very serious need to create points of agreement based on which we can also win the upcoming phases of protection against the pandemic, Szijjarto said. Hungary has registered 4,014 coronavirus cases and 548 deaths.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary will allow a one-off transit of Romanian and Bulgarian citizens stuck in Austria on Tuesday night after their governments requested it, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday. Hungary shut its borders to foreign travellers from Tuesday and is allowing only Hungarian citizens to enter the country. There was a 20-km (12 miles) queue at the Hegyeshalom border crossing on the Austrian border on Tuesday, with cars and trucks waiting to enter Hungary. We expect Austrian authorities to maintain order on the Austrian side of the border and allow Hungarian citizens and freight traffic to use the border crossing, Szijjarto said. The government has said that in coming days there would be cluster infections, not just individual cases as the virus spreads.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats issued a subpoena for U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Thursday over any possible role he played in President Donald Trumps effort to get Ukraines president to investigate a political rival. Recently, public reports have raised questions about any role you may have played in conveying or reinforcing the Presidents stark message to the Ukrainian President, the chairmen of three House of Representatives committees leading the probe wrote in a letter to Perry. The letter from the chairmen of the Oversight, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees sought documents by Oct. 18, the latest effort from Democrats in Congress to secure evidence and testimony from the Trump administration. The White House said on Tuesday it would refuse to cooperate with the congressional impeachment inquiry, hours after the administration abruptly blocked a key witness in the Ukraine scandal from testifying to congressional panels. The Ukraine investigation has cast a pall over Trumps campaign to win back the White House in 2020.